If the Shoe Fits: Clarity or Bafflement
by Miki Saxon
A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
A young programming whiz called me after reading this post and requested some help.
“Jim” had job offers from two strong startups and wasn’t sure which to accept.
I discussed which technology he found most interesting, which position he thought would be the most challenging, where he thought he would learn the most, which people he felt most comfortable with, which company seemed to have values/culture that was most synergistic to his own.
I asked if there was anything about either one that bothered him and Jim said that was the problem, he wasn’t sure.
In both cases, his final interview had been with the respective founders. Both shared their vision and seemed open when responding to his questions. He left each feeling excited and enthralled with the opportunities.
Jim said the problem surfaced when he was telling his parents about the companies (call them A and B).
He said he was easily able to explain B’s vision, market, opportunity and even culture, but when he tried to describe A’s vision and the founder’s answers to his questions he couldn’t.
What seemed so clear when they were talking wasn’t when he used his own words to explain it to his folks.
When he replayed the founder’s actual sentences and even wrote them out and re-read it they didn’t make as much sense—worse, some didn’t make any sense at all.
What happened to Jim made me think of a recent post by Steve Roesler about keeping things simple.
Truth comes in sentences. B_ llS_it comes in paragraphs. If you can’t say it with a noun, verb, and object, you aren’t clear about your thought.
I suggested he read it and also yesterday’s post and apply the information to the problem.
Jim just emailed me to thank me for the time we spent and the links; he also said that he had accepted B’s offer.
Which do you remind your candidates of, A or B?
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