451 Posts found for Source: First Round Review

The missing ingredient in many would-be communities is dedication. We put on one-off events or annual fundraisers, but we don’t give potential community members the chance to keep showing up or to raise their hands to take on responsibilities.

Content: Quotation | Author: Bailey Richardson | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Customer Related

Communities are sacred. They imply a level of connection, advocacy and energy on the part of the people who are showing up. You’re incredibly lucky if you have a passionate group of people with a sense of ownership. It’s not a word to bandy about lightly. There’s a difference between opting into true engagement and passive, utilitarian use or inclusion. Aspiring community builders in the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bailey Richardson | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Customer Related

Hiring is not a problem to be solved but an opportunity to build the future of your organization.

Content: Quotation | Author: Julie Zhuo | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Human Resources

Two years ago, our team at First Round, led by Partner Bill Trenchard and VP Platform Brett Berson, began to quietly build out a program to help our founders navigate the choppy waters of follow-on fundraising. Long had we observed founders caught off guard by what was needed to raise their Series A after having a relatively easy time at the seed stage.

Realizing how … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Bill Trenchard, Brett Berson | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Consensus means no ownership. What’s important is not that everyone agrees, but that everyone is heard and then the right person makes a decision.

Content: Quotation | Author: Gokul Rajaram | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Management, Organizational Behavior

This content is restricted to site members. Please log in or register

The art of decision-making isn’t always about capturing some elusive “best” decision — it’s about making the most of information available, garnering trust across stakeholders and executing with conviction.

Content: Quotation | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational Behavior

Efficiency is great if you can plan for the long-term. If you know what you’re going to do for a long period of time, you can really get into the nuts and bolts of how to do it efficiently. But because efficiency, by design, locks in roles, processes and practices, it also makes it much harder to change.

Content: Quotation | Author: Adam Pisoni | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

When Don Otvos first joined Datahug earlier this year, the sales team was spread out between San Francisco, New York and London. They were operating independently, isolated from each other. Most importantly, they couldn’t learn from each other and collaborate as quickly as they needed to. When he came aboard, he got the chance to make this vision a reality by rebuilding the company’s sales … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Don Otvos | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales

At a certain scale, you’re growing so fast that you might have five to 10 or more employees starting in a given week. Take advantage of these new hire cohorts and help them to bond like a freshman class at college. Even without team rotations, they can use these personal connections to learn more about other teams. It’s a particularly effective way to formalize onboarding … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: David Loftesness | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Human Resources

There’s a fine line between being detail-oriented and detail-saturated. It’s the difference between details giving direction and details impeding decisions.

Content: Quotation | Author: Jody Foster | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Personal Development

In any conflict situation, finding a solution to the problem at hand is the highest goal. To do that, you must separate the person you’re in conflict with from that problem.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Ann Mehl, Jerry Colonna | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Personal Development

At First Round’s recent CEO Summit, Jeff Lawson brought granularity to company values and culture by sharing both victorious and vulnerable examples from his time at Twilio. Specifically, he deconstructed his efforts into three parts: articulating, living and changing company values. Any startup that has been told to be its authentic self, but has encountered more handwaving than a tactical plan will find solace and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jeff Lawson | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

When a founder says in a plainspoken manner, “When we close, we’re going to be…” you know that they already see the money in the bank. There’s no extra emphasis as they make the statement, but it’s clear it’s not in question. When talking about the future of your company orient around “when” and not “if.”

Content: Quotation | Author: Brett Berson | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Most folks would agree that learning is good. The catch is that modern life hones skills — like pattern recognition and selective attention — that are at odds with learning. With hectic personal and professional schedules, we live much of life sensing and responding, only engaging in creative or critical thinking occasionally.

Content: Quotation | Author: Anne Dwane | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

Consider comedians. Comedians don’t live in a different world [than] everyone else; they just see the humor in it. Likewise, entrepreneurs see opportunity where the majority sees mature, intractable markets. Entrepreneurial epiphanies come from a beginners mind, not a jaded one.

Content: Quotation | Author: Anne Dwane | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

The best reference check tip I’ve ever received is to leave voicemails for the references provided by your candidate. If you get a voicemail, which you almost always do, say: “Please call me back if this is an outstanding candidate for a job that requires learning.” If the candidate is outstanding, you’ll get a call back immediately. The reference might even apologize for missing your … [ Read more ]

Author: Anne Dwane | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources

If you only follow one hiring mantra let it be this: Hire people for the way they approach problems. It follows, if you can only ask a reference one question about a candidate, this should be it.

Content: Quotation | Author: Anne Dwane | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources

We all want to hire people who have successfully done what we need. That’s really rare, though. Just because someone has done something before doesn’t mean they can do it again. It’s not a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is where you can say that experience can be overrated.

Content: Quotation | Author: Anne Dwane | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources

I know there are different schools of thought about onboarding schedules. Generally, we try to over-schedule instead of under-schedule for new employees. In my own personal experience, it’s a weird feeling to show up on the first day and not having any work or idea of what to do. So we fill those days as much as possible.

Content: Quotation | Author: Noah Brier | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Human Resources