Company Development Articles

Has Recruiting Changed?

Via Instigator Blog on No Responses

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The venture capital landscape has changed dramatically over the years … but how has it affected the recruiting process? Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog doesn’t feel startup hiring has been touched at all. “But what about startup recruiting? What’s changed there? Nothing. Personally, I believe it’s because startup CEOs and founders are typically very inexperienced at recruiting and hiring people (I don’t know many startup founders with an HR background!), and they simply don’t devote enough time to the process.” So if you’re in the midst of building your people…

Google’s Hiring Process—in 140 Questions

Via Seattle Interview Coach on No Responses

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Google is consistently ranked as one of the best places to work in the United States—and the company doesn’t skimp on the interview. So if your startup is trudging through the hiring process, take some recruitment advice from Google. The Seattle Interview Coach blog scored 140 questions Google asks during an interview. Here are a few greats: For product marketing managers: Who are Google’s competitors, and how does Google compete with them? If you are the product marketing manager for Google’s Gmail product, how do you plan to market it so as…

How to Increase Creativity in 7 da Vinci-Inspired Steps

Via Creativity Day on No Responses

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Leonardo da Vinci has inspired generations, and his principles even extend to employee self-development and performance-enhancing skills. The World Creativity and Innovation Week’s website delves into 7 pointers handed down from da Vinci himself, including: Curiosita: the insatiable curious approach to life and for continuous learning. This entails examining your day-to-day activities in search of time-saving alternatives, exploring foreign concepts in individual- and team-centered settings, and, above all else, keeping an open mind. Arte/Scienza: the development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. This “whole-brain thinking” approach keeps the…

The 7 Signs of Venture Capital Danger

Via Under 30 CEO on No Responses

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You need venture capital—but there are many dangers ahead you need to watch out for. If your startup is looking for funding, chances are you’re giving serious consideration to the venture capital route. The Under 30 CEO stresses caution with its 7 Things to Watch Out For, including: Be willing to relocate. Your VC will probably want to keep a close eye on your business or locate you in the place where you have access for the most talent for your industry. This won’t be a lifestyle business. VC’s will…

CIO Success: Be the Guiding Light

Via Leadership Now on No Responses

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What’s the best strategy to becoming a successful CIO? Being the guiding light. If you cannot inspire others to get the right work done through stand-out leadership skills, your CIO position will inevitably fall on hard times. In the book The CIO Edge, authors Graham Waller, George Hallenbeck and Karen Rubenstruck write: “Focusing on leadership and people skills—the ‘soft’ things that many CIOs tend to minimize in their quest to keep up with their day-to-day responsibilities of managing IT—is in fact the biggest determinate of their success, or failure.” The…

Job Functions and the Average Salary of a Venture Capitalist

Via Salary.com on No Responses

Ever wonder how much the average entry level venture capitalist is compensated?

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According to Salary.com, a site that keeps a database of salaries for various job positions, the median expected salary for a venture capitalist in the United States is $161,755. This figure increases proportionately with the number of years of experience the employee has. Companies also have a well-defined set of expectations for applicants, too, which includes a bachelor’s degree in a finance-related field and a familiarity with investment procedures. Typically, a candidate will already have a background in venture capital…

Getting Beyond the Fiscal Benefit VC Firms Offer

Via Chubby Brain on No Responses

When a company seeks out a venture capital investment, they often fail to realize that they will be receiving more than fiscal help.

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ChubbyBrain.com conducted research into this topic to deduce exactly what kind of benefits companies can expect from venture capital firms. To be exact, 13 VC firms were looked at and analyzed in terms of the additional features they offered. So what sort of value is being added in addition to funding? Here are some examples: Access to an expansive professional network Help with staff recruitment Added value through domain…

You Should be Flexible, Unless You want Your Business to Fail

Via The Economist on No Responses

Launching an idea and watching it flourish is simple.

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It requires very little work. But what happens when your idea isn’t working and you need to approach the issue with a level of flexibility? Will you have the foresight and ingenuity to adapt as necessary? Your actions are critical here. And a lot of venture capital firms specifically look for CEOs with this skill. While situations may dictate a person’s decisions, you have to have a certain type of person to make the hard calls and to strengthen a weak business. Not…

Become a Compelling Leader in 6 Steps

Via Blogging Innovation on No Responses

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You’re a leader. An entrepreneur. Own it. But as you’re building upon and improving your leadership skills—providing an example for your management teams on how successful businesses should and can be run—there are 6 elements you’ll want to keep in mind. These are The 6 Things Every Great Leader Does, according to Matt Heinz: Read Write Think Empower Delegate Work Hard My favorite is actually the first. The scholarly attributes of a great leader are often overlooked in favor of the more publicly dynamic characteristics. Heinz writes: “I defy you to find a…

The Groupon Example

Via The New York Times on No Responses

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The New York Times has a profile on the entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky, who is responsible for leading the development of Groupon. Groupon has been called the fastest growing startup … ever. And its business model is definitely one to study when you’re forming your company’s strategy. One of the most intriguing things Lefkofsky says is about the onboarding process, and how social media is changing the face of recruitment. “Think about the way most companies currently hire. You post a job and then get blind résumés in response. This should be…