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Is being an ex-founder a great qualifier for a landing a job? Well, it could… or not.
Let’s take a closer look at this situation.
In Today’s Edition
- Are Ex-CEOs Less Hireable?
- What It’s Like to Lead Older Employees
- 3 MIT Grads Founded the Ultimate Boring Business & Sold it for $4 Billion
- WhoGoHost Acquires SendChamp
Are Ex-CEOs Less Hireable?
Sometime ago, a founder searching for a more stable source of income shared his struggles landing a job;
I started a company about ten years ago focusing on a fairly niche wireless product. The business never took off; revenue has always been between $100k and $900k per year. At this point, it's basically a hobby that throws off some cash.
I've been applying to various business development and product manager positions for over a year, but have had zero replies. I've raised a couple million dollars, navigated arcane regulations, hired/managed/laid off staff, and built/shipped a dozen different physical products (about 20,000 units in total). I'm assuming that the lack of interest from recruiters is due to me working for myself for too long. Of course, I could be wrong and my resume might just suck.
I guess it makes sense that hiring managers don't want to deal with someone who has not been managed for a long time, but those types are also self-starters who produce results with very little oversight…”
As expected, he got a good number of responses, most of which advised that reviewed his resume to fit the roles he was applying for. However, this question kept coming to mind:
As a founder, would I consider hiring an ex-founder?
Most companies claim that they want to hire employees who are entrepreneurial and innovative. But when presented with job candidates who have real-world entrepreneurship experience — that is, startup founders — how do employers actually respond?
For me, it’s a definite yes! But there are key things you need to consider:
- Are their core skills and competencies a match with your requirements?
A lot of founders are generalists and while they may have an idea of almost everything, that doesn’t guarantee they’re great at one thing.
- Are they willing to be managed?
Each company is structured differently and whatever they are bringing to the table as a team member should fit into the existing structure. They would, like any other new employee, need to be supervised and integrated into the new system. Are they humble enough to accept that, even if it is coming from a younger colleague?
- Are they a good culture fit?
- Do they share your values?
Of course you don’t want two captains on your ship, that would cause a division on the team and that can be a real problem to handle.
These questions and more should be addressed during your screening process so you know you’re making the right decision in choosing your candidate, not just based on the bias that they are ex-founders and so they will “get it”.
But tell me, would you be willing to hire an ex-founder? What other things will you put into consideration? I’d love to hear.
CORPORATE TEAMS AND CULTURE
What It’s Like to Lead Older Employees
Picture this: a Gen Z leading a Gen X or boomer, especially at a time age bracket delineation is heading almost every conversation. You might imagine corporate chaos, but it really might not be that deep.
For the average African, respect is a big deal, and age and position are major determining factors of respect as well. Even at the workplace, with all its official ambience, this still plays out. So, imagine what it would be like to lead older employees. Corporate life offers a myriad of experiences, from being an employee to leading other employees, and in this article, five team leads talk about what’s it like to lead co-workers older than them.
AS SEEN ON X
3 MIT Grads Founded the Ultimate Boring Business & Sold it for $4 Billion
X (formerly Twitter) has become a school with endless resources. Every week I will be sharing useful tweets that will be beneficial to you as you continue to build amazing products. Click on the images to view the thread.
SPECIAL FEATURE
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FROM THE LEADER’S LIBRARY
WhoGoHost Acquires SendChamp
WhoGoHost, a Nigerian cloud infrastructure company, has fully acquired SendChamp, a cloud communications startup that powers online messaging for African businesses for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition which combines cash and equity, is part of WhoGoHost’s strategic plans to deepen its value offering for its customer base.
MEME OF THE WEEK
AI TOOLS OF THE WEEK
AI Tools you should be using to make your work easier
- Predict AI - Predicts customer responses on creative assets
- Chapple - Generate AI content and start making money in minutes
- Copywise - Tailor your message to every customer. Get the revenue growth you deserve.
- Gizzmo AI - Creates Amazon affiliate articles in just two clicks.
- Superflows - Open Source toolkit for building an AI assistant that lets users control your product through chat.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants.”
– David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
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ABOUT CAREERBUDDY
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At CareerBuddy, we make hiring seamless for fast-growing companies, we pride ourselves on knowing the best people that will excel in a Startup. With a candidate retention rate of 90.3%, it is safe to say “We are the best in the game for Startup hiring in Africa”.
We have worked with our partners to hire both for Technical and Non-Technical roles, we have also helped them with expansion in Africa. Some of our clients include Bamboo Invest, Helium Health, Cassbana, Cadana, Fincra, CrowdForce, Casava, TeamApt (now Moniepoint), Sabi, etc.
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Written by Oluwaseun Aladetoyinbo, Ayodeji Falaye
Edited by Oluwaseun Aladetoyinbo
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