We contacted a number of successful startups in order to find out how they source the right team. Below they share their experiences and advice on the importance of attracting and keeping talent that will help strengthen and grow your business.
First up we have insights from Luke Lang, a Co-Founder of Crowdcube. Crowdcube is an online crowdfunding platform that enables startups to raise finance via online investment.
How important is your team to the success of your business?
Very – the Crowdcube team is a healthy mix of home-grown talent and experienced team members who have cut their teeth at blue chip companies such as eBay, Ask.com, Amazon, KPMG, Goldman Sachs and Google; all of whom have brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the business. Our team has more than doubled in the last 12 months and ensuring we maintain the high calibre of our team is a key factor in Crowdcube’s ongoing success.
What do you do differently in order to attract new talent?
Since launching in 2011, as the world’s first investment crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube has remained at the forefront of the alternative finance sector. Our market leader position, coupled with our continued drive to remain innovative has been instrumental when it comes to attracting new talent. Our London office is bursting at the seams but it’s our head office in Exeter and company culture that has been a real draw for people looking to escape the city and enjoy the best of both worlds; a better work-life balance and a challenging and rewarding career in a rapidly growing business.
What advice do you have for startups looking to grow their team?
Having the right people in your business is always important but it’s essential in the early days. My advice to any startup looking to grow their team is to take the time to find someone who is a good fit for the business; of course they will need to have all the necessary skills and experience but it’s also important that they are a cultural fit as well. From experience, getting the right people on board at the start makes all the difference to the businesses long term success, so it’s important to get it right.
Next we have advice from Brynne Herbert, the Founder and CEO of MOVE Guides. MOVE Guides has grown from a small London-based startup to an award-winning global mobility solution.
How important is your team to the success of your business?
I firmly believe that your company is only as great as the people behind it, so it is important to invest time into building a strong team of A+ players. Our team is the heart and soul of MOVE Guides and acts as the glue that brings all moving parts of the business together. We have grown from 15 to over 60 in a year and each member of the team has greatly contributed to making MOVE Guides the award-winning global company it is today. Markets change, products evolve, but great teams create a legacy and will make a lasting difference on an industry.
What do you do differently in order to attract new talent?
One of the reasons I founded my company in the UK is because it offers access to a huge international talent pool. At MOVE Guides we are committed to attracting talent from all around the world, which has enabled us to create an extremely diverse team. It is also very important to create and promote a strong company culture that attracts the right type of people. People are the foundation of your company’s success, so make sure that they represent and advocate your core values. As we say it at MOVE Guides, they have to “Be the brand”.
What advice do you have for startups looking to grow their team?
Make talent a number one priority for your business. Be ruthless about creating a team of A+ players, and accept and act quickly when you have made a mistake in hiring someone that does not fit your company or culture. This is especially important for startups as they grown at an incredibly fast pace. There will be ups and downs, but the best retention policy is to build a team that you wake up excited to work with.
We also have valuable guidance from Rachel Wastell, Marketing Manager at Housekeep. Housekeep is a professional online home cleaning service.
How important is your team to the success of your business?
Having a smart, dedicated team is the single most important factor for success in business. With a strong, focused team on board, you will learn and build faster. It’s crucial to ensure you choose a team with a range of different skill sets, to encourage collaboration and innovation. When founding Housekeep, we worked hard to find investors who would be able to bring a wealth of experience and talent on board, who we would be able to bounce ideas off, and ask for advice. Brett Akker, who founded, built and successfully exited Streetcar to Zipcar and Dharmash Mistry, who spent many years at Balderton Capital and has guided many other successful consumer technology startups to success, are merely two examples of this in action.
What do you do differently in order to attract new talent?
At first, we spent a lot of time trying to recruit through our network. Gareth, Head of Technology, and Avin, Founder & CEO, were university friends, and Gareth had been building very similar systems at another fast growing start up. It was only natural for them to talk about the Housekeep concept, which eventually led to Gareth joining full time. Avin’s background as an investor at Smedvig Capital also led to the hire of another senior team member, Housekeep’s Operations Manager, Lisa. Smedvig Capital had invested in Exchange Group, where Lisa was Operations Manager for 13 years, and having an existing working relationship made the transition quick and efficient. Since then, we’ve hired various interns and used contractors from our network, which is much easier and quicker than recruiting from scratch.
What advice do you have for startups looking to grow their team?
The best piece of advice when looking for a startup team is to use your existing network to find quality people. The right person for a startup should be: dedicated, smart, keen to learn fast and willing to get stuck in to all parts of the business. It is important to remember that life in a startup is very different to the corporate environment, so using case studies during the interview process based on real problems you’re facing, is a good way to test ability and the way the candidate thinks.
Finally we have expertise from Bertie Stephens, CEO of Flubit. Flubit is an online shopping service that provides users with a better offer for the products they want to buy online.
How important is your team to the success of your business?
Hugely! Without the Flubit team, Flubit is nothing. The concept and technology, as well as the recognition and success Flubit has achieved to date is borne out of the expertise, innovation and curiosity of the 65 strong employees we have. Each person that works at Flubit plays a crucial role here.
What do you do differently in order to attract new talent?
Attracting the best of the best in a city like London is difficult, so we have enforce a company culture that makes Flubit an enjoyable place to work. We provide company perks such as a monetary amount that staff can chose to spend as they please – on socialising, development and learning, activities, everything! We also make sure our office is a fun place to be – we have a pool table, dart boards, a PS4, ping pong, an Oculous Prime and other things for staff to use in between working. We run weekly ‘demo days’ where we get together as a whole company to catch up, share ideas, update each other on projects we’re working on. We also hold regular ‘Hack Days’ to ensure our developers, programmers, and technical staff get the opportunity to be creative and explore ideas they may have.
What advice do you have for startups looking to grow their team?
Focus on talent, and then retaining that talent once you have them, but recruiting and training new starters is a big investment and London has a lot of competition. Once you’ve hired someone, don’t rely on them hanging around unless their role, team and environment fulfils them on multiple levels.
If you’re a looking to expand your team, take on board the insights and learnings provided by successful startups who have learned from experience.
Kevin Buller is the Chief Executive at Lucas Blake. Lucas Blake specialises in the recruitment of Sales Professionals within the Information Technology and Telecommunications sectors throughout the UK and Europe.
