Jan 6 was the day for the first TiE Workshop for this year. The focal point of discussion was Hiring the Purple Unicorn or finding the perfect talent for your startup. In simpler words, how do you get smart people from different backgrounds and various parts of the nation, all working together with a common goal to build products that make a difference to millions?

1. Hiring for startups
How to build an open workplace
Ishani Roy, Founder Serein Inc.
ishani@serein.in

3. Don’t hire
If you must, hire based on values
Be very, very selective

4. We were 180 people in February 2015. Today, we are at 1,300-odd
people. That’s how fast we have grown.
So these are not exact numbers but roughly we have fired 60 people
in sales, 80 in vendor service, 10 in marketing, 20 in customer delight,
12 in finance, 5 in on-boarding, 25 in automation and about 250
people from the in-house call centre.

5. The first 10
 Understand the job
 Do I want to spend time with this person?
 Problem solver, not resume star

6. Who would you hire?

7. Always be recruiting.

8. And the next 90
 Values of core team  extended team
 Be upfront about what you offer
 Press release hire

9. Keep in mind
People motivated to build great products, not technical problems
Avoid “Round manhole cover” type problems
1 productive hire > 3 average hires
Efficiency ∝ 1/(Team size)2

10. This is not culture

11. Sum of founders’ DNA

12.  Buffer App: too extreme for most
 Open office or open meetings
 Unconscious bias
What is openness?

13.  Diversity is a business imperative
 1.4% increase in GDP growth rate
 A diverse team: increased productivity, collaboration and
innovation
It’s not just numbers

14.  Admit them and move on
 Cost of a toxic worker vs. the value of a superstar
 Communicate
And…mistakes happen

15. 1. What are your options?
2. Which one would you pick?
3. Dealing with the fallout
Case study 1
Assumptions during hiring that didn’t work out

16. 1. How do you motivate the
team?
2. What if that doesn’t work?
3. Communication
Case study 2
Drive an underperforming team

17. Takeaways
 There is no one formula for hiring right. It depends on how you want to grow your
company
 The best hires aren't always the ones with the shiniest resumes. Look for problem
solvers
 Your startup's culture cannot be retrofitted - it is important to define and consciously
build your culture

18. Thank you.
Ishani Roy, Founder Serein Inc.
ishani@serein.in