Happy Sunday and Happy Easter. Hope you've had a great weekend. A few weeks to a month back I wrote about some hiring and team-building things and asked for some feedback because it's not something I feel like I'm an expert in, but I always like sharing what I'm learning in case it helps. I actually got some good feedback on it and was asked for more, so I want to share just a few thoughts that have been on my mind lately about building a team. So that's what I will do today.
Number one is you don't need more people, you need better people. Number two, don't undervalue a strong Individual Contributor. And number three, hire people who have done what you need to get done.
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You Don't Need More People, You Need Better People
In Silicon Valley, they talk about 10X engineers. In our industry, we have A players, which are go-getters that are able to get a lot done and be really productive in an organization. If you're the entrepreneur, that's probably you but as your team grows you will find these people. At this point in my journey, I've decided I would rather have fewer employees but pay a bit more for these types of people who have such high output. I can point to a few people in our organization who can get an incredible amount done compared to their peers. If you find them, do not let them go. They may have a team, but they can get a lot done themselves too. I don't care how senior somebody is, there is no such thing as a strategy role in DTC.
I was recently hiring for a senior role and had multiple, business school applicants ask me about our 5-year plan, OKRs, and strategy. They didn't get the job. In a fast-paced growing DTC startup, strategy is 5-10% of the work. The actual work is the main part of the job. We hired someone who can do strategy when neededm but knows how to get their hands dirty. Find 10x employees.
Don't Undervalue Strong Individual Contributors
This one is similar. At Jones Road, we don't have anybody who's just a manager or just a director. Everybody is a doer. Even if you have a whole organization under you, you're expected to do the actual work; to do whatever is needed no matter how minor, as well as lead a small team. This goes up and down the whole organization. I'm guilty of this to a fault probably. I'm a much better doer than a manager. There are pros and cons to each, but you don't want to hire just coaches. For most roles, you want player coaches who can lead a small team but also know how to get stuff done themselves.
Even big tech companies with outstanding margins are cutting out middle management because it's inefficient. You want to remove that layer and have your strong people actually doing the work. Even if they have direct reports, they've got to be able to get stuff done themselves. In a DTC startup, especially if you're bootstrapped, you can't have just a coach. Maybe the CEO can be a coach, maybe the CMO, but everyone else, Director and down, they're a player-coach.
In addition to having "player coaches" who manage and do, you should have some very senior people that have no direct reports. We've hired director-level hires who actually don't have any direct reports, and it's amazing how much they can get done. They can do some strategy, own KPIs, but they also get it done themselves.
My best advice is not to give these people promotions by giving them more people to manage. Find a way to show them growth in your company without it necessarily being into management. Or if you are going to make them a manager, find ways to keep it a hybrid role so they still continue to be in the action. Never take their skill set away from them.
Hire People Who Have Done What You Need To Get Done
Novel concept, right? First, it starts with getting absolute clarity on the problems you're trying to solve. Pick three things at most. And in the interview process, ask them, 'Tell me about a time when you've done this?" If they can't answer that with a straightforward answer, or if it's a hypothetical, it's not going to work.
If they have done what you need, you'll be able to get these people up and running within weeks. They've just got to learn your culture and your organization, but they already have the skill set. Here what you're buying is their knowledge as an asset that they can implement based on their experience to immediately make your company better.
For these people, you just have to make sure it's a culture fit. Make sure they are going to be a part of the team, buy into the greater good, and find a way to implement a version of what they know into your culture. And I can't tell you how much time that's going to save you.
I'm not saying never hire for potential; I think it depends on the roles. If you're CEO, or CMO and you're hiring a role for a department you don't have really experience in, and you also don't really enjoy being in, get somebody very strong and experienced.
If you're hiring your replacement to buy you back time in a department you have experience and skill in, you don't need them as senior. You can take a shot on somebody with potential; hopefully an internal promotion that you see potential in.
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And so that's what I've learned, those are some things I've learned this year. I hope these help and resonate. Again, not trying to pretend like I have it all figured out, I absolutely don't, but these are three things that I think about that are guiding some of the recruitment decisions that we're making right now. Please let me know your feedback. Reply, like, love, or hate, either way, I would love to hear it. Hope you have a great holiday, and get some sleep before a busy week.
Thanks,
Cody