In this episode, Talent Acquisition leader Mitch King shares his insights into StartUp hiring. When he joined a scrappy startup called Linktree that had a simple yet big idea, he couldn't have imagined growing the business from a handful of people to over 300. And that along the way, Linktree would raise ~$165m and go on to unicorn status. We talked to Mitch and got his opinion on several topics, including;
- On transparency in hiring. “My standpoint on this and it will always be my attitude I think is, the more transparent you are, the more likely you're going to get the right fit but and that goes both ways”
- On changing market perceptions. “Around series B I think from memory that round was about $45m and it just shifted the perception in the market of what the product was, who we were & how serious to take us”
- On the reality of startup life. “Some people are really unsuited (to the startup world) and you could tell sometimes by questions. I remember a few people would go through the interview and they say something like “Okay, what's a 5 year career development plan for this role” and I’d be thinking that we don’t even know what the next 5 weeks holds for us all”
- On hiring in competitive markets. “You know product designers, engineers & product managers were getting multiple offers a week (so) you had to adjust your process. There wasn't time to schedule a calibration meeting for you & your hiring managers. So there's a lot of Slack chasing and politely asking, many times, for people to move quickly.”
