Article written by Anthony Bourbon, founder and CEO of Feed.
To be successful, you need exceptional people on your team. Alone, you won't achieve anything, even if you have the best idea in the world. This is why it is essential to surround yourself well. In this article I will give you some keys to choosing your team and bringing it together.
Detect the future gems of your team.
Recruitment is not an easy thing. You must find reliable, efficient people who share your desire to succeed and your values. There are often many candidates but it is difficult to make a choice.
My first advice is to prefer ambition and “shining eyes” to the CV. You must select people who truly believe in your project and who are ready to follow you, even in difficult times. Listen to your guts feeling. What your gut tells you, your instinct. If necessary, meet the person several times, and in different situations (office, café, restaurant, walk, etc.).
Then I usually focus on the actual field experience. It is much more important than studies or theory. You must choose versatile profiles ready to adapt and react quickly. That is to say that they must be good in their vertical but they must also be able to come out of it to help the rest of the team horizontally.
Avoid overly cerebral profiles that think more than they execute. You are creating a start-up, not a government.
Good candidates are those who understand and embrace your WHY, while sharing your values.
Don't hesitate to give a chance to “small profiles”, those who don't fit into the boxes, those who are hungry, those who want to act and escape their initial condition. They are often neglected by large groups, and if you reach out to them, they will (mostly) be loyal and grateful.
At Feed. for example, we only recruit warriors who are there to change things and who share our values: work, determination, passion, resilience, ambition.
Unite your team.
To ensure that your team gives its all in the long term, it's up to you to put the right processes in place. You have to be honest and return the favor.
Onboarding is a key moment because you must transmit the DNA of your start-up and the WHY. Give your brand platform to everyone new, and have them meet different people from the team, so they can absorb the mindset and energy.
You also need to include your team in something beyond the brand. At Feed., we very quickly launched our Feed.Back endowment fund which gives a chance to those who have less. And each team member can sponsor a project and help a candidate. During the first lockdown linked to COVID-19 we also offered team members the opportunity to distribute Feed products if they wished. in hospitals near them. This allows you to give meaning to everyone’s mission and understand why they work for you.
To keep your team united, you must also include them at all levels in decision-making. That is to say, prefer a linear organization to a pyramidal organization. Favor horizontality over verticality. At Feed. we work in the form of a Squad. Each member of the team has the same level of responsibility and every opinion counts.
Finally, to unite your team you need to know how to reward it. At Feed., each member of the team holds the equivalent of 4 years of salary in BSPCE (stock options/business creator share subscription warrants). But this also involves opportunities for development and the promotion of everyone's work.
Your team is your arm for success. You have to select it carefully and together, you will have no limits.
Anthony Bourbon.
