How to Attract and Hire Top Talent

When it comes to building a kickass team, hiring is quite simply one of the most critical things for any founder or leader. But far too many companies make the mistake of just hiring for generic job titles rather than going after the specific impact and change they really need.

You can't just post openings for vague roles like "Sales Manager" or "Software Engineer" and expect to hit the mark. The real key is bringing aboard exceptional "change agents" - talented people who can drive meaningful, tailored impact for exactly where your company is at.

Define the Precise Change You Need

Before even thinking about job postings, get laser-focused on the precise change you need a new hire to drive over the next 12-18 months. As Paras Chopra advises, "Don't hire for labels like 'Sales Manager' or 'Engineer' - those capture little of the actual work required. Visualise the specific tasks and changes you need someone to make happen."

Instead of just hiring a "data scientist", maybe what you really need is someone who can "implement new pricing analytics to boost revenue." This clarity allows you to actually evaluate candidates on whether they can deliver that specific outcome - and set the real expectations right from the jump.

Create Your Ideal Hire Profile

Define the mix of experience, skills, traits, mindsets, and cultural fit you need. At Foundr, they prioritise "entrepreneurial, passionate pros aligned with company values, hungry to learn, and able to work independently but collaboratively."

Identify the Value to be Added

The easiest way to select good candidates is to know exactly what you're looking for. The Keith Rabois framework is to ask whether the role is value creating or value preserving: value creating roles drive new value with products/services, whereas value preserving roles are more tactical, focused on maintaining what's working.

Your rule of thumb should be: Value protecting role? Hire for slope. Value creating role? Hire for experience.

Next, define the key attributes for that specific role. 

For a product manager, you may want creative product taste, communication skills, metrics-driven, and prioritisation ability. 

For an executive hire, look for organisation builders, individual contributors, and an entrepreneurial or owner's mindset.

Here are some universal attributes to prioritise:

• High slope and learning velocity
• Drive and grit
• Bias for action
• High integrity and low ego
• Intellectually curious
• Long-term oriented
• Micro-pessimist, macro-optimist

Focus on Potential Over Pedigree

While experience is valuable, the experts warn against filtering too heavily just based on credentials or pedigree. As Zach Kanter says, "Find exceptional talents who may struggle with self-presentation, and develop their other areas."

Trae Stephens at Anduril and Founders Fund focuses on "hiring raw intelligence and adaptability over narrow skills." Jack Altman bluntly states, "Don't just hire the 'safe' choice." Look for voracious learners who can rapidly take on more.

Sell the Massive Upside Opportunity 

Top talent has options. So you've got to sell the immense growth potential at your company. As Erik Torenberg at OnDeck says, "You want to sell them 'asymmetric upside' - if their role doesn't work out long term, here's everything they'll learn, and if it does work out, here's what they'll earn."

Make it clear you'll support their long-term career aspirations, whether that's accelerated advancement or eventually launching their own venture.

Build a Robust Hiring Process

Having a defined, multi-stage hiring process is absolutely critical for thoroughly vetting candidates, and should include:

1. Detailed application capturing key traits and motivations

2. Screening calls to quickly filter for baseline requirements

3. In-person interviews with practical tests/assignments to evaluate capabilities

4. "Principles interviews" assessing alignment with company culture/values

The practical test is particularly insightful. As David Hsu at Retool puts it, "It gives them a way to see how someone improves even over a short period." For any type of role, Avlok Kohli at AngelList looks for "insightful writing samples that reveal attention to detail. You can almost always tell from someone's answers if they have at least a glimmer of something really interesting."

Always Be Recruiting

Since the best candidates are usually passive, you need to constantly build relationships and seed your talent pipeline:

• Have hiring managers consistently do outbound outreach
• Host events and retreats to spend quality time with prospective talents
• Hire pro recruiters focused solely on identifying top fits

At the end of the day, hiring A-players is an art and a science. But if you nail defining the key change you need, implement a robust evaluation process, sell the upside vision, and always recruit - you'll maximise your chances of attracting game-changing talent who will propel your company to new heights