Zaharo Tsekouras’ Post

When a founder starts a company, they often prioritize building with speed in mind. "We're a startup! We thrive on chaos and being nimble!" This approach may seem fine in the earliest days when only a handful of people share common tribal knowledge in the "beautifully messy creation phase." Once it is time to start hiring, founders likely take this same "fast and loose" approach, bringing in new leaders through ad hoc methods, relying on gut instincts because most of their first hires were known quantities. But just like that, a team doubles or even triples in size with many "net new," unknown hires who bring their own "flavor of process." This creates a Frankenstein version of hiring, and wow, is it ugly! As Audra Aulabaugh tells us in this week's Hooked, you can't scale chaos — no matter how much you want to or how allergic to process you are. Without a consistent and repeatable hiring mechanism in place, founders eliminate their ability to measure what's working and what's not, accumulating talent debt and bringing team morale to an all-time low! Don't miss this week's issue of Hooked to read more about hiring: https://lnkd.in/g54qjhvx And thank you to David Younger for this week's founder take!! #hiring #startup #founderstories #talentpipeline #VC #startuphiring

De-rusting - Week 4 The momentum for my startup is gaining speed. Have since spoken to numerous people that have gone round the blocks a few times. You know who you are, and greatly appreciate your insights. Invariably, the subject often discussed is about building a highly effective team. Getting your A-team is paramount, as proclaimed by many successful founders. But how do they get their A-team? It's fine and well if your financial war chest is brimming but what if it's as dry as the Gobi? What about those young first-time founders who lack the financial and network firepowers? I believe the A-team construct starts with you, the founder; how you plan to constructively build your team. Founders need to recognize that the initial A-team is only temporary, since as your company grows, you'll need to revisit the team composition. What's important is that the initial members need to understand that their positions/responsibilities are not etched in stone; they have to evolve, and sometimes making room for new inclusion of team members, and a willingness to move to other positions. Ultimately, at any given stage of your growth, your team is comprised of A-level personnel, and what make them "A-lister talents" is the ability and willingness to evolve. This is important from a company culture standpoint. Fundamentally, people follow you because they know there's a future for them at your organization. As a culture, it starts with the founder. I am also replaceable at some point. Better include a succession plan too. What else did I miss? #hiring #talents #evolve #culture #lead

Question to Business Leaders / Founders / Hiring Managers If a candidate has experience in "Own Family Business" . Do you see it as relevant value addition, given candidate has aspirations to move in Corporate / Startups world ? Asking on behalf of students I have interacted who refrain from adding such pointers to their resume #corporate #startup

Hiring at seed stage – do you see this as an opportunity or a threat? 🤔 At this crucial point, every team member's impact is magnified. Hopefully in a positive way. But there’s no doubt getting it wrong in one of your first few hires can set you back significantly. Don’t be worried though. It’s not a game of chance - you can de-risk your hiring process! Having explored various strategies and guided founders through this journey, I’m sharing some insights in a free online session, midday Friday 26th April 📆 🔔 Building your seed stage team - hiring on a funding journey 🔔   It’s tailored to seed-stage founders, excited about building their team but also a little worried about making the wrong hire. Join in, and you can expect to walk away with: 💡 New thinking on defining essential hires 📢 A focus on standing out to top talent 💘 Clarity on how to find the right match with hires We normally limit these sessions to 12 people, so if you’d like to secure a space register asap – DM me or use the link in comments 👇 And please do tag / share with any founders and startup leaders with hiring on their mind. #hiring #talent #startups

Myth: early-stage founders need hires with “X” years of experience. Reality: you need hires with this quality (it’s not what you think) 👇 The ability to thrive in high-risk, high-ambiguity situations. When I first started Vesto, many people said the same thing: Look for operators with a certain level of experience, alumni from specific companies, or graduates of top 20 universities. These qualifications aren’t “bad” heuristics to evaluate hires. But they’re a poor metric for evaluating whether a person will be an asset at your early-stage startup. As opposed to qualities that look nice on a CV, look for people who excel—with a proven track record—in managing risk and ambiguity. Why? Because you’re asking them to take a massive bet. And often turn down other offers that would pay more—now. Odds are, your company won’t survive. Or it’ll look entirely different in a few years. Death could come in any number of ways: → A sudden market crash. → A worldwide pandemic. → A war that shuts down global supply chains. In addition to the existential risk, you’re battling the clock. Every day, your runway shrinks a little. And, of course, there’s execution risk—the daily question of whether you’re actually focusing on the highest-leverage tasks. Given the above → resist the temptation to evaluate future teammates based on the title at their last firm, or their “level” of experience. There is no objective “standard”—in terms of credentials—for good operators, aside from a proven track record of handling ambiguous, risky situations. These experiences might have happened in a totally different industry But they’re supremely translatable to early-stage startup life. So when you interview prospects, screen and dig for those stories. Don’t be afraid to ask more “personal” questions (that don’t violate any laws). The best evidence for the ability to persevere and adapt in the face of risk and/or danger often comes from someone’s personal life. Try to understand their psychology and their mental models for dealing with stress. Find people who’ve “been there.” Those are the people you want on your team. #startups #founders

Defining your startup's culture before you start hiring is crucial for several reasons. A well-defined culture sets the foundation for a cohesive team that shares common values and goals. When everyone is on the same page, it's much easier to work together towards a shared vision. Wing's Zachary DeWitt shares 4 tips for defining your company culture. ⬇️More on the Wing blog: https://lnkd.in/gmeG9g8H

Hiring at seed stage – do you see this as an opportunity or a threat? 🤔 At this crucial point, every team member's impact is magnified. Hopefully that’s impact in a positive way 😍 But there’s no doubt getting one of your few hires wrong can set you back significantly. Don’t be worried though - it’s not a game of chance. You can de-risk your hiring process. I've helped 100s of founder through this process, so wanted to share some insights in a free online session, 4pm Monday 29th July 📆 🔔 Building your seed stage team - hiring on a funding journey 🔔 It’s tailored to seed-stage founders, excited about building their team but also worried about making the wrong hire. Join in, and you can expect to walk away with: 💡 New thinking on defining essential hires 📢 A focus on standing out to top talent 💘 Clarity on how to assess the right hires We normally limit these sessions to 12 people, so if you’d like to secure a space register asap – DM me or use the link in comments 👇 And please do tag / share with any founders and startup leaders with hiring on their mind. #hiring #talent #startups

Navigating the hiring landscape for seed-stage startups presents a unique challenge. It's not just about filling positions; it's about finding individuals who can dive deep into your mission, embody your culture, and drive your vision forward—all without stretching your newly secured funding to its limits. 1. Post the dream role: Expect a flood of applicants. 2. The reality check: Sifting through countless resumes is time-consuming and often fruitless. 3. The ideal scenario: A curated list of candidates precisely aligned with your startup’s ethos, values, and objectives. Here's a thought: What if you could engage talent ready to hit the ground running on strategic, time-bound projects? Talent that brings fresh perspectives, innovative solutions, and the latest research insights, all while being remarkably cost-effective. At CultureLancer, we specialize in exactly this. We craft tailored projects that align with your strategic goals, injecting agile talent into your operations and offering ongoing support through dedicated project management. This approach maximizes your growth potential while keeping your costs significantly lower than traditional hiring. If you're a seed-stage startup looking to scale smartly and sustainably, let’s talk. Send me a DM with "Strategy" to learn how we can help you achieve more with less. This is your chance to build a team that doesn’t just work for you but grows with you. #StrategicGrowth #SeedStageSuccess #StartupScaling #InnovativeTalent #startupstories

The secret to early-stage startup success? Investing in the right talent 💡 Sounds super simple right WRONG ❌ It's not just about putting up job ads and talking to applicants It's about harnessing the right tools ✅ crafting a compelling employer brand ✅ and making sure it doesn't cost too much (also not turning your CTO into your most expensive recruiter) 💁♀️ ✅ So where do you start? Well, we made a cool maturity test on Scoreapp 🎉 Use this tool to discover your startup's hiring maturity score. It'll help you.... 🏆 See where you need to improve 🏆 Give you helpful tips on where to work 🏆 get a better understanding of what others are doing 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Have you taken the test what was your score? Leave a comment 👇 🆘 NEED HELP? Book an ask me anything (about recruiting🤣) --------------------------------- I am Chris Haslam; if you are reading this, you are the resistance 🏴☠️ ♻️ reshare to compare your score ✚ Hit follow to join the resistance 🔔 ring the bell, join the resistance 🏴☠️ #hiring #startups #earlystage #funding #recruiting

Yesterday I discussed with my friend and by the way the top manager interesting approach on how she chooses the company to work with. She believes that one of the most critical factors is the alignment of values that shares the candidate and founder or founders of a company. It's more than just a strategic career move, it's about finding a true partnership that resonates with your core beliefs and aspirations. And such alignment serves as the great foundation for every decision, strategy, initiative within the team. She even prepared a list of several questions which she asks founders on one of the final stages during the negotiations about a job. Mostly she works with start-ups. Key questions are: • What is your life story and how have your experiences shaped your values?  • How would your friends or colleagues describe your strengths and weaknesses?  • What are you proud of having accomplished (can be work-related or not)?  • What are companies, founders, or products you really admire - especially ones that you want to model this company after?  • What were your experiences like at your past start-ups? What did you like and not like about how the companies were run? What lessons did you take away?  • What are your long-term goals in life? What is your overall life-plan and how does this startup fit into it?  • What makes you most excited about working with me?  • What makes you concerned about working with me?  • What’s the best way for me to give you feedback?   • When you feel stressed, do you tend to want to talk about what’s going on or avoid talking about it? But she honestly shared that most of founders she talked to are not ready for such discussion and her experience shows that they prefer to skip that dialogue. What do you think about such approach and would you go into such discussion with a candidate for a c-level role or any other role if you were a founder of a company?