Attracting and Retaining Awesome Talent

……for start ups

Anilesh Seth Co-Founder and CEO, KROW A different look at WORK

Perhaps the topic should be……

FINDING, CONVINCING and

Retaining Awesome Talent ….for start ups

To begin with, some MBA gyan……

Mentor/Coach Co-Founder Advisor Core Team Developers Marketing Sales etc

At what point do you need each role? The needs will change

Why do you need each role?

Map your needs. Be clear about why you need some roles

Role When Why Short/Long

Mentor/Coach Idea - Confidence - Bounce off ideas - Network - Help find investors - Help find talent

The type of person you are looking for may change over time

Co-Founder Idea? - More the merrier - Share the risk and

reward - Builds confidence - Synergistic

Advisor Seed/Funding stage - Approach investors

- Resume building

May be in place just for this specific objective

Core team Idea/Seed - Take on key responsibilities

Ideally long term – but be prepared that your own idea of the right person may change

Other team members Seed and beyond - Need based skills There will be peaks and troughs – these tends to be skills that are more abundantly available

Mapping out what you think you need will force you think deeply This step is crucial as it enables you to devise a plan to attract the right people

Note: this is an example only and is not meant to be prescriptive

So how do you convince someone to join you….an unknown startup….?

Prestige/Vision Money

Motivators

Abundant skills

Tough to find

Rare/Industry figure

Wealth

Your strategy will depend upon a combination of: - Who you are looking for - What motivates that person - Is it a long term or a short term need

A different combination of motivators will therefore need to be configured

Role Your conviction

Vision Importance accorded

Wealth building opportunity

Technical thrill

Aggressive stock plus some money

Some stock, mostly money

Mostly money

Mentor/Coach

Co-Founder

Advisor

Core team

Other team members

Note: this is an example only and is not meant to be prescriptive

What can you leverage?

What you have going for you

• Your vision

• Your conviction

• Your network

• Your business plan and willingness to part with stock to create wealth building options for those willing to invest in you and your idea

What you may not have

• Upfront cash

• Upfront company valuation

What you have far outweighs what you don’t……..

And remember, if you sell to their families, you have a high probability of a sale!

Some maxims….

• Your strongest selling point is your vision and conviction • Ensure a match of objectives……and values…… • Be clear about short term vs long term roles – why give stock for short term roles

or non-critical ones? • Remember stocks are difficult to value – sell the value on vision…but also

remember that stocks don’t pay bills. Some people need to do that • Look at family background – does the person have a “cover”? • Don’t hire for skill alone – value fit must be there. Be clear : are you looking for a

thinker + doer or only a doer. Would you part with stock for just a doer? • Be prepared to invest a fair amount of time in recalibrating everyone's

commitment – and in reinforcing and in adjusting the formula for the right person • Build relationships with the family – the start up must be an extended family;

share the joys and sorrows of life in general • Involve the wider company – don’t get closeted with a coterie and leave the rest

out • Communicate, communicate, communicate – in various media, whenever you get

an opportunity - visibility motivates across the board