Hollister and MITX sponsored a fantastic event yesterday at the MassChallenge building. We had a great turn out, tasty breakfast and coffee, and intellectually stimulating conversation and banter. Below I discuss some of the main talking points from the panel speakers: Joe Finsterwald from Karmaloop, Scott Jamison from Jornata, Drew Volpe from Locately, and Chris Rose from Hollister with Dayna Grayson from North Bridge Venture Partners as the moderator- as well as some questions from the audience posed to the panel. All of the topics and questions center around how to attract technical talent in such a hot, booming tech market and furthermore, after you attract the talent, how do you keep people and what incentives do you provide to make them stay.
Here is the summary below:
What are your thoughts on offering equity to attract new talent?
The panel was pretty much in unison with this topic. Everyone agreed to be selective with how much equity you give away at such an early seed stage. You don't want to give away equity too quickly and without a vesting schedule, which Dayna Grayson suggested be between 4-5 years. They made the point that if you give away too much too quickly, you could run into a situation down the road where this person or set of people no longer align with the company's goals, subsequently they leave, and then they have a controlling stake in your company (oops!). Case in point: Facebook (anyone see the Social Network?). In sum, offer equity (especially when you don't have any funding or have very little), but be selective and enforce a vesting schedule.
How big of a role does a company's environment play when attracting talent?
The words "environment" and "culture fit" were a recurring theme on the panel. All agreed that although technical skills are very important, culture fit is probably just as if not more important. Scott pointed out that Jornata's environment consists of an open culture minus the cubes, but with lots of Nerf guns. He describes his company's environment as a home-base for employees to feel safe, comfortable, and productive. All agreed cubes were the worst invention of all time. Joe talked about Karmaloop's beer fridge and later joked that the fridge has probably led employees to drinking problems. Drew and Chris mentioned the importance of communication and camaraderie as well as "fit" within the team. They all seemed to make the point that environment is critical to attracting talent but you first have to decide what environment you want to have and thus strategically hire people who will only further develop that culture or environment.
How do you feel about your employees pursuing a start-up on their own? How do you approach that?
The panel had some differing opinions on this one. Joe came out strong on the side of supporting his engineers to pursue whatever passion they have, as long as it doesn't interfere with the work @ Karmaloop. Joe feels that people who have outside interests and passions are typically some of the best employees because they are smart, interesting, and think outside the box. He also said he offers to help his employees with their own pursuits in any way he can. Both Scott and Drew felt it was more of an intellectual property issue and were careful to not endorse any "side" projects or companies, simply because the lines can be very muddled with what is an employee's property vs. the company's property.
Are there any specific methodologies you use when interviewing candidates? What are the most important questions you ask or qualities you try to assess in interviews?
Although they all had different interview styles they described, the panel all agreed that determining a candidate's problem solving ability was priority number one. Scott mentioned that candidates can be very good interviewers but when asked to solve a problem on the spot, often times they fail miserably. The challenge is finding someone who can communicate and articulate their points but also have this problem solving ability. The other important factor is assessing a candidates' computer science background. The mastery of a certain programming language is not the primary focus, but rather determining the mastery of data structures, algorithms, and operating systems. Chris stressed the importance of arranging for the candidates to meet with not only the technical team, but also other non-technical people in the company. This is important because most engineers nowadays are not siloed, but rather wear many hats, interact with end users and clients/customers, and sometimes are even the face of the company. It's important that engineers are multi-faceted and have the ability to think independently.
Thoughts on acquiring a company simply for the talent? i.e. Hubspot with OneForty
Drew reflected on his days as Director of Engineering at Endeca when this was a pretty common practice. However, all agreed that this is not a common occurrence here in Boston, at least not yet. The most recent example I can think of here in Boston is the acquisition of OneForty by Hubspot. I believe as the start-up community continues to explode, companies swallowing up other smaller companies, simply for the engineering talent, will happen more and more. It's certainly one way to solve the "we can't find good engineers" issue!
What are the best methods of finding talent? Traditional ways or more creative ways out there?
The panel came to the conclusion that traditional ways i.e. posting your job on Monster are way outdated. Scott encouraged everyone to use your own network and "always be hiring". He said that when he attends networking events or meetup groups and makes connections with good engineers, he understands that the hire may not happen immediately. He embraces the fact that these things take time, sometimes even 6-12 months. Joe talked about "wining and dining" potential hires and really taking the time to show them what you're all about. Most felt that this was the best way to find the best talent but it was also the most time consuming. Sometimes companies need engineers and cannot afford to wait 6-12 months for the "right" person. This is when more traditional ways may enter the equation such as utilizing recruiters or posting your job online. My take on this topic is that hiring managers should use all avenues possible. Don't just use recruiters or don't just rely on your network. Embrace all possibilities and that way you'll always know what's out there.
How does one go about retaining the talent once you find it?
The strongest point the panel emphasized here was: keep your engineers challenged and intellectually stimulated. If your engineers get bored or feel they aren't making a major contribution to the overall direction or bottom line of the company, they will leave and find another company where they can make an impact. Allow them to explore and use their problem solving skills to discover a new approach or solution. Drew and Joe encourage their engineers to tell them (Joe and Drew) what they want to work on. That way, it's their choice and never feel like they are siloed or stuck working on the same thing every day. Of course, the beer fridge and Nerf guns don't hurt either.
All in all, it was a great panel filled with very different points of view and perspectives on such a debated and hot topic in Boston. There were many other topics discussed and questions asked, but these were some of the highlights of the discussion. I'd love to hear any other thoughts or comments!!
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