build a kickass team - no pingpong table required
TRANSCRIPT
VUCA: your new world
Most disruptive era ever
rapid change everywhere
Old rules – broken
new rules - added
Repeat
Fast paced, risk taking and
Ever changing competitive
landscape
Portfolio structure 3 stages, 3 companies, 3 teams
The startup stage
the scaling stage
The Large Company stage
Portfolio structure 3 stages, 3 companies, 3 teams
The startup stage
the scaling stage
The Large Company stage
"What matters is not ideas, but the
people who have them. Good people
can fix bad ideas, but good ideas
can't save bad people.”
Paul Graham
8 common mistakes
1. No co-founder pre-nup
2. Hiring people like you
3. Not knowing exact role/s
4. Testing the skills, not the fit
5. Hiring at Speed instead of a+
6. overselling
7. Inflated titles early on
8. Not getting help
your first hires dictate Everything else.
A+ talent attracted by other A+
A talent hire B staff
B staff only hire C staff
HR interview tips
Sell first, then Interview. Failed interviewees often your
best advocates.
Exciting then formal
Make it competitive
Hire BOTH direct & use recruiters
Do formal ref checks only for process, else keep to team fit
ASOS culture first: anybody can block a hire (for the right,
cultural fit or reason!)
Go out! Games, drinks and dinners, must be informal.
Avoid the 8 common mistakes
Hire a* only after PFM stage
Start immediately, hire
slowly, fire quickly
Use your f&F&F
Actively use your network
use friends’ LinkedIn
accounts
Admit what you don't know
Use professionals for the
first hires.
Hustle ! You’re expected to
Ask for favours (2.5 x rule)
Offer (small) finders fee.
iPad works better than $600 cash
prize
"subject to“ contracts
Why a company culture
Without one, it’s just a job.
After product/tech, 2nd
best investment
Only way to attract top talent from better
funded tech firms.
Best tool to keep core values as you grow larger
extra boost for all
employee attitudes, job satisfaction and organizational commitment
discretionary effort of up to 20%.
(source: Arizona state university - 2007-2011)
Because nobody can buy it or steal it from you !
Values STATED
deliver best service
Embrace creativity and initiative
Most talented people
REALITY
failed in the bid to acquire
remaining 60% BSkyB
News of the World closed down.
Failure of accountability
Strong ethics problem
(phone hacking)
Values STATED
Our culture embraces
innovative and imaginative
thinking while striving for,
and achieving, excellence.
(1) Raise the Bar
(2) At the Frontier of
Innovation
(3) No Limits
REALITY
Autocratic , Old fashioned
Leadership
Crushing Innovation in employees
Poor quality product Releases
Stock price
Feb 7th 2011 $69.69
Dec 12th 2011 $16.21
Culture builder | your To do list
1. build a culture of accountability from day one
2. keep mouth closed and ears and eyes open
3. build understanding, trust, and credibility with new recruit in
the first three months on the job
4. over-promise and sets unrealistic expectations early on
5. Drive changes quickly, respect others’ business and culture
backgrounds
6. Complain to investors and board
7. focus, focus, focus on immediate opportunities and key metrics
8. too involved in execution – delegate
9. being CEO get means serving your team
10. No being self-aware, introspective – 360 reviews include you
11. No being too hard on people and set expectations too high
Building your culture
What you do
Make your company clear
about its own.
align people with clear
expectations of behaviour
Match culture with talent
build accountability and
high performance ethos
Hire a*, show full support
and trust immediately
Support failures - analyse.
wHat you need to do
A Compelling Vision
Transparency
Shared Language
Organizational Inclusion
Development starting from
the top
CULTURE: I STRIVE TO BE
Real. Don’t project any image, it masks true personality.
Empathetic. Listen, trust, relate. A coach and advisor.
Humble.
Be direct.
Be transparent. It’s your job to make sure people know what’s
happening--that means the good, the bad and the ugly.
Never shoot the messenger.
Make the hard decisions.
Don’t state your culture, just do it.
SMART
real numbers with real deadlines. No "I
want more visitors."
Measurable or nothing. No buzz words e.g.
"brand engagement" or "social influence."
Attainable – GOALS ARE challenging but
possible.
Realistic - be honest with yourself, you
know you/R TEAM and limitations.
Timebound – everything has a deadline. No
"someday."
Simple to-do list
Get your team profiled. Only complementary hires.
Set up your office space according to your values
S.M.A.R.T everything
Make decisions fast, even with limited data, then
course-correct
Get outsiders to help, they want / like to.
Celebrate micro-victories
Get out of the office together
Celebrate micro-victories
It’s a long way to a big victory
Weekly updates, by category
Kpi update by team/functio
Open Fridays
Lunch together
Q&A
Debate, poll, vote
Celebrate reaching small milestones
Invite your early adopters, make them part of the family
What worked for me
Stand up meetings
“Open mike” Friday lunches
Share the data, especially the bad news
Ask “ what would you do? ” often.
Have the tough discussions early, ask for input
Agree, then Set challenging goals
Progressively give more control to people
Have the team spend time on what it doesn’t know yet. People need
to learn new things to keep inspired.
Finland was Famous for…
(Loooong) winters
Snowstorms, Ice, snowstorms, ice.
repeat
Vodka
Sauna
ice skates
…ahem… virtual air-guitar
a New Culture in finland
low hierarchy
Transparency
freedom
Responsibility /
Accountability
be yourself, have fun.
SUMMARY
1. Your new job: Chief people officer
2. Your company will hire 3 teams, not 1
3. Avoid the 8 most common hiring mistakes
4. First hires: A+ only, as they will hire most others
5. One chance only. Take your time.
6. Get help from pros.
7. Culture : don’t state it, live it out.
8. Try new things, break a few things.
HANDY TOOLS, TIPS & MORE
FounderDating - premiere site for founders/co-founders
CoFoundersLab - find a co-founder in any city
YouNoodle - founder matching
Stanford Business School Interns –Stanford interns are cheap
Angel List – Angel List jobs board
Startup Weekend - Launch a Startup and meet a co-founder
FoundersHookUp - Invite-only find a co-founder
Founder Strengths – Gallup Strengths Center
PartnerUp- small business site to find partners, business opportunities,
real estate, etc.
Meetup - go to a Meetup!
How to hire developers - mike greenfield
Foundrs - co-founder equity calculator
Lance Laking, common sense on people management
Netflix HR
“You look for three qualities:
integrity, intelligence and
energy.
The most important one is
integrity, because if they don't
have that, the other two
qualities are going to kill you.”
Warren Buffet