When I turned entrepreneur, I wrote down the first 20 names of people I wanted to hire. Then I got to a stage where I did all the due deliberations to make five of them an offer. Three rejected it. That day I gathered first-hand experience of why bootstrap set-ups don’t attract talent.

We all know choosing to be an entrepreneur is a brave decision. Success is never guaranteed, even if you have a rich father or a VC friend. Only a small percentage of entrepreneurs survive, a few hog the limelight by getting crazy valuations, very few get the balance right in terms of making a difference to customers, getting the business model right and making the company profitable in the right way. We only get to hear about companies who failed big or made it big.

In my view, the difference between the successful and the failed entrepreneur would be the former’s ability to find the right talent at the bootstrap stage.

Let’s examine how we try to find talent at that stage. We dip into the network of family, friends and former colleagues immediately. This is natural as some of them might have been part of the ideation, or inspiration behind the venture. The very nature of a startup means conserving capital and maximising output. You would focus on getting some traction in business on a minimal scale.

Going beyond your own network means you are talking to talented strangers who would put their financial security first. There would be little attachment to your venture. Also, people with special expertise are always paid market salaries by large firms. The employment market is also broken as people are used to changing jobs in India with an increment to their last drawn salary. Many a times that’s the only motive. How can bootstrap companies thrive if they hire at such salaries?

When I was hiring for my new venture, one of the talented sales leads from a Fortune 500 company said, “I am at ₹26 lakh CTC, I need ₹42 lakh to outweigh the risks I am taking to join you.”

I gave her the phone numbers of CEOs of a few large companies where her need could be fulfilled. I wondered why she didn’t consider the risk to the startup with such an inflated wage bill at the bootstrap stage. Many talented people are willing to join a startup only if it is funded. That means 95 per cent of entrepreneurs must depend on talent who will join them rather than the talent they actually want. That’s why bootstrap companies struggle, and I suspect they compromise on the talent they hire.

So, what should you do as a bootstrap entrepreneur to hire the right people? First, avoid people who are actively looking for a job. I know this makes the process lengthier, but it’s worth it. For an active job-seeker, your venture will be a means for their change, rather than your need. Next, ignore people who have worked in large companies with lengthy tenures. This lot is used to the salary, benefits and comfort big brands provide. It takes a lot of your time to attract them and they may never join. Look for people who have quit their safe havens and got experience in multiple firms even if their CV looks unstable.

People with spouses in a well-paid job are the ones you should go after as their appetite for risk could be relatively higher. Be comfortable with folks who can’t tell you their previous stint was a roaring success. Try to hire people who are one notch below the role you are seeking, so that’s the punt you take on them to grow into and for you that will provide longevity of talent. The person, the values, should be the core of your evaluation rather than the perfect expertise. You can teach skills, not character. As an entrepreneur, you don’t have the time to deal with people who don’t evoke trust. This is a difficult one as interviews aren’t the best place to discover this.

Once you identify the person, meet him or her several times. Meet each time for a different purpose and don’t waste each other’s time.

Your punctuality, authenticity, decision-making and passion towards the cause should convince the person who is making the call. Give them the personal touch that no large organisation can and the quality of hiring that few MNCs have.

But I must admit that hiring during bootstrap stage is a vicious circle as your idea takes off only when there is good talent beyond founders. VCs also say they invest in people rather than in the idea. But your ability to attract the talent of your choice without hurting your purse determines your success.

One of the entrepreneurs I worked with used to say he recruited people who were seemingly misfits, giving them a playground to blossom. He also had a habit of recruiting people from Tier II or III cities. It worked pretty well for him.

Make an “A” list and then strike it down to make a list “B”. The latter are probably those who would join you and give you the best. The A list will chase you when you get funded, but by then, would you really need them?

(The author is a prolific commentator on workplace dynamics. He is now pursuing his entrepreneurial dreams in the talent solutions space.)

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