Much like Ted Mosby’s trials and tribulations in How I Met Your Mother, it’s both fun and inspiring to sit down and draw up an info graphic in a single dimension that lays out the path it took to meet members of Team DiligenceVault.
Hiring a team as a first time entrepreneur while bootstrapping and no brand equity was far from easy. For each success, there were many failures, and meant multiple offline and online touch points over months, across geographies and time zones.
Each path was unique, and had its share of shaking hands, some form of food and series of meaningful relationships along the way. One started with an event invite forward from an ex-Citi colleague, while other started with a brunch, and third one started with a cold LinkedIn ping to someone who would go on to be a role model.
What worked, and what didn’t
The hiring at this stage rarely followed traditional screening of resume and series of interviews. Each time it has been a values match and understanding of individual aspirations, team goals and passion for what we are solving. We even had a classic destiny moment, when in one case, I sat next to someone at an event, only to be re-introduced many months later (often pictured in Bollywood movies as chance destiny).
The most important thing is that however much of an effort I put in this process, each and every member also showed initiative (reminds me a Newton’s 3rd law – For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction).
Overall, I have made my fair share of mistakes, sometimes hiring too quickly, or overlooking the warning signs, or even giving second, third and forth chances in the hopes that there’ll be turnaround. Nevertheless, we have been fortunate to exit these with low impact, with lessons learned for future team expansion.
The final result amazes the entire team as we see the sheer support received from the network along with a healthy dose of luck!
Who makes the cut
What do we look for in a team member? Tenacity, initiative, can do attitude, ability to learn quick and continuously move the needle. And the resulting team is one that brings complimentary skills to the table and is unified by the commitment to the product and “client first” thinking.
If you’d like to add a new path in our info graphic or know someone else who would like to, drop us a line at founders@diligencevault.com and get ready for multiple touch points 🙂
