How much rejection and doubt is normal in the earliest stages of a start up? I’m trying to hire some early employees and everyone keeps passing or not responding. When I do talk to folks, they aren’t interested. Could it just be that the business idea sucks? Is this normal in the early stages?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at
Highlighted IconHIGHLIGHTED

You may need to take chances on younger people with less experience - but said younger people also have a VERY hot job market. What’s the draw for them to consider you?

like

This. every company is struggling to hire engineers. Apple just gave upwards of 180k bonuses to retain talent. As KPMG noted, outside of money and benefits, what's your hook?

like

You should hire a recruiter, even if on contract. They can help you determine what the issues are. I spent a few years as a contract recruiter for early stage startups, here’s what I saw as prominent challenges:
1. The job being hired for was actually 2-3 jobs rolled into one, and candidates knew.
2. Comp, benefits, etc weren’t in alignment for what the company was looking for.
3. You’re targeting candidates that wouldn’t normally consider something early-stage based on having more comfortable options.

As someone else said, early stage start-ups should be willing to hire less experienced folks and train.

likesmarthelpful

This is a great idea. Thanks for the feedback. We are still very early (only 2 employees and looking to bring on a 3rd). We will start fundraising this quarter and hopefully can hire a recruiter once we secure funding.

like
Recent IconRecent

Personally would love to learn more about your startup and any roles you’re hiring for.. looking to make the move to startup world.

likeuplifting

Sent you a DM

Are you giving target total compensation upfront? Tons of companies are reaching out to candidates, so if you're not transparent and paying above market, it's going to be hard to stand out. Personally, I'll pass on a smaller company's role if I can't get a target range for salary and equity before the first round. Otherwise, I'd rather wait to see about interviews from FANG and the like. Most of the time startups are not offering enough equity that the tradeoff is worth it vs bigger public tech company that is growing quickly

like

Context: As the VP of Engineering a few years ago of a startup with 0 in-house engineers, I had to do end-to-end hiring people (i.e. sourcing leads, scheduling, interviews, offer, etc)

Question:
1. How many people have you reached out to?
2. How did you reach out to them and what’s your spill?

Honestly, hiring is hard. And that’s for all stages of a company

like

Interesting. Response rate to my cold reach out is about 50%. Conversion from cold reach out to offer is about 1 out of 25. But that’s for a regular employee. I’d expect it to be harder for co-founder so you may need to reach out to more people.

Im not sure what you guys message to people though as to why your response rate is low. I’d say check how you present yourself as well - like use your title like CEO or CTO of whatever, make sure your email address is not @gmail. And have a legit looking website and just a coming soon page. If you already have all of those, then maybe it’s the message itself and not how you present yourself.

likehelpful

What’s the startup, I work in IT and software and would love to know more

like

Sent you a DM

Personally startups are more appealing to me as an employee but the market is pretty ripe right now as everyone is hoping on the biggest hook that swings in their direction.

like

As someone whose worked in the startup world as an engineering hiring manager. The biggest issue is unclear roles. Engineers are extremely analytical, if your job description is unclear and or is multiple roles rolled into one, it’s a very foreshadow-y red flag that management doesn’t know what they’re doing. They’d run for the hills, remember every candidate in this market, especially engineers have full LinkedIn inboxes filled with recruiter in mails, there’s really no need for them to take a risk like that. The second thing is compensation. Startups who don’t have the perks of FAANG or a C unicorn startup will have to up their compensation to match especially if they are one of the first engineers. They understand the pressure of being first, especially as more people join and it turns out the infra that they scoped out was the wrong direction. No engineer wants to be in that position.

like

How you phrased the question raises many red flags. Like many have commented to haven't said what your start up is. It makes me question if your competitive advantage is strong enough to withstand competition and keep me employed. Also transparency is a big draw , if you have it people are more likely to hear you out. If you want help solving a specific issue, you should state what you need help with or at least outline your process so we can help troubleshoot what may be going wrong.

Maybe your not the right person to pitch the role. Someone mentioned being specific about what you want and not rolling multiple roles into one.

What roles are you hiring for?
Do you disclose pay up front?
What are the top four responsibilities of each role?
Are your roles remote or in an office?
Do you offer equity or stock for early employees?
Do you offer standard benefits package?
Why you?

likehelpful

This is hard to answer without knowing more information. I’d need to see the job announcement

like

Are you pitching or selling the idea correctly? May be your idea is amazing, but the way you tell the story is bad? Hard to say untill there is more context.

You can always build out a PoC to validate before going into hiring. You can DM me if you like to discuss more.

like

Sent you a DM

Looking for a step up in the startup world! Would love to chat sometime.

like

I’d dm but I need one more love

like

I agree with the earlier comments, if you’re not able to compensate generously just yet, You’ll need to identify some ‘hook’ that helps people swing their vote over to you.

As a leadership advisor working with senior leaders, I’m often called in to help with one’s executive presence development.

In addition, I work with those who are hiring to connect them with a science-backed software that allows you to quickly see which candidates are the best fit for your needs, based on their work style, strengths and decision making style. Clients tell me it reduces time to hire significantly, as well as contributes toward a healthy workplace culture as each person’s strengths/communication style are recognized and used in day to day interactions. Let me know if you’d like to chat.

like

I've spent the last 20 something years recruiting for early stage startups and what I found is that in order to get candidates to respond or get excited about the idea you have to sell them on the professional opportunity as well as financial. With everyone hiring, you need to think about what sets this role apart from others? Have good answers for the candidates that are risk adversed. If the founders are seasoned founders talk about their past success. Most important, keep them engaged. With every exchange say things like, we are so excited to move you to next round. etc.. Many co lose talent because no one ever told the candidate they were interested in a genuine way.

like

I joined a startup right out of college in a strategic finance position. Company was in the midst of series A when I joined. Best decision I’ve made. 100% trial by fire since there is no training but the knowledge building and broad experience is hard to match IMO. I think you just need to target people who value knowledge growth, can think, have grit, and are a bit more receptive to some risk in their life. I agree with KPMG 1- look at younger people. There are some unicorns out there. Even in a hot job market the draw to a startup is an accelerated career growth and networking.

like

Could you share some details on the roles you are trying to hire, and some details about the startup

like

If you need a solid software engineer, here I am.

like

Would love to learn more about your idea and concept. I’ve consulted for over 10 years and am looking for my next project or position to share my acumen.

like

What jobs are you hiring for. I am looking to move to start up world

Sent you a DM

What is your company selling or providing?

Related Posts

Oliver Wyman is hiring into our Energy and Natural Resources practice in North America. Consulting experience or relevant industry experience (or both!) helpful.

Industries include:
Oil and gas
Utilities
Mining
Waste / Environmental Services

Happy to answer general questions here or via DM :)

Make the jump now before the recession hits the labor market and opportunities dry up!

like

Multiple opening at Larsen & Toubro Infotech for BFS Consulting. Dm for referral

Post Photo
like

Any UK people here? Need my ad agency exit strategy. I have 10 years strategy experience in top creative agencies. I just can’t do the hours and pay more. What’s it like out there?

like

Any Aftersales Marketers in OEM? I have an interview and I am looking for insights into the role. How big is the aftersales part of the business? Role challenges, opportunites, pros/cons?

like

Hi Fishes,
I have overall experience of 5yrs. Out of which 3years for US healthcare and 2 years for US mortgage. US mortgage domain has now become thinner as industry almost sunk since most of the companies has laid off employees, I was also the victim. Fortunately, got an opportunity to work Optum but heard rumours about the lay-off in our entire process which is creating a frustration and negativity all around. Please refer me if there's any relevant opening in backhend operations. Thanks!

like

Looking to switch to HR consulting role. If anyone has any leads, please reach out. Thank you!

like

Hey all, did anyone apply during the recent Bain experienced hire window and do the online assessment? Or did them in a previous hiring period?

like

What is the average salary @JPMC for Executive director in finance/controllers/FP&A role?

like

How do you move up the chain as a CRA? From 75% traveling to 100% remote role or maybe 20% travel. Any suggestion on remote roles in clinical research where CRA experience is appreciated?

Hi guys,
Looking for a referral in a fast growing tech startup for a business analyst role!!!

Any Presales /Bid manager openings? Can someone help to refer

like

Hello everyone,
You might be aware fis has laid off thousands of employees, I am also affected by it. I am on notice period till 30 December. I request you all if anyone knows any openings for Java developer or Python developer please let me inform🙏. Currently I am going very tough situation😢. I have 2 years working experience.
I am working on credit card payment domain in FIS as a java developer

Post Photo
like

Hi everyone, what is the average payout for a Senior analyst - Business consulting (GCB 6) position at HSBC, Bangalore. I have cleared the interview rounds, I am waiting for the salary break up from them.

like

Hi sharks, i have 4yrs experience and looking for Frontend developer roles. Current ctc : 8.4 LPA and im IMMEDIATE joiner. My teck stack is : Angular, Javascript, Html5,Css3,Rest Apis, Jquery,Rxjs, typescript . Looking for some referral in Accenture

like

Which IP firm has best in-house exit options?

like

Hey Everyone! I’m going to be submitting my application for a role with UnitedHealthcare. Does anyone currently work there and could offer a referral? Much appreciated!

like

I am currently in oracle with very good work life balance, and the manager is pretty chill and does not ask updates like everyday , not a lot of meetings as well and quite recently got an offer from JP morgan. JPMC team is credit risk and role is not fixed yet, that will be decided after onboarding .Want to know how is the WLB there compared to oracle. Can I settle down in jp morgan. I am tired of giving interviews and looking for new jobs 😞

like

Hi all, recently a recruiter from Amazon reached out for an SDE 2(2+ years of exp. required) role and I'm a recent CS grad. I gave the OA (which was extremely difficult w/ 99% cut-off) and other tasks related to the OA. A few hours back, I got a call from the recruiter that I had cleared the assessment and tasks and said that they are looking for 2+ years of exp. I said I'm open to the SDE1 role and said she'll ask her colleagues. Idk what to expect now 😥 Amazon Amazon India

like

So I’ve been freelancing for the last few months while looking for in-house/agency role. I had 10+ years in digital pr and media buying at some big shops but have been told I’m a tweener for roles.

Any HR professionals here? I need to know:Just started a new role and I was in a virtual meeting for new hires discussing benefit questions with our HR reps. Someone asked a question regarding enrollment and the HR rep asked them for their name and pretty much shared that individual’s selections for the next year while we were all on the call. Isn’t that information confidential or at the very least,personal?

like

More Posts

I keep getting pink slipped, non-renewed, etc. 5 out of 7 years as a teacher. It always seems like they’re looking for excuses, but maybe I’m not cut out for this. Has anyone else had this happen?

like

Don't you think HR is just jealous of Developer's Salary Package?

like

Thoughts on comp for digital strategy role at Microsoft? L64 MCOL area

like

Hi fishes, I have total 10 years experience of design and developement experience in ab initio and talend. With data warehouse and data modelling knowledge and also worked in Aws s3.At present I am looking for change immediately.Can someone please help?

like

Never seen so many 🚩s in my life!

likefunny

Hi all, had a very technical question. I'm doing my 2020 NY state taxes itemized deductions (form IT 196). Do y'all know if we can deduct NY state and local taxes or do we have to add them back in Line 41 of this form since these aren't really eligible for deductions. Haven't found a clear answer on this so hoping for some clarity!

like

Has anyone here been ghosted by a recruiter after a good interview? Please share your experiences.

What is RSM's dress code??? I feel so silly, I started during the pandemic and am headed into the office for the first time next week and realized I have no idea 🤦‍♀️

What do you think about what is going on with ACB hearings with respect to LGBTQ community?

like

And go to sleep it’s Monday tomorrow 🥹

Post Photo
funnylikesmart

Something to brighten up your day 🤗

Post Photo
likeuplifting

I attended HCL interview for service desk analyst. Current Package is 3 LPA. I have 5.9 years of experience. But they offer me only 25
% hike. Please suggest can I join or negotiate for more.

Has anyone stayed in the Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka’anapali? Planning a trip in the fall and wanted to stay here but don’t want to pay extra for the Hokupa (not using points). Is the hokupa a must?

like

Daily Octordle #55
5️⃣7️⃣
8️⃣4️⃣
🕚🕛
9️⃣🕐
octordle.com
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟨🟨⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟨🟨⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜

like

Last minute getaway to San Jose Los Cabos this weekend. Staying at the Hilton resort. Suggestions of where to go and what to see? Please and thank you

like

Asking for a friend: for consulting, Tuck or Stern?

like

Beat agencies in Sweden?

7 day breakfast challenge.
Post a picture of your breakfast. Can’t wait to see all of the pics!

like

I’m a security officer for a hospital that I’ve worked in for 7 years. Wanting to find out if I am getting Adequately paid for my work, any suggestions?

like

Additional Posts in Startups and Entrepreneurship

Hi fishes, can you guys share your favorite websites to look for remote job? To look for start up companies? TIA :)

like

If I create a founders networking platform like entrepreneurial fishbowl instead of employee fishbowl, what would be the feature you want the most as a business owner/founder/entrepreneru/buisness minded people who wants to get involved and be our users? Apperciate it and I am curious!

like

How do I protect my IP/startup idea when I am pitching to recruit co-founders and investors? Like an NDA?? Or is there always a risk that someone might swipe it

like

What’s the best place to find manufacturers if I want to make products in the US or Canada? Is there a market place like Alibaba?

like

Can anyone recommend good books or articles on startup org charts and hiring? Think we’ve hit early signs of product/market fit, but not sure who to hire next, in what order, and how the org should evolve over next few years.

like

Pros and cons diving into a sales opportunity with a start up company? I am 27 years old and have 3 years of B2B medical device sales experience.

like

Does anyone have a recommendation of a good resume writer/coach for senior startup people? I’m a former founder and now VP but looking to move into a strategy or ops role at a venture studio or move into a different industry but still in the startup world and could use some help with what to include on my resume.

like
like

Considering an exit to a startup that just completed a solid series B. They’re willing to provide competitive comp package and surprised how large the base is for a startup. Has me concerned about being on the high end and being the first person that comes to mind when it’s time to pinch a few pennies or clean up the books ahead of future rounds/IPO. Valid concern or am I overthinking it?

like

I have 10+ years of strategy consulting experience and I’m interested in joining early stage startups, but their job listings almost never have generalist / consulting / strategy type roles - any advice?

like

I am not an extrovert. What is the best way to raise awareness of your consumer startup?

like

Hey all! New here but hoping someone could offer advise or a connection. I’m looking for a Customer Success Lead role. Not looking for sales roles. I’m looking to hire/develop/lead a support team etc. I’m struggling to find what I’m looking for or I’m not hearing back. If you know if any roles or have a connection please let me know. ☹️😭

like

I recently left public accounting to join a start up. I don’t have too many connections in this world yet, does anyone have recommendations for either articles, books or other sources of information I could use to get an understanding of the startup world and how I can make the right career choices moving forward. - *I’m on the product manager side*

Thanks in advance!

like

Any entrepreneurs out there that feel like there’s a million things no one told you before starting your company? (Good&Bad) 5 years in myself and nearly could write a book with my list of sh*t no one told me… curious to know what’s on your list???

like

VC investor for 4 years and management consultant for 4 years before that. Want to get operating experience at early stage startup but having a tough time finding strategy/ops/chief of staff/GM type roles. Any advice or recruiter recs?

like

I firmly believe leadership makes the difference.

Not only, it highlins each one's value, but especially spreads this value among others.
I'm speaking about life, in a broad sense, which also include work life, but it is not limited to that.

Looking for any kind of suggestion to improve my leadership: books, experiences, attitudes, daily-routine, ...

Thank you!

like

Hello,
I have a friend of mine looking to get into customer success or related role! Are there remote entry level positions (that don’t need a degree) that are available?

She has experience in the following roles:
- Logistics Account Executive
- Customer Service Representative
- Customer Service Sales Representative
- Concierge

She really smart and hardworking, I would love to help her find a career - not just a job - that she enjoys. Thanks I’m advance!

like

I want to start an LLC.
1. Where should I start?
2. What kind of help do I need?
3. How much will set-up help cost?
4. Anything I can DIY?

likeupliftingsmart

I work at a pretty small data consulting company. Our revenue is definitely not through the roof but we’ve done well enough to avoid having to give up more company equity in funding rounds. Something I’ve noticed that is odd is that leadership is very protective of SOW’s we have with the customers. I need them as a source of truth for my position but I am not given access to review just have to ask 1 off questions. Any thoughts??

like

Hi, I am building a startup from the ideation stage. What is the best way to approach Angel Investors for pre-seed/seed funding?

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.

Already a user?
Login here

Share

Embed this post

Copy and paste embed code on your site

Preview

Download the
Fishbowl app

See what’s happening in your industry
from the palm of your hand.

A phone with Fishbowl app

Send download link to your phone

OR

Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Messaging rates may apply

Download app

Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Already have an account? Log in

Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use(New) and Privacy Policy(New)
Messaging rates may apply

Already have an account? Log in

For account settings, visit Fishbowl on Desktop Browser or

General

Legal