One of the most common mistakes I see from entrepreneurs that are raising their first institutional round of financing is not building a talent pipeline in advance of the expected close. Meaning, the vast majority of planned new expenses after raising money is to hire more people. Only, if there isn’t a talent pipeline, once the money is raised, it’ll take six weeks to build up the recruiting functions and then another 2-3 months to find great people (hopefully!) such that it’s now 3-4 months from close before the new money is earnestly being put to use.
The solution: build a talent pipeline in advance of a raise. Here are a few thoughts:
- Hire an in-house recruiter (or have one recruited and ready to start once the financing is in place)
- Start testing different channels, especially for recruiting software engineers
- Know that attracting talent starts with the CEO
- Design a culture-oriented hiring process
Great people are the heart of every successful business. Entrepreneurs need to build a talent pipeline, especially in advance of raising money.
What else? What are some more thoughts on building a talent pipeline in advance of raising money?
David Cummings on Startups 