FounderMail 3rd Edition: The Power of Elite Talent
đ Hey there! Iâm Ilan. This is FounderMail, your monthly dose of startup insights that helps founders hire top talent, raise capital, and stay informed. Elite talent: Game-changing. Hereâs how⌠Letâs go!
In This Edition:
Shower Thoughts: How To Hire 10x Talent
Whatâs Got Our Attention
Unstacked Podcast: Scaling Your Team from 70 to 7000
The MVP Play with Alan Paulin, Co-Founder & CEO of Flint
Unstacked Perspectives: Elite Tech Talent
Shower Thoughts đ
Soak up insights from our networkâs top investors, founders and tech influencers.
Founders, for 10x talent, should you 1000x your recruitment process?
"He's not even a 10x engineer. He's like, 100x, or 1,000x engineer" - Gmail creator Paul Buchheit discussing engineer, Bret Taylor, who created Google Maps.
The value of hiring elite talent remains indisputable (as Reed Hastings famously said, 'the best is easily ten times better than averageâ), but in the battle for top tier talent, the difficulty for founders building an elite team lies more in the how.
Tolerate chaos for hiring - Use concepts like Netflixâs Rapid Recovery model to guide your evaluation process & uncover the high performers who can fix problems quickly when not hindered by a focus on error prevention.
Sell like Crazy  - With potentially no tangible product in hand, focus on selling immediate impact. Smart people want to solve interesting problems, often ones that are not obvious but critical like say, building Google Maps in one weekend out of frustration.
Abandon your recruiting 101 cheat sheet. Invest the energy in tailoring a process designed for individual founding employees. It will service you with a cycle of smart people.
TL;DR Vying for talent against the likes of Facebook and Google becomes akin to modern-day David versus Goliath. Customizing your recruitment approach will pay you back ten-fold.
Whatâs Got Our Attention
The latest startup news and research you canât afford to miss.
The Good in AI: Mind-reading, river protection and speaking to animals (The Week)
Focus on Skills in Your Talent Strategy to Grow A Top Team (MIT Sloan Management Review)
The Next Billion Developers (David Cahn for Sequoia Capital)
Unstacked Startups Podcast Recap
Check out our favorite insights from a recent episode of the Unstacked Startups Podcast. Every episode, Unstacked host, Ilan Saks, chats with startup founders, early employees, leaders, and VCs to uncover the 'secret sauce' of startup growth.
LAURA HILTON
Currently the Head of Executive Talent at Bain Capital Ventures, Laura helped build the early team at AppDirect and scaled the executive team at Stripe. For a newsletter edition focused on Elite Talent - Lauraâs insight was a must-have.
Key Lessons
Itâs a small world after all, your reputation depends on a polished message when you hit the job market.
Stack your network with the crème de la crème.
Tailored to perfection! The interview - not just your suit.
VIP Talent get VIP treatment: drop everything and get on that call.
As Cheap Trick said, so should founders - Â âI Want You to Want Meâ.
The MVP Play
Unlocking the playbooks of startup MVPs, one question at a time.
Checking into the game? For this edition, Alan Paulin, Co-Founder and CEO at Flint, Ex-Director of Engineering at CashApp.
MOTIVATION
Why are you building Flint and what is the driving force behind your willingness to endure the challenges of founding a startup?
Itâs deeply personal. Building Flint is an opportunity to revolutionize how companies manage their most valuable asset, people. We are pushing to shift from labor-intensive annual performance cycles and missed opportunities for coaching, to a world where continuous alignment and feedback fuels growth and development. I wish I had this platform during my leadership roles at CashApp and MobileCoin.
VENTURE
What advice do you have for founders to ensure a good fit with potential VC partners?
Look for VC partners that provide:
Insights & Advice: Can you build a connection that transcends mere transactions and capital?
Trust & Lasting Relationships: Can you partner with them long-term? Do they align with your values and vision?
Filling Gaps in Leadership - Can they leverage their networks to find exceptional hires, secure key customers, or provide other strategic advantages?
PEOPLE
How do you identify truly bar-raising talent?
I put a lot of weight on people with a strong growth mindset, strong internal drive, and hunger to tackle big problems. Iâve also learned that there is no replacement for direct experience with someone. Not only are you familiar with their capabilities and previous impact, you also have built trust and know they can tolerate ambiguity.
The PLAY
Hiring elite talent is not enough. Founders need to unleash their impact:
UNITE elite talent in a culture of collaboration via team projects & cross functional work.
LEAD the charge by continuously learning and creating an environment where asking why is normalized.
PUSH your team to link daily actions to your vision.
Consider this: Without the right culture, mindset, and team, would Michael Jordan and the Bulls have really won six championships? We think not.
Elite talent thrives not in isolation, but in ecosystems crafted for greatness.
Unstacked Perspectives
Unstacked host, Ilan Saks, on a mission to basically give everyone a Harvard MBA, one lesson at a time.
The difference between 'good' and 'great' can hinge on one key factor: your team. And, a great team is all about having the right people.
What sets apart an average performer from someone who can truly drive your company forward? Our latest post explore this question.
At StackedSP, we've assisted countless founders in hiring elite talent - individuals who bring a unique blend of skill, passion, and drive to catalyze growth and innovation in your organization.
Curious to learn more? Read the full post to uncover the 4 Attributes of Elite Talent, the productivity value of great people, and the impact of AI on your top performers.
Thanks for reading FounderMail!
FounderMail is as public as Elon Muskâs tweets (or do we say Xs now?!), so subscribe and feel free to hit the share button if you enjoyed.
Unstacked Startups is powered by StackedSP
www.unstacked.stackedsp.com | @UnstackedPodcast