How to attract the right talent to achieve financial success
When examining the who, what, where, when and why of any startup, it’s the who that will most directly impact the level of success that is achieved. Making the right connections and finding the right people will be entirely reflected in the management team, staff, advisory board, customer list and availability of capital.
While that statement may seem obvious enough, there are few entrepreneurs who succeed in networking to such a degree that they tower above all others as they build their companies. When mentoring entrepreneurs, one of the many questions repeatedly raised is a query of how to find partners, management team members, advisors and investors.
One of the CEOs in our portfolio is an absolute networking rock star. He knew he needed a great management team before he could attract capital, so he created a list of 10 dream team executives for each of the three critical leadership roles available in his company. He went after each one of these people with a pitch. He was trying to make a sale. Of course, he couldn’t afford them, but that didn’t matter. If he could convince them that his company offered tremendous opportunity for growth, there were numerous ways to attract and compensate the right talent to the team through equity participation. He performed the same exercise when building the board.
Industry events provide a great example of those who understand this concept and those who don’t. If the event is just a social event and you don’t need to make more connections, then shrimp table harvesting is completely justified. However, for the rest of us who need to add to the who, there are some pretty fundamental differences in those who leave with value and those who don’t.