We all know recruiting is hard. Almost everyone, universally, complains about it. I’ve never heard anyone say that they’re always able to hire the best people, whenever they want, easily. It just doesn’t happen. More often than not though, at least in my experience, it’s actually a problem of effort and not something else. Sure […]
The Difference Between Stealth Mode and Quiet Mode
A lot of companies still talk about being in stealth mode and aiming for a big hoorah type launch. It doesn’t usually work. Worse still, startups that are in stealth mode rarely talk to customers, prospects, users, partners or anyone else before their big reveal, which means they have little to no validation for what […]
How To Design a Successful Interview Process for Hiring Top Talent
Most companies don’t have a serious, repeatable interviewing process for hiring. Instead they wing it, bringing people in for interviews, asking a few questions, turning it into a fireside chat, and then hoping for the best. In my experience that’s not good enough. At Standout Jobs (2007-2010) we hired some great people. I still consider […]
Recruit Top Talent Before and While Raising Capital
Hiring is an ongoing endeavor. You know you’re doing it right (at least partially) when you’re always doing it, even if you’re not actively trying to fill roles. One of the CEO’s main jobs should be recruiting top talent. Unfortunately, most CEOs don’t put enough systematic effort into recruiting and it falls to the wayside. […]
The Resume Black Hole
Anyone that’s ever applied for a job has experienced the resume black hole. You apply for a job and don’t hear anything back (you might get an automated “thank you”). After a few days you send a follow up message (if you can find an email address) and wait some more. Nothing. No word whatsoever […]
A Massive Opportunity to Create Massive Damage Success
Massive Damage is the location-based mobile game company that graduated from Year One Labs last year. I’ve written about them in the past. Their first game, Please Stay Calm (a zombie apocalypse game) is killing it with a strong, dedicated user base, fun / addictive gameplay, and lots of cool stuff coming soon. Plus, the […]
HighScore House is Hiring
HighScore House is a Year One Labs portfolio company. The company was founded by Theo Ephraim and Kyle Seaman. HighScore House is rethinking the way kids earn the things that they want, while making the lives of families easier and more positive than ever before. They use game design to motivate kids to take on […]
The Secret to Successful Job Referrals
Lots of companies are entering the job referral space. It’s heating up like crazy. They’re looking at someone’s social graph and trying to figure out how to convince and incentivize that person to recommend friends for jobs. And from what I’ve seen, they don’t work. I don’t know of a single recruitment company or startup […]
How Many Hours Should a Startup Employee Work?
Every so often I get drawn into the debate about startup employees and how much they should work. Should you hire workaholics? Is it expected that startup employees work 100+ hours per week? Should they be online all the time, constantly available and ready to go? It depends. And it’s up to you. If you […]
9 Ways to Successfully Edit Job Postings
Job postings suck. We all know it. It’s been said many, many times. And it doesn’t seem like complaining about it is helping. I’m experimenting on NextMontreal with a job board hack, but I’ve also been thinking about practical advice I can provide on how to improve job postings. Instead of getting people to completely […]
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