How I would hire for a startup?

I have worked with established companies as well as at startup. Every company has its own strategy to hire people, whether it is through references, professional recruiters or a mix of both. Also recruitment strategies could be different at various levels – ranging from campus recruitment to board level positions. But what I have found most tricky was, hiring for startups. The challenges that I faced were – hiring experienced people vs. fresh talent at early stage? Hire early team members on salary or give them equity? Would ESOPs do the magic? Should we hire someone more qualified candidate or someone who is a better cultural fit in the company?  While I did successful hiring, I also made my set of mistakes. Here are my suggestions on hiring for a startup based my experience:

Hire exceptional talent: Hire the best and nothing less than that. We are all operating in a very dynamic market place where there is no room for average products or services.  To create an organization that offers the best, you need to equip yourself with the best talent. I understand that most startups have little money which means low budgets, but the chances of growth (and sometimes survival) are much higher when you have a team that support you in creating a world class offering. Remember, your customers have options in the market.

Experienced vs. Fresh: I would not set stringent parameters e.g. an engineer must only be from IIT or a management graduate has to be from an IIM or someone who has is working with a prestigious organization. I have made blatant mistakes in the past when I have hired relatively experienced talent over more enthusiastic younger talent. In early stage startups, one needs people who could role up their sleeves and code or knock on the doors of the client than suggest what needs to be done.

Enthusiasm vs. Qualification:I have hired experienced people who have worked on similar projects, large companies and brands. But I have found some of the fresh talent that I hired for my projects to deliver more often and with out-of-the-box methods than the more experienced talent working with me. Something that I have learnt (the hard way) is to rely more on my gut feel when it comes to delivery of projects. Someone who is self-motivated, enthusiastic and appears to be more committed, to what you are doing, will enjoy being a part of your team.

Tap your friend circle: An engineer friend in your network is sure to be connected with other engineers. Tap your circle of friends and current employees. Give them an incentive for making a reference. This reference could be in terms of money or a treat to drinks and dinner. It normally works best and also reduces your effort on employment screening.

Find a cultural fit:The only one thing that differentiates your organization is the culture that you build. This is something that I learnt during my stint at Google. Many companies have spent their precious dollars on providing free food, onsite gaming facilities etc. but they could not build the same culture that exists at Google. Every company has its own unique culture because it is something that is built by people.  And, once you build the culture for your organization, the last thing you would want to do is compromise on it. So while hiring people be extremely stringent about the cultural fit. Hiring people who fit the culture of your organization will help you build a happy place and team, and happy teams will deliver better.

The above suggestions are based on my personal experience.  I am sure these are just a few of the many other things you might need to keep in mind based on the business, sector and/or industry that you operate in.

If you have feedback for me or you would like to make suggestions, you could reach out to me on mail@harbindernarula.com