Why I love Washington DC

Happy First Day of Spring! What a great way to return to Boston: 70 degree weather, sunshine, and happy commuters. All I can say is you can find me either out on the Rose Kennedy Greenway or at Temezcal drinking margaritas every day this week. I just got back from an awesome weekend in DC where I spent time catching up with friends from Pepperdine, celebrating St. Patty's day, and playing drinking games with some of the coolest parents I have ever met. Playing "Never Have I Ever" with your friends' parents just takes the game to a whole new level. OK, here's the deal: Boston is and always will be my number one, but watch out Boston, you have some serious cool factor competition. Not only does DC have amazing weather and some of the prettiest homes in the country, it also has an awesome bar scene, super nice people, great food, lots of young people, and a serious buzz around their start-up community. Plus, they have the politics thing going for them, which I think adds a whole other layer of complexity. I think what I like the most about DC and the reason start-ups there will have so much success is the diverse and eclectic group of people you have access to! You have people from all different walks of life, different backgrounds, different education levels, etc.. all mashed together in this big melting pot. It's so vibrant and you can tell that people are excited to be there; they're excited to be in the throws of it, making it happen. I was only there for 2 days and I could feel this spirit, this passion for life and success. Don't be jealous Boston, you know I love you most, but I definitely can't wait to get back to DC. If you are passionate about politics, technology, or entrepreneurship (or all three, like me) you should head down there and experience it for yourself. I'm pushing my chips "all in" that you'll love it too.

Sales Meme: Hysterical

My friend sent this to me today.. pretty much sums it right up!! LOL

Discovering Your CEO Brand

Wow, what a great event the Boston Chamber sponsored this morning at the Four Seasons Boston. I go to a lot of networking events and breakfast seminars as part my "ambassador" role for Hollister, but this was truly a great event that I feel made a big impact on those in the room. The topic entitled "Discover Your CEO Brand" featured panelists including Suzanne Bates, author of the aforementioned book title, Kip Hollister, CEO of Hollister staffing, Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact, and Chef Barbara Lynch, CEO of Barbara Lynch Gruppo. The panel clearly featured women leaders from all different walks of life and industries and also spoke to a room full of women (and a couple of men) from extreme backgrounds, education, and upbringing. Hollister had the pleasure of inviting several of our firm's current clients as well as some prospective clients who we thought would get a lot of value out of attending. Suzanne Bates moderated the panel which was set in a "fireside" environment. Suzanne asked each of the panelists what challenges they've faced in their careers and how they've battled through them, how important are values to an organization, what are your values, and how have you used your values to impact the bottom line of your company.

What was truly inspiring and always a great reminder for a 24 year old like myself with just a couple years of experience, was that each person on the panel described major challenges and roadblocks they've faced at some point in their careers. The best part? They all identify those roadblocks as being major turning points... for the better! Kip Hollister sited the 3 recessions she's experienced since Hollister's doors opened in 1988. She even went as far to say that she was grateful for each recession because it made her business stronger, evolved herself and her people for the better, and aligned her back to the core of her value system. Chef Barbara Lynch told the audience she never graduated high school. She is 100% self-taught as a chef and has literally built her brand and her restaurants from complete ground zero. Gail Goodman sited the tech bust of 2000 and reflected back on a time when she didn't think the company would survive. When I hear these kinds of stories, I always relate them back to myself, my generation, and expectations I have of myself. I think sometimes Generation Y can fall into a habit of wanting success fast and easy. Or at least fast. But as the panelists continued their chat, it got me thinking that everyone gets their start somewhere, and even if there are bumps in the road which there inevitably will be, as long as you stay true to yourself and your core, you will be successful.

One of the best things Gail Goodman mentioned was the importance of being involved in a peer mentor group. She cites this group, not her coworkers, not her board, not her spouse, but this one group as having the single biggest impact on her career, and ultimately Constant Contact's success. Gail suggested that every person have an outlet where they can openly discuss their fears, their failures, their success stories, or their ideas, no matter how crazy they sound. I echo Gail's suggestion and truly believe that having a mentor, if you don't already have one, should be at the top of your to-do list. As a young woman in business, it's extremely important for me to have someone that I can relate to who has been in my shoes and can guide me towards smart decisions. As we can all attest, the daily grind can sometimes be.. well a grind! So, having a successful, dynamic, enthusiastic woman leader to help keep my eye on the ball is so wildly important.

Finally, the panel emphasized the importance of not only having values, but communicating those values to every single employee, no matter how big the company. Both Kip and Gail said that each employee should know what the company stands for and why. Gail said that "customer delight" was their number one value. Chef Lynch said the number one value she espouses is "passion". Kip said "integrity". They attributed these values as being the number one catalyst to building the entire company's culture. I mean, if these are their values, how could they not be successful? In a world where everything is fast and easy, it's really a delight to come across three women leaders who are going against the grain and building brands around excellence in business and in self. They also all agreed that it was this going against the grain mindset that has in fact grown their bottom line and impacted them tremendously economically. Of course we are all here to make money, but I so loved when Kip said, "If your company and your people are aligned in excellence and in purpose, money will follow" because that to me means real success. Again, what a fantastic event and something I was truly honored to be a part of. Until next time..

Stay classy,
-M

Reigning in the New Year with Something Different in Mind

Over the long Christmas weekend I was at home with my family in my parents' home in Franklin, MA. What a great opportunity it was to relax, drink wine, eat my mom's southern cooking, and cozy up to a book of Winston Churchill quotes. I mean, what other way to celebrate Christmas by reflecting on the "wit and wisdom" of one of the greatest leaders of our time, right? Ok, maybe that's just me. But as I was reading this book, which is filled with everything from famous quotes to coined phrases to Churchill's personal reflections, one quote particularly hit me. The quote said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." After reading it back a few times, it hit me: no one says bold things like this anymore. We've entered a time where everyone is encouraged to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" and "stay connected" and "don't burn your bridges" etc.. but couldn't one argue that there is a time and a place to actually burn those bridges, end communication, and move forward with your life? Trust me, I'm a big advocate of building relationships and working through conflict and sticking with people even through major adversity, but I feel as I live longer on this earth, I'm also becoming a big advocate for only keeping people in my life who are adding true, real value. It's becoming clear that when I stand up for myself and advocate for my own self worth, it's one of the most empowering feelings in the entire world. I've learned this year that I don't have to please everyone; I don't have to "keep in touch" with everyone- I can actually choose who I want in my own little world, on my terms. I've learned more than ever this year that I don't have to be all things to all people. And when you do this, you close those certain "doors" whether that's friendships, relationships, clients, etc.. the most amazing thing happens: windows open. And I mean seriously big windows, full of opportunity and possibility. I can promise you that as we enter 2012, I will no longer straddle both sides of the fence or attempt to have people, relationships, work, or whatever both ways. I will stand up for what I believe in to my core, and if I make enemies in the process, so what? I will always know that I did the right thing for me.

If you haven't read anything on Winston Churchill yet, I encourage everyone to download one of the many books written about his life. It's truly inspiring and also hysterical.

-M 

Just before Thanksgiving..

Wowza! It has been a real whirlwind of events and activity over the last 5 or 6 days. Based on my schedule last week and the scramble to set up interviews and close deals, I think everyone tries to jam every bit of business into the few short days leading up to Thanksgiving. Not a bad approach, but I can definitely admit I spent most of the weekend sleeping and trying to recover. Before I fly off to Oklahoma on Wednesday (I know..please don't judge me), I wanted to spend some time highlighting and reflecting on a few of the really cool events I went to and the awesome people I got to meet. So, here goes:

Monday: industry event sponsored by Monster at the Westin on the waterfront. This was a great event but different than most I go to. Everyone in attendance included fellow recruiters and staffing execs AKA all of Monster's clients. I met industry folks from Texas to California as well as pretty much the entire Monster staff in Maynard. Not only did I get to meet Hollister's personal Monster rep, who was really awesome by the way, but I also participated in a lot of interesting dialogue with my competition. Who knew?! The opportunity to put 60 recruiters in a room all from different organizations is rare, but is truly a great chance to talk about the market and discuss staffing "best practices" with people from very different backgrounds representing very different parts of the country. It also didn't hurt that they had an open bar, amazing food, and really good cupcakes..

Tuesday: breakfast sponsored by Middlesex Bank at the Newton Marriott. Topic: "The Innovation Economy: What Makes Massachusetts Different." I love this topic. You know why? Because, bottom line, we are awesome. Ok, maybe I'm biased, but I think our economy stacks up quite well in areas such as R&D, innovation, technology, and healthcare compared to some of the strongest economies in the world. For example: Massachusetts ranks as the most R&D intensive economy in the world. Ranked at number 2: Israel. Our little state beats an entire country. That's pretty awesome. Even though we are so great, we also have some drawbacks. One of our state's major drawbacks: our slow population growth. Not only do we have slow population growth (most likely attributed to our population also being highly educated- 45% of our working age population has a Bachelors degree or higher) but we also have an aging population. That's right- we are getting older and older by the minute. Luckily we have a strong venture capital force coming on strong (California is ranked #1 in this category, no surprise) to create new companies, attract young talent, and hopefully, fingers crossed, keep these college students here in Mass.

Wednesday: BBJ Innovation All Stars event at the House of Blues. Let me say this was such a great venue to host an event like this. The vibe was celebratory as well as professional and included a room full of interesting, charismatic, and intelligent people all of which make up very different sectors of the Boston community. I had the opportunity to meet the CEO from Organogenesis, Geoff MacKay, featured as a "Tech Luminary", who is pioneering the science behind regenerative medicine. I also had the chance to meet a few of the folks from InkHouse Public Relations (featured as a "Rising Star"), Bobbi Carlton from Carlton PR and Mass Innovation Nights (also featured as a "Tech Luminary"), as well as several other people from the BBJ, Winter Wyman, Travel Leaders, etc... I felt very honored to be in the same room with so many of these bright and innovative leaders who are incredibly inspiring in their own right.

Events like these are so exciting and a thrill to be a part of. I'm looking forward to squeezing in a few more before the end of the year. I encourage everyone to get out there, meet as many people like this as you can, and embrace all that Boston has to offer. Trust me, you will get inspired. Until then, I'm officially in Thanksgiving mode and will officially snap out of it next Monday. Everyone have a wonderful holiday and enjoy all of your yummy food and all that we have to be thankful for!

-M

Reflection on the Hollister/MITX Panel @ MassChallenge

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!!

Keeping Talent in MA: A Hot Topic These Days

About 2 months ago, Hollister decided to join forces with our friends at MITX to sponsor a panel event around the idea of keeping technical talent here in Boston, thus naming the event "Attracting and Retaining Top Technical Talent." We decided as a group to contact various relevant players who know, understand, and embrace this challenge on a daily basis. Unless you have been living under a rock these past 12 months, you may have heard about how competitive the tech landscape is currently here in the Commonwealth. We have VCs and Angels breathing life into start-ups more than ever before; we have Mark Zuckerberg coming to MIT and Harvard to poach our talent; and we have people like myself who are constantly networking and out trying to make new connections for possible introductions to my clients. It's a war zone out there! So, we decided to have this event to highlight some of these issues as well as some possible solutions from industry veterans.

We were lucky enough to schedule Joe Finsterwald, CTO from Karmaloop, a wildly popular e-commerce site for streetwear that has grown from 1 employee in the CEO's basement to a company of about 130 employees; Scott Jamison, CEO from Jornata, a well respected Microsoft Sharepoint consulting company in downtown Boston; Dayna Grayson from North Bridge Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that has invested in companies such as A123 Systems and Demandware; Drew Volpe, CTO and Co-Founder of Locately, winner of last year's MassChallenge; and Chris Rose, Director of Hollister's IT division.
The discussion will mainly revolve around:

• What are the competency gaps between candidates and companies' needs, and how are they being addressed?
• What are the crucial tech roles, and what are the top companies doing now to ensure success for these positions within for their businesses?
• What are the specific strategies for attracting and retaining tech talent?  Which ones have a proven ROI?

Check out all the event details here: http://toptechtalent.eventbrite.com/

The event is free and breakfast will be provided at sign in!