Brendan Rogers: Lean & Scrappy, Then…Boom! You Receive Funding. Now What?

Today we are discussing the Steps to building & scaling headcount in growth mode. Making sure that execution & time to fill are aligned.

Today’s Quote:

"Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together." - James Cash Penney

Show Guest:

Brendan Rogers, Co-Founder & Leading Recruiting of Wag Labs, has raised over $360 million in venture capital, most recently $300 million from Softbank's Vision Fund. Wag! connects pet parents to dog walkers and is currently live in over 110 U.S. cities. He co-founded a social discovery service to meet new people which grew to over 50 million users in over 10 countries and was acquired by IAC in 2014.

Brendan's next big event will be speaking at the ERE Conference on April 22-24th.

Episode Highlights:

• How to ramp up from 0 to hero
• Steps to put in place to avoid making hiring mistakes

You company closes your first round of funding

• 10 -12 roles from Nothing
• no resources & no systems in place
• Spreadsheets, manual task-oriented, process

Preparation before go mode

• Building out pipelines, similar spaces, consumer-related companies.
• How to avoid making the wrong hire.
• How to scale for maximum impact
• Tools needed. Process in place, a foundation to scale.
• Get really good at identifying the right people, connecting the dots, sourcing- research
• He does a ton of research, knows his space.
• Strive to keep quality really high. Target specific businesses.

Action Plan & Execution

• First hire should be a recruiter
• Identify what is needed & write job descriptions
• Right messaging
• Tackled building pipeline, hired.com
• Spreadsheet
• Hired a recruiter, brought in an ATS (applicant tracking system)

First:

• Get an ATS system first! -like Newton, Google (hire with Google) Greenhouse, lever
• - take open requirements and intake with each hiring manager. Know the roles from top to bottom

Second:

• Build a pipeline, training managers on how to use the ats, become partners with the hiring managers

Third:

• Hire a recruiter only after 5+ open roles.
• Admin- for cost savings
• Having a foundation will only help you to scale.

Key Take-Aways

• Be best friends with your Hiring Managers
• Be on top of everything
• Always be available
• Invest in the right tools