Our Managing Partner for Emerging Growth Brett Putter gave a talk on “Building the right team for your high growth startup” on Tuesday night, for StartupBootCamp’s cohort of insurtech startups. This was followed by a Q&A session, in which the knowledge-hungry founders picked Brett’s brain, asking questions about how to give out equity, how to hire an ideal co-founder, and how to get an advisor to become a full-time employee.
Brett gave a number of great pieces of advice to the founders present, with 5 of the best summed up here:
1. Hire slow, fire fast – As a startup, your early team is so important that you don’t want to make mistakes, and if you do, you need to rectify them quickly.
2. Be flexible – As a startup you have an opportunity to react far quicker and change direction, as you aren’t constrained by the rules or traditions of a corporate.
3. Think about the balance of your team – If everyone is outgoing, it might be best to hire somebody more circumspect, and vice versa.
4. Cultural fit vs sales capability – When confronted by the decision to hire the very best salesmen, or somebody who fits your company culture better, always choose the cultural fit.
5. Mentors aren’t forever – Sometimes a mentor or advisor can be good for 6-12 months, then their value could diminish.