5/26/09 The People Factor: Nancy Pineda and Mariette Edwards Talk to GFR About Hiring Practices for Small Business
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, chances are you will want to grow your business at some point. That means you will probably need to hire people. We talked to Nancy Pineda, founder and president of Hire Profile, a company specializing in sourcing the best and hardest to find creative talent for both temporary and permanent placements and Mariette Edwards, an executive coach with Star Maker Coaching who helps businesses make people decisions.
Both Nancy and Mariette agreed that you should “hire slowly, fire quickly” meaning that it takes time to find not only a qualified candidate but the person who is the right fit for your small company. Outsourcing the hiring to a recruiting firm means that the small business owner doesn’t have to waste valuable time sifting through what could be hundreds of unsuitable resumes. And, if you do happen to hire someone who isn’t the right fit, don’t prolong the process any longer than needed. While it may be hard to sever ties with an employee when you’re in a small company, it’s necessary for your sanity and the growth of the company.
Mariette had some great tips on how to interview potential new hires. She said that the thing that sticks out is usually indicative of who the person really is–such as a pair of funky earrings paired with a conservative suit. She also recommended that an entrepreneur first start by hiring someone who is very similar to themselves. Later on, they can begin to diversify their staff but at first, it’s important to pretty much “clone yourself.”
Definitely listen to this podcast because both Nancy and Mariette offer some invaluable advice for those of you out there looking to expand your business. Oh, and by the way, right now is a great time to be hiring. Because of the slowdown in the economy there is some tremendous talent out there that otherwise would not be available.
Learn more about Mariette at Star Maker Coaching and to reach Nancy, go to her website at Hire Profile. Thanks to both Nancy and Mariette for a wonderfully informative show!
Have a stellar week and we’ll see you next Tuesday!
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5/19/09: David Hornik, August Capital + Jeff Hilimire, Shotput Ventures Discuss Startups and Funding
David Hornik has worked with technology startups throughout the software sector for over a decade. Since 2000, David has been with August Capital in San Francisco and has worked with companies such as Technorati, StumbleUpon, Six Apart, and PayCycle. His educational background includes a degree in Computer Music from Stanford University, an M.Phil in Criminology from Cambridge University and a degree from Harvard Law. He is currently a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and at Harvard Law school. As one of the first venture capitalists to start blogging and podcasting, David is helping entrepreneurs better understand how to go about getting funding and really bringing more transparency to the overall process . One thing he pointed out is that not all businesses are suited for venture capital funding. It really depends on the business but if your business is the type of business that would benefit from VC money, he said that there are some key elements that he likes to see in a when a company is making their pitch for funding:
- Credibility. He says that it is critical that the business owners understand their business and their entire industry. Having expertise in whatever you are building makes you a more attractive candidate to VCs.
- Passion. This is also paramount. If an entrepreneur is passionate about what he or she is doing, they are more likely to succeed.
- Good business model. The business has to be something that people want and that is sustainable.
- Transfer the excitement. VCs are realists. They look at everything in very practical terms so the key to a successful pitch is not only convincing them that your business idea is a solid one but also getting them excited about the product or service. Let them try or experience it for themselves and you’ll have a better chance than if you just have a good business model.
For more information about David, follow him on Twitter or check out his blog at VentureBlog.
Our second guest, Jeff Hilimire, is from Atlanta and is a founding partner of Shotput Ventures, a technology startup accelerator fund that focuses on capital-light web services companies and assists in the conception phase. Shotput Ventures is an annual fund that will work with eight companies per year to help get them through the initial phase of development so they can hopefully go on to secure more funding and continue to grow. An entrepreneur himself, Jeff was the co-founder of Spunlogic and is now working with Engauge which acquired Spunlogic in 2008. With Shotput, Jeff is able to serve as a mentor and advisor (along with eight other partners) to these startups who will receive anywhere between $15-$25K in funding to help them get their ideas off the ground. He couldn’t tell us much about the companies but by the end of the summer, we should be hearing about some of them when they will present their ideas to both East and West Coast VCs. If you would like to learn more about Shotput Ventures, check out their website and follow Jeff on Twitter or via his website.
A big thank you to both our guests this week! We all learned a lot.
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5/5/09: Talking Social Media + the Workplace with Stephanie Lloyd and Sean Nelson
Here at GFR, we talk about social media from time to time. Okay, it probably comes up every week in some way, shape, or form but this week we tackled it head on. We decided to do this not only because it’s a big topic in the news but also because a lot of companies are struggling with how to balance using social media as a marketing tool with the perils of revealing too much personal or sensitive information to the public via their employees or associates.
Stephanie Lloyd is a recruiter here in Atlanta with Calibre Search Group. She says that a lot of people just don’t use basic common sense when it comes to their online identities. A good exercise she says every job candidate should go through is to Google themselves. Potential employers could do this and it’s always a good idea to see what your digital identity looks like.
Sean Nelson wrote the book on LinkedIn quite literally. He began using LinkedIn to expand his insurance business and promote his book but through that, he’s become an expert on how to effectively use LinkedIn. Now, he teaches others how to do the same. His take on social media is that you must have a strategy and purpose for using it. You wouldn’t attend a networking event without a reason and likewise, you shouldn’t just be haphazardly using social media. LinkedIn is a great business tool and both Sean and Stephanie agreed that it’s basically your online resume so it should closely match if not mirror your actual resume or CV. Sean discussed the importance of joining groups and answering questions to expand your direct network beyond people you already know. He says he spends about 5 hours per week online which he thinks is adequate and it can be easily integrated into your schedule.
In addition to discussing some of the pitfalls of social media, we also discussed why it’s an important tool and that companies should begin to take a proactive role in coaching their employees on how to use it. Used properly, it can be an amazing vehicle for promoting your company in a very positive and genuine way. Zappos is a textbook example of a company that has embraced social media and even incorporates Twitter into its corporate website. Stephanie pointed out that if companies simply try to pretend it doesn’t exist, the conversation will be happening regardless. By engaging in a positive way, a company has the opportunity to guide the discussion about their brand rather than others doing it for them.
All in all, we agreed that social networking is a new tool but in a few years time will be just as natural as using email or the telephone. It’s simply a shift in the way we communicate and most agree, a positive one at that.
Have a stellar week and we’ll see you next Tuesday at 10am!
Follow Stephanie Lloyd on Twitter here or Sean Nelson here.
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