462 Posts found for Source: First Round Review

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

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The single most important thing a boss can do is focus on guidance: giving it, receiving it, and encouraging it. Guidance, which is fundamentally just praise and criticism, is usually called “feedback,” but feedback is screechy and makes us want to put our hands over our ears. Guidance is something most of us long for.

Content: Quotation | Author: Kim Scott | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management

Kristen Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Koru, has determined that seven characteristics, taken together, best translate into someone killing it at their job. These traits transcend department or career stage, and they apply to entry-level engineers and marketing executives alike. Each of these seven traits is important for just about every hire. As you use them, though, you may find that you weigh them differently … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Kristen Hamilton | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources

First Round has learned plenty about what makes mentorship work — and what causes it to go sideways and has previously shared some of the lessons covering common concerns for mentors and mentees. Yet the question we’re asked most frequently these days is simple and earnest: How can I be a better mentor?

For us, this inquiry speaks to an eagerness to give … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Career, Human Resources, Personal Development

Nikhyl Singhal advises folks at every end of the startup spectrum, from scrappy early-stage founders to heads of product at some of the biggest unicorns. Founders and product leaders at companies big and small bring him their toughest questions: When should founders hand over the product controls? What should you look for in a PM? How do you structure the team? How do you balance … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Nikhyl Singhal | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Management

When it comes to communications, founders are often laser-focused on the outward-facing victories, like securing a splashy podcast spot or landing the coveted cover story. But while earning external press helps to add a coat of polish to your brand, it’s the day-to-day work of internal comms that keeps the engine running.

While putting intention and dedicated effort into communicating with your employees may seem … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management

By now, it’s clear to most that 1:1 meetings matter. The pro-tip of setting up a dedicated weekly checkpoint is on virtually every list of best practices for managers these days.

Carving out a corner on your calendar for surfacing issues, nurturing that incredibly important employee-manager relationship, and sharing feedback more consistently is undeniably important. For managers in particular, it’s a chance to maintain a pulse … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management

Storytelling isn’t just the domain of content creators, marketers or PR pros. The ability to tell stories that inform, persuade or inspire supercharges every part of company building. Stories aren’t just for external audiences, either. It’s the tool that everyone — leaders especially — should be constantly sharpening. To help you tell stories that cut through the noise, we’ve rounded up the Review’s six best … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Personal Development

Gloria Lin has gone on a lot of dates in the past year. No, not that kind. We’re talking about co-founder dating. As the next generation of company builders takes shape and new founder mafias spin out of places like Stripe, it stands to reason that more co-founder stories won’t fit the traditional mold, and will instead look a lot more like Lin’s.

Lin’s process is … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Gloria Lin | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship