Ask HN: Which companies prefer hiring ex-founders?
19 comments
I'm a serial startup founder and LOVE working with other founders or former founders. They often come with a level of maturity that few managers have -- they know how hard it is to run a business, to raise money, hire/fire, etc... This is especially true in your case, where you built something that got some traction.
I would say there are TWO problems you have right now.
1. Recruiters are not the people you want to reach out to. Reach out to the entrepreneurs who are running the businesses you want to work for... This implies that you might have luck with scaleups/startups or founder-led companies... The important piece is: recruiters will rarely have the appreciation for your experiences that other founders do, and most companies don't explicitly seek out ex-founders... So you'll resonate with the founders but NOT with a recruiter who has a checklist of skills.
2. Make sure your "about me" section in your resume outlines the difficulties of starting and scaling a business, and why you are so unique... Good executive recruiters know that special people struggle putting their experiences into a cohesive checklist, but then your "about me" section needs to be really compelling.
I would say there are TWO problems you have right now.
1. Recruiters are not the people you want to reach out to. Reach out to the entrepreneurs who are running the businesses you want to work for... This implies that you might have luck with scaleups/startups or founder-led companies... The important piece is: recruiters will rarely have the appreciation for your experiences that other founders do, and most companies don't explicitly seek out ex-founders... So you'll resonate with the founders but NOT with a recruiter who has a checklist of skills.
2. Make sure your "about me" section in your resume outlines the difficulties of starting and scaling a business, and why you are so unique... Good executive recruiters know that special people struggle putting their experiences into a cohesive checklist, but then your "about me" section needs to be really compelling.
P.S.
If you want me to review your resume or anything, feel free to email me at w -at- chimerais.com -- I help a lot of data scientists with resume stuff but am more than happy to help you as well. :-)
If you want me to review your resume or anything, feel free to email me at w -at- chimerais.com -- I help a lot of data scientists with resume stuff but am more than happy to help you as well. :-)
> I'm assuming that the lack of interest from recruiters is due to me working for myself for too long.
Based on experience, this is probably not the reason. It's likely that your resume is poor.
I've always held the opinion that a resume's job is to get you the initial screener. If you'd like me to take a look over yours and provide some candid and actionable feedback, my email is in my profile. Some career-focused anecdotes are in my comment history as well.
Based on experience, this is probably not the reason. It's likely that your resume is poor.
I've always held the opinion that a resume's job is to get you the initial screener. If you'd like me to take a look over yours and provide some candid and actionable feedback, my email is in my profile. Some career-focused anecdotes are in my comment history as well.
I think you're a very attractive profile for many growth stage startups. But traditional job search strategies like using recruiters would not be effective. Recruiters and HR folks tend to pattern match with standard profiles and founders don't fit well into that profile. I would think that a better strategy might be to be to network with other founders and VCs to get into your next gig. YCs startup school is a good place to network actually.
What about former customers, peers you met at trade shows etc, ex employees who moved onto big things, former investors, etc. Most business owners form a network over the years whether they work to cultivate it or not.
Customers are a little tricky, needs to be handled with care. Trade show contacts and ex-employees and former investors, board members are all good people to contact. But you may have message the fact that you are shutting down the business first. Also if you had co-workers from a job you did before your started, reach out to them. Many of them may be VPs and CEOs by now, and would value you as a coworker.
Being a founder or ex-founder is an implementation detail, not a selling point of its own.
Test your assumption: change your resume to not imply that you were working for yourself, but for a company (which I assume is true -- you don't need to specify that you _owned_ the company). Change your title to VP, Engineering or something like that. If you get more bites that way, there might be some evidence to suggest that's the problem.
Otherwise, it's likely that your resume just needs work. There is lots of advice out there, but my $0.02: your resume is an ad and the CTA is scheduling an interview. You've got about 6 seconds to make a good enough impression to get them to actually schedule an interview, so don't fill an entire page with super dense text or things that would be better saved for an interview when you can discuss them at length.
Also: as someone who has frequently been on the other side of the table from ex-founders applying for a job, my view is that they're either really amazing hires or huge liabilities. Not a lot of in-between. Being a founder is neither inherently a virtue nor a vice -- it's what you make of that experience and bring to the table at a new company that's important.
Test your assumption: change your resume to not imply that you were working for yourself, but for a company (which I assume is true -- you don't need to specify that you _owned_ the company). Change your title to VP, Engineering or something like that. If you get more bites that way, there might be some evidence to suggest that's the problem.
Otherwise, it's likely that your resume just needs work. There is lots of advice out there, but my $0.02: your resume is an ad and the CTA is scheduling an interview. You've got about 6 seconds to make a good enough impression to get them to actually schedule an interview, so don't fill an entire page with super dense text or things that would be better saved for an interview when you can discuss them at length.
Also: as someone who has frequently been on the other side of the table from ex-founders applying for a job, my view is that they're either really amazing hires or huge liabilities. Not a lot of in-between. Being a founder is neither inherently a virtue nor a vice -- it's what you make of that experience and bring to the table at a new company that's important.
"Of course, I could be wrong and my resume might just suck."
Your resume's job is to get the person screening it to say 'yes'. Create a list of achievements for each company/role and, when applying to a specific job, include the achievements that best prove the skills/experience listed in the job ad. Don't try to include everything you've done.
Maybe you are a great plumber and a great guitarist. But when applying for a job as a plumber working on high-rise buildings, emphasise the relevant part of your plumbing experience. Omit anything guitar-related, as it won't help, and will just dilute your main message and make your resume exceed a single page.
If you want someone to look over a couple of your resumes/applications, and provide more specific suggestions, email me.
Your resume's job is to get the person screening it to say 'yes'. Create a list of achievements for each company/role and, when applying to a specific job, include the achievements that best prove the skills/experience listed in the job ad. Don't try to include everything you've done.
Maybe you are a great plumber and a great guitarist. But when applying for a job as a plumber working on high-rise buildings, emphasise the relevant part of your plumbing experience. Omit anything guitar-related, as it won't help, and will just dilute your main message and make your resume exceed a single page.
If you want someone to look over a couple of your resumes/applications, and provide more specific suggestions, email me.
With revenues b/w 100-900k I m wondering why you want a job at this point in your life? Are profit margins really low? Are you selling the business? If I m looking at you as a potential hire, I would first ask those questions
It's steadily declined from a peak of $900k, so this year will be $100k. Correct, margins are not great. I don't plan on selling the business, but mostly because no one would buy it. If I thought I could turn the business around to the point of being a healthy one-man shop, I would definitely not consider looking for a job. But familial obligations require a steady income.
Send me an email. I am always looking for entrepreneurial folks to possibly join my bootstrapped SAAS. Can't make any promises but would love to learn more. Contact info in profile.
There are business brokers who will shop a business like that around — someone might be interested in an operating business they think they could turn around.
FAANG + Uber companies hire former founders - as long as they have credible work behind them - which you do. Each has hardware divisions, if you are so inclined. But bizdev is agnostic of domain, like you said.
Source: I had started startups that eventually folded, worked for 2 of these FAANGU companies right after. The interviews also tend to cover the "what were your learnings from the slide in demand" aspect of the startups.
With 10+ years, are you targeting job roles that match up to your skills and experience? Wouldn't a Director of BizDev be more apt for you?
Source: I had started startups that eventually folded, worked for 2 of these FAANGU companies right after. The interviews also tend to cover the "what were your learnings from the slide in demand" aspect of the startups.
With 10+ years, are you targeting job roles that match up to your skills and experience? Wouldn't a Director of BizDev be more apt for you?
In one respect a director-level role is more appropriate, but the other side is that all I've done is lead a small team with a very small budget. That's not typically comparable to the responsibilities at BigCo. The more senior positions also tend to be very formalized and process oriented, which I know nothing about. My process has always been, "Nothing like X exists and I think people will buy it for Y-dollars".
Hiring manager care for what you bring to the table matches what they are looking for, assuming you get along well and such. It is likely you will get interview call. Your company's income statement does not matter.
Not getting interview call does not mean you are not qualified - it could mean you are not qualified enough amongst the pool. Some recruiters/agencies have shill jobs just to attract candidates.
I feel like this could be a double edged situation. Sure, it's great to have someone who is competent and independent. I would imagine this could go bad when if the person is too independent or doesn't exactly have the same vision as the hiring company. I feel like I am more independent than most and think outside the box. I believe this has played a part in why I'm still a midlevel dev.
[deleted]
Helluva "hobby" you're pulling 6 figures from...
There's cost-of-goods-sold, so definitely no six figures. But definitely cashflow positive.
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 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.
In any case, are there any companies (large or small) that explicitly favor hiring/contracting former founders? I assume my opportunities are limited, because most of my expertise is in wireless product development, though business development is fairly agnostic.