If the Shoe Fits: Wishing for a Star
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
I’ve always believed that the difference between success and failure is opportunity.
Entrepreneurs love to talk about opportunity; I think it’s one of their favorite words—except when it comes to people.
Many entrepreneurs have no interest in anyone who hasn’t done [whatever], not necessarily through formal education, but immediate experience.
Which I find amusing, because what is current today will be outmoded or re-imagined—possibly before they even get their product to market.
Last July I worked (mostly argued) with “Tom” to develop the req for his top marketing person; an obviously critical position.
At the time, I warned him that he was creating a wish list wreck, not a req, but he “knew what he wanted.”
And what Tom wanted in his VP was someone well-versed in Facebook, Twitter, SEO and all things Internet; he said any marketing experience that predated Internet marketing was irrelevant.
When I asked about experience building a team, hiring, developing strategy, competitive pricing, etc. he said none were that difficult and as long as candidates knew the rest they could pick up the details on the fly.
Additionally, candidates had to be currently working; anybody not working no matter the reason was bad news and he wasn’t going to hire someone else’s mistake.
Plus, anybody smart enough to satisfy him would quit her current job in a heartbeat in order to jump on this opportunity.
Last week Tom called to say that he still hadn’t hired a marketing vp and his investors were pressuring him; did I have any other suggestions or ideas on filling the req?
I said not really, I had given him all my ideas when the wreck was being written and nothing new came to mind.
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