Succeeding after Demo Day | Hacker News Reader

Succeeding after Demo Day

gigaom.com

33 pointsashrust14 comments

"At SendHub we’ve let go of about half of the people we’ve hired, most of them within a few weeks of their start date. Looking back at everyone we let go much later, we should’ve terminated them during their probation."

Is it just me or is a company's hiring process fubar if they are firing half their hires within 3 weeks (and more thereafter)? I get the need for early stage startups to not let mediocrity seep in, and having a probationary period is great for that, but I'd argue the company is neglecting their end of the bargain if they are apparently so inept at bringing on the right people.

I think getting hiring right is a process, we were certainly a lot more hit & miss right after demo day, than we are now.

May I suggest the one week trial?

Weighing in from the "Recruiting" Startup industry myself, check out https://grouptalent.com/ (which i have nothing to do with) if you are in that hiring mentality, that way everyone knows exactly what is going on and there is a better reaction set all around.

The hiring process everywhere is a disaster, as far I've seen. Interviews don't really work. If companies operated by giving people a few-week chance to prove themselves they'd be able to give more people more opportunities and have a much better idea of who was worth keeping.

But of course, with the current system if you get fired after two weeks you're looking at trying to get hired at a bunch of other companies that are going to view that as a Bad Thing and are going to try to get as much info from a few interviews before they jump into bed with you for years. We're in a bad equilibrium.

Doesn't a prohibition period on hiring only work if you're hiring children?

I can't imagine leaving an existing job only to be not guaranteed a place at a new job if "they don't like me" in the first few weeks. That's what the interview process was supposed to suss out. Does immediate termination come with a three month severance package?

> Doesn't a prohibition period on hiring only work if you're hiring children? ... Does immediate termination come with a three month severance package?

My thoughts exactly. You're asking someone to take a big risk with your company by bringing them on on probation. They may be leaving a well-paying, stable job to do it.

You have to do something to temper that risk, ideally with a very large severance or something like it.

We're upfront about the probationary period with all candidates, they start knowing they'll receive a lot of feedback in the first few weeks, they'll get an opportunity to see if it's a fit from their side and also from the team's side.

Perhaps you're firing so many people up front because your policies only attract weird people willing to put up with them?

I love the advice on responding right away to opportunities. Although clearly important in funding, this should be carried over most, if not all aspects of life. Also agree with the mention of probation for new employees. Your new company will be moving at lightning speed, and you don't have time for babysitting/dead weight.

Lots of great advice here - as someone looking to apply to YC in the future, I took away a lot from this.

Solid article on the importance of leveraging Demo Day hype to raise a round. As someone who is trying to raise without being in a world renowned accelerator like YC, I only wish I had an opportunity like Demo Day to help the round close quicker.

Agreed, it's a key advantage for YC companies.

I see lots of good advice in this article. Rich. Thanks OP!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com