Discussing “The Role of Founders in Building Teams” by How to Hire A-Players

Written by Lance Hillis

What Founders Should Do When Seeking Non-Founders (Employees)

Building a well-rounded team isn’t just focusing on founders but also finding the right employees. In “How To Hire A-Players”, Herrenkohl gives an example of this impact, especially in what it means in a companies ability to grow. A couple named Jody and Heather Herzog own a franchise location of Fleet Feet Sports. While they were successfully running the location, their success was solely predicated on them handling the core responsibilities of the business. They were responsible for every important decision within the company, such as marketing, tending to customer needs, purchasing, and hundreds of other tasks. Then they had brought in Eddie, a manager with over a decade of experience at another competing location. Not only did he bring in new ideas and management experience, but he also freed up time for the Herzogs to focus on other aspects of the business, which allowed them to grow exponentially.

Always interview – Even when you’re not necessarily hiring, always be willing to interview with prospective candidates in search of potential “A-Players”. Many companies with a successful hiring process will speak with prospects in an interview and be truthful on whether or not they have a position available for them upfront. Herrenkohl states that this approach is even more desirable to many potential future employees, as they know that your company is serious about the talent it brings on. In this approach, interviewing is not just a talent search, but also a numbers game. In interviewing as many people as possible, you are also ensuring a higher probability of landing “A-Players”. Some companies operate by hiring people that they find are overwhelmingly qualified for a role within their company with the intention of finding a role for them later, ensuring that they always have the most high-end of talent.

Create a farming system internally – by training people internally within a company from one department to another, you’re not only ensuring that they are acquiring a similar and valuable skill set to take the next step, but you’re assured of a shared point of view and mission within your company. Another example of a farming system given later in the book, Herrenkohl brings up another Fleet Feet Sports location in Syracuse, New York, that employs a strategy of finding potential employees that are current customers, tying marketing and recruiting together. They work within the pool of current and specifically new customers, as they are excited by the opportunity to work for a location that shares their interest in exercise. New customers who shop at Fleet Feet largely contain a considerable number of people who have recently moved to the area as well, spending less money on recruiting and having a higher probability of finding A-Players that share similar values to Fleet Feet Sports.

The Importance of Building Talented Teams

By ensuring you have a number of talented individuals within your team, it allows you workplace flexibility, diversifies your workload between multiple high performing employees, and retains your top talent. It also divests from a culture that pushes employees to focus specifically on doing all of the work. Although Microsoft had over 80,000 employees at the time of (this book’s) publishing, Bill Gates, once the richest man in the world, claims that the entire company was built around fewer than 20 people. Unrelated, but I like to also note that Bill Gates had the potential to become the world first trillionaire according to Forbes, but forwent the opportunity to focus on philanthropy.

One of my biggest blind spots in building my business is the sheer volume of what was brand new to me. I had never done product package design, financial spreadsheets, filed the paperwork for an LLC, registered a trademark, created a contract, and many, many more things. I believe that even through the delegation of responsibilities with one other individual on my team, I could’ve had a partner to keep me on track, advise on priorities, split the workload and prevent burnout. I’m actively searching for someone who would have a complimentary and even homogenous skill set who has the potential for developing a vision. This would be someone that I would envision to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer someday, but through these lessons learned, I aim to be cognizant of finding the appropriate talent, while pinpointing adequate compensation and the potential for growth. I’m recognizing that if I want to see my business come to fruition, it will require help, and that I should make this my foremost focus.