Discussing “The Conclusion of How To Hire A-Players” by Eric Herrenkohl

Written by Lance Hillis

While its vital to find talented and invested people, its even more important to keep those people on board. One thing about talented, hard working people is that their focus and drive provide them with more career options than weaker performers, meaning you are at risk of losing them. “A-Players” want to work for people that have a vision for what the business can be and how they fit into it, and don’t want to be alone in doing so.

Y Combinator, a startup accelerator and investor of early-stage startups, made this video regarding “Co-Founder Equity Mistakes“. In this video, Michael Seibel discusses these scenarios regarding equity splits, and how important it is as a Founder to think about now and in the future. He states that equity should be thought of as a tool to motivate your cofounders, and that you need to think as a founder that what is going to be that person’s motivation in the third year of your startup, when things are at their most difficult.

On top of providing proper rewards and incentives, one must provide an inspiring vision of what the company can become, and how that person fits into that vision. Seibel reiterates that the most successful CEOs are always thinking about the future and others motivations, even when they aren’t thinking about it.

How This Applies To The Startup

This is where the organizational chart comes in. The org chart provides a visual outline of the people within your company, and your goal is to fill those positions overwhelmingly with A-Players. You should actively update your organizational chart as you gather more information and the demands of the company change. Herrenkohl not only wants you to focus on identifying the talents of your respective employees and co-founders, but also nuture them, or remove them if they aren’t up to the task. Invest time with your A-Players first, they’re the most important individuals to the success of your organization. Following this, spend more time with your B-Players who have the opportunity to become A-Players with additional training, or pulling back their responsibilities so that they can hone in on a particular skill set. Then, eliminate the C-Team players, and hire from your farm team.

He tells the story of a sales rep apart of a fast growing distribution company that moved from one warehouse to another much larger one over a weekend. Once they moved, the sales rep congratulated the CEO on the move. The CEO said they were happy, but they were already looking to outgrow the space within the next three years, and they had plans on who would be taking on the roles for the next level of challenge. The sales rep was incredibly impressed, as she didn’t expect the CEO to be thinking this far into the future. The CEO had not only thought about the next warehouse that they were going to open, but the people he was going to put into those leadership positions. This kind of forward thinking keeps A-Players engaged.

These lessons apply to everyone in your organization; from the cofounders, to employees, to advisors, to managers and vice presidents. When you have people in your company that you have total confidence in to fulfill their role , you are free to engage in growing the company strategically, rather than having to invest your energy elsewhere.