Over the last few weeks, I've talked to over 10 early-stage startups, ranging from 4 to 10 employees. These startups were all hiring their founding team — early engineers, designers and managers who are expected to have an impact from day 0, scale with the company, and are fundamental to their organisation’s long-term success [0].
Each one of these startups made a series of mistakes when pitching to me, from not describing their vision to talking too much — a potentially fatal flaw in the current hiring market. In this article, I'll explain what they did wrong, and how I think you could learn from the mistakes they made.
6 Talking Points to Pitch to a Potential Founding Team Member
Here are six essential topics that you must touch upon during your pitch:
1. What do you do?
You should be able to explain your product and what your company does in < 1 minute. Your explanation should make sense to a non-expert. By the end, I should have an idea of what you do. Kevin Hale has some excellent advice if you’re struggling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17XZGUX_9iM
This is table-stakes: if you can't, I'll struggle to believe you can raise funds, hire employees, or even manage your business.
2. What is your mission, and why should I care?
This is the most important point, yet is often missed. You need to answer these questions:
- How would the world be different when your company is successful?
- Where is your company going in 5-10 years?
- Why should I join you, vs any of the other hundreds of startups hiring right now?
Without a good story on why your company matters, you won't get the interest of the best founding-team members.
3. Who is on the team?
This is the second most important thing that I look for:
- Who will I be working with (tell me their names!) and what do they do?
- How long have you known them, and have you worked with them before?
- Why are they great to work with?
Not everyone is motivated by working with great people, but the best people are. Early employees [1] join to build the future and to learn, and that's easiest when you're surrounded by the best.
Secondly, be honest. If you lack somebody in a critical role, mention it, and how you plan to solve it. Your self-awareness, forward-thinking and honesty will help me respect you as a leader, much more than an aura of someone who has it "all figured out" would.
4. Can you raise investment?
I personally don't care who your investors are, or what they invested in before, since most VC bets fail. However, I do want to know that:
- You have enough funding to sustain 1-2 years of my salary
- You are able to raise money, which (most) successful companies will need to do.
Don't make me work hard to dig this information out of you. That makes me worried that you have something to hide.
5. Why do you want to hire me?
- How do you see me slotting in with the rest of the team? Who will I be working with?
- What about my profile got you excited to hire me?
- What will I do?
Answering these questions will 1) flatter me, 2) create a vision in my mind of my life working with you and your team, and 3) trust that you have a plan for how to run your business. Again, don't make me work hard to find this out — be up-front and honest.
6. Do you understand the space?
I want to see that you, and your team, deeply understand the customer and the pain point you’re solving. This is particularly important for B2B startups. For B2C startups, I would also expect a deep understanding of consumer trends and culture.
Perfecting Your Pitch
Finally, a few meta-points on how to pitch:
Keep your pitch short, < 15 min
Write down what you'll say if it helps. You probably already do this before investor and sales calls, so you can use this as a starting template. 30 min in total is plenty for an introductory call, accounting for back and forth.
Make it a conversation
A founder who doesn't offer ample opportunity for their interviewee to speak is a red flag. How could I work with you if I can't get a word in?
I've seen this in the majority of early conversations I've had: founders are so passionate and talk so much it's overwhelming. I've left feeling "that's a cool company... but I'm just not excited to work with that founder".
Asking questions of the prospective early employee whilst pitching is okay; just ensure that you've answered all of the key questions above.
Share answers offline
Answer these questions concisely in a public document and share it with the interviewee. That document should fit your vibe and company culture. Too often a tedious recruitment spec is sent out — that rarely does much to inspire an early employee to join.
There are a few table-stakes topics that could be included here:
- What is your attitude to remote work?
- What is your work environment and culture like?
- Equity and salary?
- Perks and benefits?
Teach recruiters how to pitch
Recruiters are generally terrible at pitching. They don't understand what is special about your company, and they don’t recruit as an owner would. If you're going to use recruiters, check if they're doing a good job, and help them fine-tune their pitch.
Think You Can Pitch Better?
I’ll happily give you some feedback on how to improve!
Reach out, and pitch me maybe 🤙 📲
[0] The PayPal Mafia is probably the canonical example of a strong founding team. Their members went on to build many other innovative companies.
[1] A founding team member is different from a "regular" employee and to a founder. They might not found the company, but still, own a lot and make many one-way decisions. Be clear in your mind which type of role you're hiring for.