Ultimate Guide to Hiring The Best Team for Your Startup

Anne St. Hilaire

www.recruiter.com

YourStartup

for

The Ultimate Guide to Hiring

BestTeam

The

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What’s Inside

Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What Should You Be Looking for in

Potential Candidates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Remember: Hiring Will Change

as Your Startup Grows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

How Can You Get the Best Candidates

to Work With You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12


3 ©2015 Recruiter.com | The Ultimate Guide to Hiring the Best Team for Your Startup

When your startup is just getting off the ground, you need to make some

careful hiring decisions. You probably don’t have the resources you need

to hire all the employees you’d like to hire. Instead, you have to prioritize.

So, where do you start? Who do you hire first? How do you convince

great candidates that your startup is the company to work for?

If all of these questions seem familiar to you, you’re not alone. It’s tough

to determine how to go about hiring for your brand new company - but

we’re here to cover everything you need to know about growing a team

of hard-working individuals who want to push your company to the next

level. Here are some important things to consider...


There has never been a more exciting time to be

an entrepreneur. In fact, being an entrepreneur has

moved from the status of ‘mad scientist’ to officially

cool, thanks, largely to a string of explosive

entrepreneurial success stories that now dominate

the media, many of which now hold lofty positions

in the Fortune 500.

Banks, angel investors, venture capitalists, celebrities,

TV personalities, TV shows—and everyday folk who

have accumulated wealth during the recent boom

years—now queue up to seed fund the next powerful

start-up. In the US, SMEs now account for nearly half

of GDP and 85 percent of the jobs created in the

EU between 2002 and 2010 came from SMEs.

But, the entrepreneurial dream does have a dark

underbelly. Startup failure rates are, of course, high,

with reports suggesting UK three-year failure rates

to be around 30 percent, and in the U.S., these three-

year failure rates are at 44 percent.

So, entrepreneurs have a lot of things to get right

when starting and managing their business idea to

ensure success, one area of which is the hiring of top

talent, which can be a key differentiator in those

critical early years.

But it’s not just about finding top talent, it’s about

finding people that are culturally suited to that

unique, energetic, random, chaotic, post crash,

generation two startup environment where there

is now a more cultivated expectation of real

What Should You Be Looking for in Potential Candidates?Based on “6 Must Have Qualities for a Startup New Hire” by Kazim Ladimeji


success as opposed to just overinflated valuations

and futures that never arrive. In today’s startup

environment, talent must have more than just ideas,

passion and energy; it also needs commercial

thinking, calculated risk taking and an unswerving

focus on delivering tangible results against an agreed

business plan.

To help employers and recruiters who may be

staffing up for a startup, we have set out a list of six

ideal qualities you should be looking for in your

startup recruits to help maximize your chances of

realizing your dreams.

1 . Flexibility

There may be a lack of established processes and

procedure in a startup and the environment can

become chaotic as you turn left, then right and then

left to respond to customer’s needs and a changing

marketplace, which you may be acutely sensitive too

at these early stages. Change will be constant in a

startup environment and employees who are not

flexible and adaptable will struggle to be effective in

a startup; so, always hire candidates who are open

to change.

2 . Customer and Interpersonal Skills

We live in a world of mass customization; customers

are more sophisticated and fussy and want products

and services that are more tailored to their

preferences. This means organizations are having


to become more customer focused and become

better at communicating with customers and

understanding their needs. If smaller firms are to

compete with bigger firms in these area, they need

all hands on deck, meaning all employees must be

able to effectively engage with customers. There’s

no hiding place in small companies. Always hire

employees who understand the customer and who

you can take or even send to see a client if need be.

3 . Loyalty

Loyalty takes on a disproportionately large

significance in a smaller company. If a company

of 50 loses one person in a year, it loses 2 percent

of its workforce. Yet, a company of five loses 20

percent of its workforce, seriously eroding its ability

to deliver against client commitments. Loyalty is

one of the most important qualities to look for in

a new startup recruit.

4 . Creativity

In a startup environment, there will be very few

established procedures and you’ll be facing many

internal and customer problems for the first time.

You’ll need employees who are used to solving

problems and coming up with original solutions

and, they must be capable of doing so with limited

resources. Problem solving and creativity are key

skills that you should screen for.

5 . Passion for What They/You Do

In a startup environment, you might not have all the

correct HR procedures in place to motivate your staff,

yet you’ll need them to be completely driven. Try

and hire people who are borderline obsessive about

what they do, that is they spend their days and nights

thinking/doing it, and then all you really need to do is

channel it. This kind of raw passion can be the engine

of startups.


6 . Can Be Channeled and is Commercially Focused

The quickest way to burn through your seed funding

without return is intense, uncontrolled creativity

without any short, medium or long term focus. This,

of course, works for a while but can’t go on for ever.

And there is much less patience for it in this post-

crash generation 2 startup world. So, while it is

important to hire passionate and creative people,

also make sure they are, to some degree,

commercially minded and understand the value of

delivering a usable, customer-focused end product

at some discernible point in the near future. You must

find enthusiastic talent, which can be channeled.

Although we understand that you may not be able to

get the perfect balance of each of these qualities in

an individual person, at the very least you should be

able to generate a balance of these qualities across

your entire team.


Hiring the right employees is crucial to your startup’s

success. It’s important to know the type of worker

you need for each specific stage of your company’s

lifecycle, as your company’s growth will rely on

different traits and strengths as it grows. Here’s a

simple guide to hiring the right employees for every

phase of your startup:

Stage 1: The Jack of All Trades and Individual Contributors (1-10 Employees)

The onset of a new business is the most volatile stage.

Your team will be dealing with the highest levels of

uncertainty, and the challenges you all face will

change dramatically on a day-to-day basis. Thus,

at the beginning, you’ll need to hire people with

versatility — those who thrive on creative

problem-solving and strategizing.

These initial employees will be developing your

mission statement, product, business processes, and

more. They are the inventors, designers, and R&D

types who have experience developing new products

and businesses, as well as the confidence to take on

projects themselves with little to no supervision.

Stage 2: The Managers, Builders, and Improvers (11-50 Employees)

At this stage, you’ll need people who can grow your

business at a fast pace and manage the rapid rates

of change that accompany launching a big new

product or service. I’d advise looking for managers

and builders — people who can take the initiative

and who demonstrate strong organizational skills.

Remember: Hiring Will Change as Your Startup GrowsBased on “Hiring the Right Employees for Every Phase of Your Startup” by Matt Faustman


Since you’re a startup and are building your business

from scratch, it’s best to catalog certain aspects of

your business as you grow. All of the nitty-gritty work

should be documented and organized so that when

new employees are onboarded, they have a solid base

of knowledge from which to learn right off the bat.

In addition, you’ll also likely need improvers — people

who understand how to reengineer and enhance

inefficient processes; people who can ensure your

growth remains sustainable. By adding scalability and

structure to your company’s systems, improvers

can enforce direction and stability by eliminating

unnecessary bureaucracies and gridlocks. The best

candidates for these improver positions are detail-

oriented and will deliver exceptional customer service.

Stage 3: Experienced Managers and Specialized Contributors (50-200 Employees)

One of the many upsides to this stage (if done

correctly) will be your ability to predict your business

needs further in the future. This means you can start

hiring qualified managers — people who can follow

established processes and who have histories of

repeated task execution at high-quality levels.

It’s also best to hire in-house counsel and contractors

to build the executive team. This in-house staff can

help you accomplish specialized tasks in an efficient

and knowledgeable manner once they’ve been

integrated with your team and understand your

business and legal needs.


Stage 4: Specialists (200+)

Once you’ve made it to this stage of your business,

you’ll need to start hiring much more specialized

employees. Hire a VP of talent, along with specialized

recruiters for each company division; public relations

and social media specialists are also great additions to

your business, and they can develop the company’s

brand and image in a variety of spaces and platforms.

This stage is the most difficult to hire for because

you’ll need people who can accomplish highly

specific tasks (and do them well). You may have to

look far outside of your established employee

networks to find the right candidates.

Throughout every stage of this process, remember

this: at no point can you compromise on hiring the

absolute best people for the job, nor can you sacrifice

building great company culture in the process. It may

take a while to hire the right people, but these people

are going to ultimately be the determining factor in

whether or not your business succeeds. So put in

that work — and good luck!


Startups can be a tricky hiring environment. You need

to balance hiring good employees and workers who

have an entrepreneurial spirit. Melding the two to form

the best startup team might be harder than you think.

TechRepublic.com says, “The team behind your idea is

the most important piece of the startup puzzle. Once

you choose a great co-founder and go as far as you

can with just the two of you, it’s time to start building

the rest of your team. If you are a non-celebrity

entrepreneur, you will have to do some determined

recruiting to convince the right people to fill the

roles on your team.” Unless you’re Dr. Dre or Kim

Kardashian, keep reading.

Hone Your Time

Katie Hughes, director of talent at VC firm Draper

Fisher Jurvetson, told TechRepublic the top hiring

challenges are, “Lack of time and a less-than-

inspiring story.”

What that comes down to is enabling others in your

company to do the recruiting for their departments.

“Referral programs, function-specific recruiting

teams and consistent feedback metrics are cost-

efficient ways I’ve seen founders offset recruiting

responsibilities by empowering their employees,”

Hughes said.

How Can You Get the Best Candidates to Work With You?Based on “How to Hire the Best Startup Team” by Keith Griffin


TheGlobalRecruiter.com offers some good

perspective on hiring that is relevant to startups.

“Very few companies have any effective means of

working remotely or of capturing information at

meetings with candidates … Firms that build a

portable IT resource that is fully

compatible with, and connected

to, the main office infrastructure

will save hours,” the article says.

Be prepared to get out of the

office to recruit. Just make sure

you have the right tools with you

to make the process time efficient.

Experts also say that it’s important

to stick to your guns when hiring. Don’t settle for

people who meet 90 percent of your needs because

that is 10 percent below your company’s needs.

Good Benefits

“Startups are risky for everyone involved. Convincing

people to drink your particular batch of Kool-Aid is

one thing, but you also have to acknowledge that

they have something to lose,” the article points out.

There’s also more to employment than Foosball

tables and free cappuccinos. As

TechRepublic observes, “As you hire,

focus on the personal and

professional growth of your

employees. This is the best way to

show employees that you care and

that you see the value they add to

your team.” There’s a need to make

employees, especially at high-

turnover startups, want to stay there

for the long term. Turnover is always

disruptive but even more so at a startup company that

more than others needs consistency during its volatile

first year.

One good example of personal growth would be no

vacation policy. That doesn’t mean no vacations for


employees but, instead, allowing employees to take

time off as needed with the understanding that their

accomplishments justify the policy.

The no-vacation policy goes back to the point that you

hire people who are 100 percent in sync with your

organization’s needs and culture. You’re not going to

hire slackers who abuse the vacation policy and they

will appreciate your trust in them.

Another benefit to consider is free food from

breakfast through dinner and including snacks. An

obvious benefit is it keeps employees at the office

and, ideally, eating nutritious food instead of fast-food

fare to keep employees healthy. Plus there’s the added

benefit of freeing up their personal time. Errands can

be accomplished during time spent packing lunch or

buying it. It makes for a less stressful personal life.

Finally, one last benefit for professional growth would

be putting the right tools in employees’ hands. Don’t

enact a top-down policy on acquiring technology. Give

employees a budget and let them find what works

best for them.

Make Hiring for Your Startup Enjoyable

All in all, hiring for your startup can be a challenge, no

matter what positions you are looking to fill. Startups,

like many other organizations, have to look at many

factors when it comes to a desirable candidate, such

as keeping up with ever-changing work environments,

transferable skills, and a work history that proves they

are the right fit.

But if you make sure that you are pinpointing the

right strengths and looking in the right places, finding

hard-working and innovative individuals to join your

team will be an attainable (and even fun) task. You

will find that in your recruiting you will meet many

individuals that can help your company grow and

connect you with the right people, which makes the

entire process worth it. Use these tips when hiring for

your startup and you will see a strong, dedicated and

passionate team form right before your eyes!

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Ultimate Guide to Hiring The Best Team for Your Startup

Recruiting & HR

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