Steve Blank
JULY 11, 2017
The director had complained to his boss, the VP of Engineering, who admitted his hands were tied, as this was a “facilities matter,” and the VP of facilities reported to the CFO. So, this was a meeting of last resort, as the engineering director was making one last appeal to the CFO to keep his team in town.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
AUGUST 9, 2010
If you can't find ten people who say they'll buy it, your company is bullshit. I say "find ten people who say they'll buy." If the VP of Engineering thinks the target customer is just like him/her, you're doomed. If there are millions, it's trivial to find ten. Short-sighted, no? But you're still not listening.
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Both Sides of the Table
JULY 1, 2010
As your organization grows and you hire senior staff where you are no longer managing every employee directly the issue of how to manage people that are not your “direct&# reports arises. I spent a ton of time with the CEO and VP Finance understanding the businesses, its customers and its operational challenges.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
OCTOBER 13, 2015
The question is: How do you decide what role is most important to hire for? If I hire someone to do X, I’ll have time for Y and Z. Hire the best person for that role. For all possible roles, think of the perfect person for the job — a person so amazing you could never recruit them. How to determine (1)?
View from Seed
SEPTEMBER 18, 2019
Projecting from the seed stage, there are two types of team-building topics you want to address – key senior hires and org-level team building. As the company progresses through product market fit (PMF), you will want to highlight other key senior hires required to scale and round out the functional expertise of the exec team.
Version One Ventures
MAY 23, 2019
And Sin-Mei Tsai , VP of Engineering at Shippo, discussed code quality. And she has just about completed 60 to 140 ( Ada is hiring !). Unlike “traditional” departments such as Engineering, Product, Sales, Marketing, BD, Customer Support/Success, People is a relatively new leadership function. Shared my thoughts with you!
Ben's Blog
OCTOBER 14, 2010
The biggest difference between being a great functional manager and being a great general manager—and particularly a great CEO—is that as a general manager, you must hire and manage people who are far more competent at their jobs than you would be at their jobs. So, with no experience, how do you hire someone good? Probably none.
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