Pat Oliver’s Post

Getting people to join you on the scaleup journey is 50% down to your business and 50% down to you.   Having a big vision is awesome. But no one will give a sh*t it unless you – the founder – are inspiring, trustworthy, and give the impression you are capable of delivering.    Someone may believe in the mission.    But this needs to be coupled with belief in you. It can be the difference between you getting investment or making a landmark hire.  I can’t stress this enough. 

🚨THIS ONE IS FOR YOU, FOUNDERS, C-SUITE, AND INVESTORS! Let’s kick of this Social Saturday with a twist ➿➿➿ 📣 I would love to hear about something you took pride in this past week. Did you accomplish a goal? Did your child finish the school year and/or graduate? 🎬 What action are you taking to move in a new direction? Have you been stuck trying to figure out what to do next? 🫵🏻 How are you unplugging and doing something for yourself during this long weekend? 🪜If you’re hiring please add a link to the job application in the comments below! #socialsaturday #socialsaturdaysquad #csuite #founder #investor #unplug

I've met over 50 founders who want funding but struggle because they don't know their business's priorities. Common priorities: 1. Increasing revenue 2. Reducing costs 3. Developing new products 4. Reach new customers 5. Hiring skilled employees How to assess your priority: 1. Target key goals 2. Scrutinise data 3. Listen to feedback Knowing your priorities sets the stage for smart decision-making and smart use of funding.

Seed staged founders spend 25-40% of their time on hiring. This week, our head of talent, Tiffany Foo, explores "Your First 10 Hires" in our new blog series, "Your First..." This article covers the importance of early hires, optimizing for talent density, and strategic growth while being cautious with executive hires. Key Highlights: • The first 10 hires establish the cultural foundation for all subsequent team members. • Focus on hiring versatile MVPs who exhibit "startup readiness"—which includes technical skills, mindset, and preparedness for startup life. • Approach building your early team with the same attention, intentionality, and creativity that you use to develop your product. • With limited headcount and resources, each team member is crucial—every new hire should significantly boost your operational velocity. • Integrate inclusive practices into your hiring process from the start to avoid accumulating culture debt later. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eDzgNDbW Discover more insights in our weekly series, guiding early-stage founders through key moments in marketing, PR, talent, go-to-market strategies, design, community/events, and more ⬇ https://lnkd.in/emncyPnZ

“Don’t hire ‘til it hurts.” Sharing a couple of my favorite takeaways from Zapier Co-Founder Wade Foster’s chat at Pilot’s founder conference last week: If you wait to hire ‘til it hurts, that helps you 1) know the job you’re actually hiring somebody for, and 2) get a good sense of what value they should be delivering. Then, you can calibrate their impact fairly quickly. Remember that the VC funding path is still non-traditional in the scheme of things. Prioritizing sustainable growth is something you should feel good about

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

For our next 24 in 24, let's take a moment to applaud the incredible achievements of Rob Mallery, Talent and Operations Lead at Magic! 🎉 Since 2023, Rob has been involved with the StartupExperts community, contributing his exceptional skills and unwavering commitment to our collective success. We are privileged to count him among our esteemed members! During a recent discussion, we had the pleasure of gaining deeper insights into Rob's journey and ambitions. Here's a snapshot of the fascinating revelations we uncovered: 1) What aspect of your work brings you the most joy or satisfaction? "I love building world-class teams. I especially enjoy building organizations utilizing a philosophy that is less "recruiting to fill positions" and much more "build orgs in ways that orgs have never been built". The most fun talent problems are found in the latter." 2) Why did you become a StartupExperts Member, and how has the community influenced you professionally? "I was referred to StartupExperts by a former colleague of mine (Isabel Alves de Lima) who spoke very highly of the group. I don't know if the group has "influenced" me as much as it's helped me when thinking about different things I'm doing. It has been especially helpful in that I'm the first non-technical hire at my current company and StartupExperts has been a tremendous resource when seeking guidance/info for things that are outside my core competence, but are necessary for me to do being the only person at my company doing things such as finance, operations, legal, office stuff, etc etc etc in addition to my core of talent and recruiting."

Good Morning ☕ Fixing errors within your tech stack is not sexy; it can be complicated, and if we're all honest, may not get you that internal promotion. But it could be a key differentiator in raising that additional capital your company desperately needs. Smart capital allocators are not looking for sexy. They want cash flow, profitability, and founders who understand value. Showing them you have an efficient infrastructure that can scale as quickly as your growth forecast could be the difference in closing your next raise. It may not have been something they looked at historically, but times have changed, and we think for the better. #finops #privateequity #venturecapital Some quick tips from our Venture Saver team below: 👇 👇 👇 👇 👇 👇

52% of software projects fail due to misalignment in expectations and planning between non-tech founders and their tech teams. According to a study by Techstars, non-tech founders frequently face challenges in differentiating essential skills from resume exaggerations. By following these steps, you can hire a technical team capable of developing and supporting a product that drives your business forward and instills investor confidence in your strategy. #nontechfounders #founders #techteam #startupfounder #ceo #fintech #csuite #Hrmanager #Hrmanagement

💼 Is the Company Financially Stable? A company’s financial health matters—especially if you’re considering a startup. ⚖️ Make sure to ask about the company’s funding and stability during the interview process. Lack of funding can lead to layoffs or sudden closures, and you don’t want to be left scrambling after just a month. Protect your career by doing your due diligence! 🔎 #StartupLife #CareerGrowth #JobSecurity