Edition 7: Recruiting your first hires; Candidate experience = employer brand; Capital meets awesome yoga;
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Edition 7: Recruiting your first hires; Candidate experience = employer brand; Capital meets awesome yoga;
We invest in the Future of Businesses: Infrastructure your company should care about.
If you enjoy the newsletter, please share it with your network: we write for founders, investors and operators ;)
COMMUNITY
We run Capital Meets Yoga 🧘 for fellow investors and founders on 1st June in London. Pretiosum will be hosting a series of "not your ordinary" community events for founders, operators, and fellow investors. Join us if you are tired of always meeting people exclusively over a glass of wine 😉 We want to build meaningful connections.
Want to join Pretiosum events? Find us on Locals 💛, the discovery app for activities and communities full of inspiring and entrepreneurial people.
READS
Chief of Staff Playbook (by MMC)
Having a Chief of Staff can be great, but not everyone needs one. Some executives may benefit more from hiring an Executive Assistant or a Head of / VP Operations, for example. That's why it's important to understand the differences between these roles and assess what you need most before deciding which role to hire.
Your Candidate Experience is your Employer Brand, or is it? (by High Alpha Innovation)
How powerful is your brand? (by Forerunner)
Being a remarkable brand is a lot like being a great friend. There are many ways to go about doing it and no one is perfect; but the blend of the tangible and intangible is what creates powerful, enduring connections over time.
Enterprise Tech 30 2023 (by Wing)
Moving Fast and Making Waves: Early stage companies are moving at an unprecedented pace. For the 2023 cohort, the median time since founding for early stage was 2.3 years, as compared to 2.7 years the prior year and five years for 2019. The median time between the last two rounds raised was 0.6 years for 2023, as compared to one year for 2022 and 1.2 years for 2019.
OPINION
Recruiting your first hires
Melanie Perkins, Co-founder, Canva & Anna Andersson, Pretiosum Ventures
In the words of Melanie, early talent defines your company. Your early hires set the tone for your startup's future. Learn how to attract top talent, particularly in crucial areas like data, engineering and sales. Remember, mis-hires can set you back for years, so make every recruitment decision count.
Have clarity 🔍: Always include an overview of the role and responsibilities, experience level, and salary range – 70% of people want to know the salary upfront, an indication to offer equity and location, don’t be too serious you can make it fun!
They are ready to wear many hats 🧢: The general rule of thumb is "Build with Generalists, Scale with Specialists." A generalist "specialist" can manifest as someone unafraid of branching outside their speciality. These individuals often ask explorative questions about other teams and may proactively ask to take on more responsibilities.
Not attached ⚡️: Startups require the ability to pivot swiftly. Being overly attached to specific frameworks or approaches hinders this agility. If a developer insists on the "one best framework" or a sales hire fixates on "that one approach" for lead generation, be cautious.
Pay attention to soft skills 🗣️: According to 89% of recruiters, a lack of soft skills is the primary reason a new hire doesn’t work out. It’s crucial they fit in with the team and your start-up’s mission.
ATTEND
🇩🇪 June 5-7 (Berlin)
👋 Say hello if you are around, we will be in Berlin.
🇬🇧 June 6-7 (London)
🇺🇸 June 13 (San Francisco)
Join the SF founder community to connect with other founders and hear war stories from a founder who went through the wringer and came out the other side.
WORK
Our portfolio company, Immersive Fox, a B2B AI video generation platform, is hiring for a Sales Lead Generator;
LEARN
📖 Curious enough, business books become irrelevant if not updated yearly, if not monthly (when talking about AI, Web3…). Very interesting perspective, have you thought about your customer as a machine?
”When Machines Become Customers” by Don Scheibenreif and Mark Raskino
For thousands of years, customers have been individual humans, families or organizations. But soon, intelligent software and hardware machines will start to act as customers. CEOs believe that by 2030, up to 20% of their companies’ revenue will come from machine customers, who will be involved in a wide range of consumer and business purchases.
🎧 And listening to the Rise of the Exponential Organization by a16z
Many companies today are grappling with a few things: an economic downturn, potential layoffs and restructuring, and trying to keep up with the latest tech trends… all while still maintaining a growth trajectory.
In this episode, you’ll learn which companies are uniquely designed to weather this storm and what attributes these exponential organizations have.
Please note that any charts, data, or projections discussed are subject to change without notice, may differ from opinions expressed by others, and are for informational purposes only. They should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. The content speaks only as of the date indicated; Pretiosum Ventures has not independently verified third-party links or sources, nor makes representations about the enduring accuracy of such information.