Huddle.net - Hiring a Team of Peers

© 2009 Ninian Solutions Ltd

Building a Team of Peers

Andy McLoughlin

I am co-founder and

product director at Huddle

Huddle combines unified

collaboration with social

networking

Huddle was launched in

April 2007

Based in London, sales

office in Chicago

Doubling in size (users /

revenue) every 4 months

A little bit about us...

Was it really all

plain sailing?

December 07: 5 staff

December 08: 30 staff

Dear God, no! Picture of stormy sea

Hell no!

The early days Use nice graphics from the website (or ask

Keh)

Building a great team is really, really hard

workYou rarely get the chance to pick a team from scratch so make it

count

Things we've learnt Your initial team may not make the grade Don’t be afraid to say no Meeting the perfect candidate is like falling

in love Working in a start-up isn’t for everyone Don’t hire people if you wouldn’t want to

spend all day, every day with them Bet on smart, entrepreneurial people And…

Build “a team

of peers”

“A team of peers” Coined by Bob, our first post-VC hire Everyone hires everyone else Foster the sense of family and buy-in We run a three stage process

Telephone screen (20 minutes) Paired technical test (1 hour) General interview (30 minutes) Huddle’s patented “4 point scale”

Unless everyone is agreed, it’s a no-go

“Bet on openness, build trust” Huddle’s product and company mantra Keep the team in one building Publish company targets and roadmap Weekly company stand-up with open floor Get engineers and product on sales calls Get sales and marketing people testing Company-wide product planning sessions 10% hack time to build cool stuff

Finding talent

Direct applicants FTW! We’ve used friends’

recommendations, blogging, speaking, twitter and

networking events to successfully recruit great staff.

LinkedIn, TechCrunch jobs, Monster and other job boards

Dealing with recruiters

Dealing with

recruitment agents

Recruiters: a cheat-sheet Generally, they’re bastards and full of shit Luckily, it is a hirer’s market Create a PSL of maximum five agencies Set a fixed rate (max 15%) Be explicit with your needs and demand

their three best CVs

Interns – something for nothing?Interns: something

for nothing?

Interns: a cheat sheet You can offer unpaid internships but conditions apply Avoid unpaid interns falling within the definition of

'worker" under the minimum wage legislation The intern should be learning skills / gaining experience The intern cannot be subject to any work obligations No regular payments smaller than minimum wage should

be promised or made (travel / food expenses are fine) Set a finite timeline then graduate to minimum wage For tech interns and design interns this can be flexible They’re part of your team so quality standards hold true Have a look at enternships.com

Losing a friendBreaking up is hard to do

“I’m giving you my notice” The first time it happens is heartbreaking But it’s inevitable If you love them, let them go! Look for early signs of unhappiness Paying below market rate is a false economy If you’ve instigated the break-up (sacking /

redundancy / probation) then ensure you follow proper procedure

Send your CEO / COO / office manager on an HR course

“A place I'd want to work”

Creating “a place

I'd want to work”

Creating that place Great people + nice surroundings = WIN Make everyone a shareholder Invest in a good coffee machine Table football league / Wii / beanbag area

encourage creative thinking and bonding Eat together regularly Regular outings with partners invited Continually ask yourself if this truly is a

place you’d want to work

© 2009 Ninian Solutions Ltd

Thank you!Email: andy@huddle.net

Twitter: @bandrew