Hot answers tagged recruiting
15
Reasons to work in a startup.
(The traits you would look for are in brackets)
Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond (Ambition)
More flexibility (Flexibility)
Less process, red-tape, bull shit. (Unconventional, Wants to get things done, Enterprising)
Chance to work on something that really excites them,ie it is more ...
12
One word of warning, if the concept that you wish to create is only just that at this stage be very careful with whom you share your secret sauce. Ideally, you would have wanted a technical founder to be someone you've known for some time and can trust as you stand the risk of being "Zucked" (see Winkelvos brothers and Mark Zuckerberg regarding Facebook).
...
11
I LOVE this subject. I am an operation guy, so human capital issues are on top of my mind every day.
Here is what I have learned in 15+ years in startups:
It all starts with culture. Go past the culture of tchotchke "benefits" like in office Guitar Hero setups, foosball tables, and other stuff that makes your culture fit for only one very narrow ...
10
Hire someone. As a PHP programmer, I find that too many people have an idea, but they have little idea of how to implement it technically. Very few have a viable business plan to go along with it and most of the time, the idea is only a copy of something that already exists with not enough to differentiate itself in the market.
From my perspective, this is ...
9
One thing to try would be local tech entrepreneur meetups or other events in the area. I participate in several in the Boston area, and they're a good way to connect to other startup fanatics (be they technology geeks or business geeks).
One of the things that makes these connections hard is that tech folks and business folks often don't hang out in the ...
6
Take a piece of paper (or a spreadsheet!) and write down the pros and cons for each. Weigh up which, on balance, is best for you.
Then sleep on it, and ask a friend the next day what they think. (The process of talking about it will help make up your mind. It seems that talking helps the decision making process.)
In the meantime, some things to ponder:
...
6
What works for me is to build a network of potential hires before I need them. I have found that this is the single best way to attract quality talent. This serves two other valuable purposes:
You get a sense of what other smart people are working on.
Sometimes if you are not hiring, someone you know is and you can refer them to your network.
Referrals ...
6
Love the question!
Bit of background: I have been doing operations for almost my entire career and have had some incredible mentors along the way. Most fun 2+ years of my career were spent as a head of ops for an awesome software dev company we grew to 120+ devs (by the time I had to move). It was an honor serving some of the smartest devs in the market.
...
6
When I read this, i have only two things which might prevent me before applying.
In germany, if somebody writes "probably weekend work" it means "you have to work at least 1 weekend per month, maybe more often". Sometimes working weekends can happen. If it is more an exception than a rule, I would remove it. Exceptions happen, but (personally speaking) I ...
5
Good answers already; I especially like Jarie's suggestion to consider the in-house / out-house split carefully.
Well, the question is one of those evergreen issues; I don't think there is an easy way to get great hires. Here are my ideas for this (some of which I have not had an opportunity to test in real life yet) :
Have a a great "Working Here" ...
5
I would look for:
Local user groups and meetups. (meetup.com)
Niche blogs and websites: they usually attract people who love doing their work.
(http://jobs.jsninja.com/, http://www.crunchboard.com/, http://careers.stackoverflow.com/, etc.)
5
You should make every new hire sign something that states that the person isn't violating any prior NDA in the person's performance of services for you, and that the person will not disclose any information to you in violation of an NDA. That's a standard representation in an employment agreement. You could show your form of employment agreement to the ...
4
Outsource stuff if it:
just needs to happen
you don't need to be better at than your competition to succeed
is standard (ie what you need isn't dramatically different to what anybody else does)
is likely to work well enough if somebody else does it
4
I recently wrote a detailed post about this, actually: How to Hire a Good Marketer (for Startups). Though it starts with What is Good Marketing and What Skills Does a Marketer Need?, it sounds like you'd most be interested in the How do you Determine if They Have the Skills? section:
The best evidence is always just that:
evidence. If they can show the ...
4
I'm a developer and systems administrator, with 5 years experience. I'm very proactive about learning and I don't think I know everything you want. Most people won't be able to apply except for senior rockstar developers and that's going to be hard to find.
Please keep in mind that the list below is my opinion only. That does not mean every developer out ...
4
Hire a contract programmer with at least eight years of experience to write your prototype. Expect to pay $60/hr for two to four months for a prototype. You say it's a prototype, but it will be selling in prototype form before you know it. A kid just out of college will make a spaghetti code mess. It will work and be cheaper up front, but it will bite you in ...
3
One of the more interesting companies I saw had an idea where they would set a profit target.
Once that target is reached, then they will use whatever they exceed by to have some celebration with their employees.
One year the employees and families took a 4 day cruise with the excess.
If you are going to have a bonus, you may want to do something similar, ...
3
One of the users on this forum has a startup called FairSoftware and it looks like it'd be a perfect place for you to find help and share revenue for a new idea. I haven't used it personally but it looks interesting.
Alain Raynaud is the founder of FairSoftware
3
Start an internship program. If there
is a lot of competition in your area,
do something different like a summer
program for 2nd year students instead
of waiting for graduates.
Join or start a developer's group in
your area (meetup.com).
Market your company towards developers as well as your customer base.
I know you're not trying to make a pitch for your ...
3
The first thing you need to understand is that ideas are a dime a dozen. They are virtually worthless on their own. An implementation of your idea might have some value. How do you know whether or not 50 other people have had the same idea, and even now 20 are finishing their app?
If you have a brilliant idea you need to start working on it now.
You will ...
3
Rather than scout co-developers for a joint project, you best bet and if you really believe in your idea is to hire more experienced developers to actually build the app for you. You have a strong advantage based on your development experience, and you will learn more that it is more important to be an entrepenuer than a developer.
The fact is programming ...
3
You're a developer in an MIS program and there isn't one other student to partner with on this project? Look around for the smart kids and try to put together a study group or something to assess their ability. Do you feel you don't have enough expertise to complete certain parts of the application or do you feel you could not handle the size of the ...
3
In the past 20 years information has become easily available, therefore skills like expertise and factual knowledge lost most of their value (except where deep expertise is required).
Those skills are now replaced with Critical Thinking. One doesn't need to use their brain for storing information, but instead for breaking down complex problems into small ...
3
Rather than the cap rate ask the candidate to write a cover letter that explains why they want to work for you and why you should hire them.
The cover letter is a lot more easier to read than a CV and their personality really shines through. In addition a number of candidate don't make the effort to write it, or write a perfunctory one, or can't write at ...
3
I was part of a turn around team once that was brought in on a company that was in a similar industry. As we were trying to get a lay of the land we found ourselves in a warehouse -- full of unused promotional items. All purchased at one time or another with logos, branding, and slogans. All intended to be part of a marketing campaign of this kind or ...
3
In your case I would hire a programmer. You have the idea already and it seems you have some money. There is no need to share another equity if you have a clear visualization. Hire somebody.
That being said, I would hire somebody who is good. There are good people with a reasonable rate. There are bad people with a huge rate. Please be careful.
You need a ...
3
I believe the best approach for you is to find an co-founder who is from technology, not only a freelance programmer.
A person that believes in your idea as well, who will take shares from the company, by developing the solution + getting to know where and how hosting it + in the future, hiring other developers + help with technical specifications when ...
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