Thread by @rahulrmv

A 🧵on #hiring especially for early stage #founders

Sell 👁️👁️
Sell the vision you have, if you can't sell your vision yourself, chances of hitting a home run is negligible, hiring talent/ selling to customers/ raising money is insanely difficult without this trait

Reach out📢
Reach out to the best people in your network, get them to work with you, convince them if you think they're a great fit.

Real eg. : Had to visit & meet parents of a potential content writer, as she had extraordinary skills, but her parents were against working.

Think of Candidates as #Customers, you've to sell them the vision 🔭 + Provide an #experience.

Experience here means - proper communication {Well written JD, what exactly are they expected to do, hours, skills reqd}, tell them how would they progress? how much can they make?

Understand most people want challenging 🏋️‍♀️ roles, if #Interviews are cakewalks, you've already put them off.

interviews are like movie trailers 🎬 if it can't excite, no one wants to invest their time for the movie.

Hence a well thought interview process is a must!

Paying🤑 well in early stages is difficult, ESOPs are your friends, however most potential candidates can't understand them, their value & when would they become meaningful.

📊 Explain them, SHOW THEM THE CALCULATION, how it works?

🙋Early stage #employees should be hired by you, at least first 50 hires, they are going to form the core of the co., the #culture of the co.

There has be a process🏗️ of hiring & that shall be used from Day 1, those who'd be hired using the process would further use it, those who wouldn't have experienced it themselves, won't use it, to ensure a smooth culture, use it right from the beginning & you've to form it.

Look for candidates that take ownership 💪& are self motivated.
Some signals to look for:

-Whether talking about existing employer in a +ve/-ve way, 1-2 small instances are fine vs shitting on an employer.

- We vs they, does the person think of existing team as a team or not

Contd

- Does the person have any pride on what he/ she has shipped out?

Remember you need people who would gel with others, work together and help each other.

Skill🧠vs Culture🫀: You need both, someone whose smart & can do the job as well as someone with whom others would like to work, feel motivated.

if you've to pick one: Say NO to the candidate & find more candidates

4⃣🗝️ things to look for:

- Willingness to learn
- Take Ownership
- Compassion
- Competence

Make sure you've 💯 clarity on what exactly you want from the candidate!

Remember someone might be moving a city/ family/ kids schools & more. Do not hire in a hurry!

Took lots of learnings from a wonderful discussion between @rituverma01 @mohitdubey @_mekin @RoopaKumar12 thanks for sharing some wonderful insights 🙏

#WeekendWisdom