👊🏼 Reh Hassan

I recently listened to Zach Perret, founder of Plaid, on the 20VC podcast discussing his evolution in recruiting. His mindset shift resonated with me. Here are three key takeaways: ▶ Be yourself and do it. Cold emails and genuine curiosity unlock unrecruitable people. People love to talk about things they're passionate about. ▶ Embrace the hunt. The best founders love to compete for talent. They understand the value each person can bring and don't like losing. This skill will also translate into founder-led sales. ▶ Hire for "Spike". This is essential when building an early team. I often think of it as the shape of a "T"—someone with deep expertise in one area but is open and curious to learn and contribute in other areas outside their core strength.

13

1 Comment

I’m thrilled to launch Dover Recruiting Partners – our biggest update yet to how startups can hit their hiring goals and hire the best talent. Over the past 5 years, Dover has helped 1500+ companies like Stripe, Scale AI, OpenSea, Benchling, and Vanta attract and hire top talent. Now, we’re introducing our most flexible and full-service hiring solution for startups: vetted fractional recruiters who can work as an extension of your team. We only accept the top 2% of recruiters. 💫 What's special about Dover Recruiting Partners? 1. On-demand expertise: Get help from experienced recruiters when you need it, without the overhead of a full-time hire. Perfect for startups and companies with variable hiring needs. 2. Flexible pricing: Ramp up or down based on your hiring needs – pay only for the hours you use. 3. Tech-enabled efficiency: Recruiters can use Dover’s ATS, Sourcing Extension, and other tools so they can focus on strategic work and keep their costs low. 4. Transparent metrics: We share cost-per-hire and fill rate for our recruiters before you hire them, so you can find the perfect recruiter for you. 👥 Who are our Recruiting Partners? Our network includes some of the most experienced recruiters in the industry. Here's a glimpse at a few of our partners: Michael Sanders: 10+ years VC/big tech talent acquisition | formerly Senior Principal at Human Capital and tech recruiting at Uber, Google | Specializes in technical sourcing for seed/pre-seed startups Courtney (Zotos) Mistretta: 9 years technical recruiting | formerly Technical Recruiting Manager at Uber and led hiring for Uber's Self-Driving Division | Expertise in ML, CV, data science, and engineering roles Michelle Shen: 5+ years recruiting across growth stages | Engineering & GTM team building | formerly Technical Recruiter at JustWorks, Revel, and other startups | Focus on candidate experience optimization … and dozens of others. 💰 How much does it cost? Most companies have an average spend of $80 per hour, depending on the services they use. Cost per hire across the platform varies, but usually ends up being between $2-10k. 🚀 How do I get started? Head to https://lnkd.in/eUUxZUXi and click "Match with a Recruiter". We'll set you up with a free consultation to understand your needs and match you with the perfect Recruiting Partner. Read more about how we got here on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eDJsQeBa Let me know what you think!

73

16 Comments

🐸 Paraform x ContactOut Unlike in sales, in recruiting, personal emails matter a lot more than corporate emails - most outreach happens there. We're also aware that some independent/freelance recruiters, especially those who are just starting out, don't have the budget to pay for expensive sourcing tools. Now, using our chrome extension, you can get candidate's personal emails, powered by ContactOut (we hear from our recruiters it's the best in the industry!) and reach out to candidates. Want to give it a try and start making placements on Paraform? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gMRXGncp

56

12 Comments

Shoutout to Shannon Anderson and our friends at Madrona who take having a great hiring process as seriously as we do! You wouldn't build a product without a solid spec as a founder. So why cut corners when building your team? Thoughtful role specs are essential for aligning your hiring process and ensuring success. You want to craft a roadmap for success — not just for your products, but roadmaps for hiring the right people! My takeaways from Madrona's hiring plan… - Define the problem the new hire will solve - Set measurable SMART goals & outcomes for their first year - Identify the risks of not hiring this person - Understand the consequences of a bad hire - Pinpoint necessary skills and behavioral traits - what's absolutely necessary vs what can be learned or fulfilled by others? - Evaluate historic achievements and motivations - how do they align with your current needs and where your company is heading? What are we missing here that's critical to kicking off a successful search? Alicia Scully #HRInsights #Jobseeker #Interviewing #Candidates #Hiring #Recruitment #talentAquisition #executivesearch https://lnkd.in/ee93GtPn

6

2 Comments

YC founders: here's a harsh truth that might help you when hiring. Great people want to work with great people. But...A-players hire A-players. B-players hire C-players. Keeping the hiring bar relentlessly high is critical, especially early on. A single person that isn’t great can drag the quality down of the entire team. Folks will look around and realize the standards are lower than they thought. They’ll realize that they don’t need to be as good. They’ll realize they can learn less from their colleagues. People make the organization, not the other way around. And that if you don’t have great people, you won’t have a great organization.

14

1 Comment

Check out the latest episode of Hot Source feat. Toby Tank from Salient. Toby shares an amazing piece of advice for agency recruiters looking to grow their desk in a tough market. *Talent Acquisition peeps... I think you'll appreciate his thoughtful approach 🫶 Check it out now! Toby Tank | Salient | attract.ai #recruitment #talentacquisition #candidatesourcing #candidateexperience #candidateattraction #employerbranding

41

13 Comments

In the early stage startup journey, post funding is often 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. That's where I come in. In my role as 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 for Initialized Capital, I work with our 175+ portfolio companies to build out their team and cultures. 💫 Hiring 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 10 team members is a pivotal moment in your company's growth. Besides your product, your 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. When you are just getting started, you have limited headcount and limited funds so every player counts. That means 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. Your team determines the pace and direction of a startup’s expansion. In fact, the team and the culture you create (implicitly or explicitly) is a 𝗯𝘆𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲. ✏ Here's my initial thoughts on 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 10 𝙃𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨: https://lnkd.in/efNDbEZ8 I welcome your feedback, especially if your hiring path took a different turn from the one shared. #StartUpMilestones #EarlyStageStartups #EarlyHires

66

4 Comments

I was thrilled to welcome Brian Hanly, Co-Founder & CEO of Brightbeam and serial entrepreneur to the Talent Smart Podcast. https://lnkd.in/eg6ayepu Brian has a deep specialisation in the application of modern ways of working, product management and technology to help enterprises compete in the digital age and to help growth companies to gain commercial advantage with the help of AI. In this episode, we explored the commercial advantages to companies from AI. We explored the adoption and deployment rate and what is stopping companies from progressing with their AI agenda.  In addition, Brian gives us some very helpful models and methodologies to follow when assessing the potential of AI for your business.

2

Forerunner Ventures' $500M Fund and the Growing Opportunity in Consumer Tech Kirsten Green’s Forerunner Ventures, known for its early investments in Warby Parker, Away, and Glossier, has closed its latest $500 million fund, signaling strong confidence in the consumer tech sector despite the challenges of the past two years. With a focus on seed to Series A investments, the firm will write checks between $1 million and $20 million, raising its total assets under management to nearly $3 billion. Despite a tough market, Green remains bullish, stating that AI’s rise is driving consumer expectations for more personalized, high-quality products and services. Recent investments include AI-driven startups like Daydream and MindTrip, indicating Forerunner’s commitment to evolving with emerging tech trends. Implications for Hiring: As consumer tech heats back up, law firms need to start strategically hiring emerging companies associates and partners. With the return of investor confidence in this sector, especially in AI-enabled startups, firms need talent that can navigate early-stage investments, growth, and complex IP issues. Being ahead of the curve in these areas can position your firm as a key player in the evolving landscape. The Implication of Doing Nothing: Failing to act now means missing out on the next wave of high-growth consumer tech companies. As the market warms up, firms that aren't proactive in securing top talent could fall behind, missing valuable opportunities to work with the startups and investors leading the charge in this space. https://lnkd.in/ejDJuhUY

2

🚨 New Chief of Staff trend alert 🚨 More early-stage founders are getting excited about bringing on ex founders into the CoS role. This is taking a page out of hardcore and highly successful cultures like Rippling (~50 former founders on the team back in 2022, likely at least double that by now) Why it makes sense for Rippling: ➡️ They have a modular org structure to manage their products ➡️ Each product division, similar to a startup, operates independently with its own General Manager and engineering team (the ex founders usually run these teams) While the ex founder archetype has its draw, the biggest fear most founders have is that they'll hire this person and they'll get an itch to leave and launch their next thing. Yet that's basically the profile you want to attract with the Chief of Staff role in any case -- the highly ambitious, gritty, stop-at-nothing builders. "I want them to be JUST good enough but not SO good that they'd leave" said no one ever. #chiefofstaff #recruiting

57

2 Comments

Should ZipRecruiter reassess leadership? -->> https://lnkd.in/eHf6wemw In this episode, we dive deep into: - Paradox Innovation Day - VONQ's US Departure - CV Wallet / Resume Wallet's Triumph - Vangst, acquisition and its implications for the #cannabis #job market - Veritone Hire's Road Ahead - A critical view on ZipRecruiter, Nike, and Bayer's leadership mishaps. - Who'd You Rather? with Take2 AI and Paraform Expect a snarky blend of analysis, insight, and entertainment as we dissect brand consolidation, #AI's growing role in #recruitment, and the nuances of navigating the cannabis market. -->> https://lnkd.in/eHf6wemw #ChadCheese #RecruitmentPodcast #FutureOfWork #InnovationInRecruitment #Leadership #AIRecruitment

21

Casey Winters shares his roadmap for building scalable marketplaces, drawing insights from his growth roles at Grubhub, Pinterest, and Eventbrite. His advice centers on selecting markets with diverse suppliers, focusing on high-demand customer habits, and leveraging unique data loops for sustainable growth. For startup founders, it's about balancing scalable acquisition strategies with early non-scalable efforts to validate demand. Curious about the biggest hurdles marketplaces face? Explore Winters' do's and don'ts for turning a promising marketplace into a billion-dollar platform.

2

Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

114

4 Comments

I have this discussion with people leaders. There is no 1 right answer to pay transparency and to truly solve it, you need to empower managers. Excited to put my thoughts to paper

13

I got to interview one of the biggest podcasters in the recruiting space! We could have spent all day talking about podcasting. But I really wanted to know how Robin Choy and his friends built HireSweet I also wanted to know how other tech founders can grow. We dug into that. But then it moved to investing in companies and what to look for when investing. It was a great conversation and you need to check out his podcast The Modern Recruiter Podcast. Here are some of my favorite takeaways: - Small, Consistent Efforts: Robin emphasizes how focusing on manageable, consistent actions can yield more sustainable success compared to aiming for massive, one-off achievements. It’s all about gradual build-up and maintaining momentum. - Investing in Early-Stage Tech Companies: Robin shares his sharp focus on team dynamics, market potential, and business defensibility when investing. He highlights the importance of ensuring founders can collaborate effectively and the scalability of the business model. - AI's Double-Edged Sword in Recruiting: AI enhances efficiencies but can also flood the market with noise. From improving data retrieval to overwhelming recruiters with low-value messages, balancing AI and human interaction is key. Make sure to check out the full episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast and sign up for Finish The Year Strong This episode was sponsored by Juicebox (YC S22) (https://juicebox.ai/) , the company behind PeopleGPT. AI Sourcing using Generative AI, simply describe who you're searching for in natural language. PeopleGPT creates the search and assess profiles. Trusted by 400+ companies and recruiting agencies. Check it out and get a 20% Discount code using: ELITE20. People GPT smarter sourcing, better hiring!

61

13 Comments

Did you catch the furore last week when a startup founder wrote about their "MEI" -- Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence hiring policy? It was seen as a clear barb to the established DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) principles in hiring today. But while the two extremes on this topic are busy yelling at each other, anybody who has actually tried hiring people know that the truth about DEI and merit lies in the messy middle. Amir Shevat 🤖 Yaniv Bernstein and I* (bravely?) dive into that middle and talk about the reality of diversity and merit in today's episode of The Startup Podcast Reacts. Listen in and share your thoughts in the comments! *and yes, we are painfully aware that we are all men.

6

1 Comment

The recent announcement of Index Ventures raising $2.3 billion in new funds signals strong confidence in the tech startup ecosystem, with significant implications for the recruitment industry. I'm excited about what this means for job creation and talent demand in the coming years.   𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞:   • 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡: With $800 million for early-stage and $1.5 billion for growth-stage investments, there will be a surge in hiring across tech sectors, creating opportunities for tech recruiters.   • 𝐀𝐈 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬: The emphasis on AI investments aligns with market demand for AI specialists, data scientists, and professionals with AI-related skills.   • 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: Index Ventures' commitment to investing across 24 tech ecosystems globally will drive job creation and talent movement internationally, benefiting recruiters with a global network.   • 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Investments in transforming traditional industries like manufacturing and legal services through tech innovation present new opportunities for recruiters.   At Recruitment Entrepreneur, we're experiencing growth within a number of portfolio business. Venatrix, NineTech and NeoSphere Tech are all seeing increased hiring demand in the tech and particularly SAAS. This news from Index Ventures reinforces our optimism about this particular sector in our industry.   𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲?   https://lnkd.in/drDbpJ-Q   #TechRecruitment #VentureCapital #JobMarketTrends #AI #StartupGrowth  

29

What are the latest trends in compensation for VC backed companies? Carta- H1 2024 Compensation Report reveals the latest trends as the startup landscape continues to evolve. TL;DR - Here are a few key takeaways:  Hiring Slows, Salaries Stay Steady: Despite fewer new hires, average salaries have remained largely flat, with slight increases for entry-level employees. Equity packages have also stabilized after declines in 2022 and 2023. Smaller, Leaner Teams: Startups raising capital are operating with smaller teams. Series A companies now average 15.6 employees, down from 17.6 in 2021. Financial discipline is driving this trend as companies look to make their capital go further.  Geographic Shift: Pay packages are rising in non-traditional tech hubs like Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The gap between major cities and smaller metros is narrowing, giving startups that look for talent outside of Silicon Valley a potential competitive edge in talent acquisition. High Attrition Rates: Startups continue to face high employee turnover. Nearly half (43.4%) of employees hired in 2021 left within two years, a trend that seems to be slowing down but remains a challenge for leadership team looking to retain key talent. What This Means: Startups are adopting leaner, more agile structures while keeping compensation competitive in a shifting market. Finding and hiring talent in new markets is a competitive strategy, but retaining that top talent is, and will continue to be, imperative Link to full report in the comments.

10

5 Comments

I love talking about MPC marketing bc it is the only tried and true way to build desks from scratch from a bizdev perspective. I’ll be speaking on it with Manan Shah Oct 16th at 11am, including: - how to create MPC formats that actually convert - expectations of hit rates - key ingredients in effective MPC pitches - how to use your ATS/CRM to do this for you - how to properly market map - to do’s to don’ts Join w the link below and I’ll see you soon! #mpc #mostplaceablecandidate #training #recruitment #recruitmenttraining #sales #clientdevelopment #salestraining

37

5 Comments