When I'm assessing a new deal and I ask the question 'do you have anyone you think is a flight risk?' I often get the stock answer of 'no, we've built a great culture, nobody is a flight risk'. For me, that's one of the worst things to hear. A great culture is built on people that are rockstars, that drive the business forward and, 9 times out of 10, those people are super ambitious and won't wait around for long. I much prefer the answer of: 'X, Y and Z are smashing it out the park atm, they're hungry and ambitious and we need to be in X position in X amount of months/years to keep them'. Now that is a great culture, imo. _____________________________________ 💭 Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments. 🔔 Like my content and want to see more? Follow or connect: Kiran Mehta. ♻ Found this post useful and think your network will too? Please hit that repost button. #vc #venturecapital #founders #founderstories #raisingequity
Such a good point Kiran. I think there is a balance, because most startups probably need a rockstar at the helm - they are the magnet that pulls co-founders, great staff, customers and investors in. But in terms of the rest of the top team, I have seen it happen far too often, that people get bored. Or they are simply not as committed as you originally thought.
How many times did you hear the answer that you consider is the correct answer ? If almost never, then perhaps let's give the founders a break & stop with trick questions. We don't always have the answers that investors want to hear in the way they want to hear it & that also is ok. Sometimes it is the wrong question.
I'm here for the rockstars
Absolutely, I agree. Ambition drives success. It's all about nurturing and retaining top talent.
Brilliant reframe and observation!! Kiran Mehta
Helping PE-Backed CEOs Bridge Strategy and Execution to Hit 50+ on the Rule of 40 | Top 100 Product Marketing Voice | Fractional Leader | Board Member | Keynote Speaker | Culture & Transformation
5moThat last part Kiran yes 🙌🏽!! Startup founders very rarely have a long term view on what type of culture they want to build. There was a LinekdIN study that found Tech startup turnover to be 13% higher than other industry averages at about 8-10% and as shared by Noam Wassermann founder turnover is as high as 50% by the time startups raise their third round. So both Startup leadership and Investors need to keep an eye on how they plan on mitigating this recognizing that the avg. tenure at these startups is 3-4yrs.