How to Get Your Startup Idea Funded by Venture Capitalists

Max Woolf · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Carnegie Mellon University · 292 subscribers
But what if my startup is looking for ninja rockstars? :(

George L. Bowen
For the normal engineers:

http://StartupSeeksAverageDeveloper.com/

Seth Eheart · Subscribe · Top Commenter · UIllinois
bhahaha i hate those ads. "Looking for ninja developers with great people skills and ..."... seriously. I will give props to a company who has the guts to say "just looking for average developers who are currently between startups and who will probably leave after the second round."

Alex Weston Lin · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Co-Founder/Generalist at LVL6
@Max: then they're probably not very good ninjas, or not very good rockstars. you lose either way :<


Christine Potochny
"I wanted to find the best people, the people who already had jobs.." Really? What makes you think there's a correlation between the two? I have seen barnacle do-nothings hold on to their jobs for decades. Conversely, I have seen star employees who were perceived as threatening by incompetent bosses. There might be -at best - a mild correlation, but it certainly does not hold during recessions.

Judi Kidd
I agree with your statement that only those employed are the best. Not true. Many of them kiss up and do what is necessary to get by.

Evan Klinger · UC Irvine
How about if you want top talent be prepared to pay for it. Stop paying your employees in stock options and perks and offer them cold, hard cash.

Alex Weston Lin · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Co-Founder/Generalist at LVL6
except most employees want stock in a promising start-up...

wanna.to
Excellent point. It reminds me for this -'I Work for Money. If you Want Loyalty, Buy a Dog' :). I would say 'I Work for Money. If you Want Ninja passion, Rent a Teen' :)

Mista Majani · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Head of Product Development at Ghafla
Alex Weston Lin only true in the valley. Everywhere else in the world M&A is not so vibrant,so stock is a load of tosh to most people, and cash is king. Get out of your SV bubble


VidCruiter
I agree, another recommendation I would have is add a video about your culture and why your awesome in the email/landing page or application form. Most people don't do this and I know of companies who have (I work with many) who have done this and changes completely the applicants perception of your company. Plus in this case would have showcased your company even more to all of these other potential clients...

Ferenc Nemeth · Senior Software Engineer at InTraffic
Pondering over my coffee: is "The conceit is simple" Freudian or accidental?

Alan Everett
God given... :)

Javier Alcivar · Top Commenter · Guayaquil, Ecuador
rockstar ninja = copy paste diva

Vivian Samano · Encino, California
Or you can use a top recruiting firm :-) Neohire.com NeoHire.

Sandeep Vachhani · The University of Glasgow
I love your not so modest plug for Recruiters...Awesome!

Tech-Entrepreneur.me
To get people to work with you for more than a paycheck you should build a company that has a higher purpose, not only making money or selling a product! I saw this on Simon Sinek's video "start with why" and has been really helpful :) http://tech-entrepreneur.me/post/11063461103/start-with-why.

Steve Levy · Subscribe
Hire a Rockstar? No thanks... http://recruitinginferno.com/2010/12/23/hire-a-rockstar-no-thanks/... The Rockstar/Ninja/Guru movement has proliferated as average at best recruiters, hiring managers, and companies jumped on the "that sounds like a good idea" bandwagon. These are the same folks who post and pray, and troll LinkedIn in the belief that this is were the very best people are. In reality, the tech space is seeing people leaving LinkedIn and shunning recruiters who hound them with inane questions and an utter lack on knowledge about tech jobs...

Madeleine Holbye · Oslo, Norway
Crowd sourcing of referral-processes is the new combination of viral marketing and recruiting; engaging other talents to refer whom they consider talents/ninja rockstars (ref Max Woolf) and rewarding them for it. In the US u could say the closest one get is topprospect.com and in the Nordics www.jobylon.com.

Mike Daniels · Smartphones and Tablets are Cool at Smartphones and Tablets are Cool
One of Dan Porter's statement is “I wanted to find the best people, the people who already had jobs.....” Too often in the news we hear of companies saying that they only want people who are employed. Sympathy for OWS is growing because of this situation.

But despite this situation some big tech companies have hanged the hiring sign on their buildings. The holiday hiring has began. http://pnoy.me/ea

Jason Connor · Seattle, Washington
Too bad there are no startups in Seattle (insert screwey face).

Alexis Cheng · Google
Can't tell if you are being sarcastic or really don't know about all the Seattle start ups...

Alex Weston Lin · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Co-Founder/Generalist at LVL6
Alexis Cheng is it embarrassing I know EXACTLY what you're talking about?

Jeff Gottlieb · Market Manager at RemX Specialty Staffing
I can take care of all of that and get the top talent. www.remx.com

Sam Lee · San Jose, California
I don't like his style on the Inside Startups, it is rape when people sign up.

Wayne Helpard · Top Commenter · Halifax, Nova Scotia
Yeah, I also agree this ninja/rockstar thing has got out of hand. I remember when Adriaan Pienaar called himself Adii Rockstar, it was cool then, he was awesome doing WordPress design/development and one of the first doing it well. It was unique. Now apparently everyone is a rockstar or ninja...or not employable. Guess my nunchuck skills or ability to play one Megadeth song on the bass saves me from welfare, lol.

Ani Oko · Subscribe · CEO & Founder at Ziliot
Why not list crowd sourcing sites as an option?

I Love Rewards
Another thing to note about hiring at start ups: Your best recruiters are actually your current employees. The best thing start-ups can do is find a compelling way to drive employee referrals. Empowering your employees to post jobs to their networks through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is invaluable. If your employees are high-performers, they're likely to have high-performing friends and acquaintances. Plus, they know the company culture better than anyone and thus are more likely to refer candidates that are a good fit.

Shayna Anne · Subscribe · Syracuse
LinkedIn is also a great place to look for this talent!

Marilyn Laurence
And I am a ninja rockstar recruiter!