Working with the USV portfolio means I get to meet a lot of outstanding candidates looking to join one of our portfolio companies. Here are a few characteristics I’ve found to distinguish the great candidates:
Curious
You need to be curious to create things that never existed. You don’t necessarily have to be curious about something related to the job you’re taking on, but you have to have curiosity for something.
What do you love? If you can’t think of anything, it will be hard to build a product out of love. You have to understand it to get better at building it.
Show Hustle
Now, this is not just, “I got one ‘no’ so I’m going to give up.” That’s persistence, but hustle is more that that. Do your research, put your heart into it, cater to that company that has an open position, then don’t stop at one “no”. Understand what they need and work to become the person the company needs.
This is not, let me send my cookie cutter resume to every startup (even when they’re not hiring). Do the work to understand what you’re applying to and why it would be a good fit. There are other candidates doing this, some with outstanding backgrounds too. Don’t get lazy where it’s important. Do the work.
Be Smart
Being smart is beyond just intelligence, it’s working to raise your knowledge, not just what you’ve been given. Logic works. Learning works. Do your research. What don’t you know? What aren’t you good at? Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, understand your own. Then be smart enough to push to the edge of your potential. See what exists there.
Level Up
Become a mechanic. Understand the what, how, who. You don’t need to know everything but you should be excited enough about your industry that you want to know as much as possible. If you want to work as a Product Manager, learn SQL. If you want to work on Design, learn Javascript. If you want to understand social media, start with a side project just focused on promotion. Be hungry for more. If you’re not hungry in the beginning, it’s a long road.
This is why people preach about passion. If you don’t have an interest about something, a let me wake up first thing in the morning and read the news on this topic - then look in a different industry. Every day, ever dinner party, every taxi driver (in SF or Chicago) will want to know what you do. If you aren’t excited about talking about it, keep on moving.
Care
Love to solve problems? Think scaling is challenging? Be excited about that, the thing you do on the day to day. Love talking to people, maybe sales, or customer support. The industry doesn’t matter as much as the mission of the company does. Find what moves you. Serve that purpose in what you do and the mission the company solves.
- Kickstarter, VHX, Soundcloud, Shapeways, Wattapd and Splice empower creators.
- Meetup believes people should build offline communities just like they do online.
- CircleUp, LendingClub, Funding Circle, Coinbase and Dwolla are revolutionizing the way money and banking exist.
- Firebase, Twilio, MongoDB, CloudFlare and Sift Science are creating the best tools to empower developers.
If you have any additions or questions, happy to discuss in the comments.
This post is part of this week’s Startup Edition to answer the question: What advice would you give young entrepreneurs?
Are you wrestling with an idea that won’t escape your mind? A startup you can imagine yourself running and growing into something real?
How many people have given you feedback on this idea? Have you told your closest friends about it? Your family? Have you sought out experts in your chosen field to get input?
One of the biggest mistakes I see new entrepreneurs make is not asking for feedback on their early ideas. Talking about an idea will help it mature into something real. You can have an idea your entire life and never execute on it. Don’t let fear stand in the way of making it a reality.
Don’t be too afraid of thieves. If you are really concerned about a competitor being able to beat you at your own game, you’re doomed from the beginning. It can be scary to put an idea out there but the experienced entrepreneur is already doing it.
Find peers in your chosen field. Approach the conversation from the standpoint of curiosity, “What do you think about X?” Odds are, someone has thought of your idea before and have a reason they did not execute. They probably have enough going on, don’t see it as the right fit for them or don’t think it’s a good idea. By asking their thoughts you’ll be more knowledgeable as to why not. This should help further build confidence in why you should do it if you see things differently.
Don’t allow a fear of rejection stop you too early. What if they think your idea is stupid or crazy? Phrase your idea in terms of: ‘I’ve been thinking about …’ or 'what if this existed…’ or ‘would you use x if it were offered..’ to help make the conversation about the idea and not just you. Truth be told, not everyone is going to like your idea. Even if you become a giant like Twitter there will be people who don’t understand it and criticize it. But continue getting feedback even if most disagree with your vision. It will make you stronger.
Execution above all else. Getting early feedback on your idea is important, but don’t allow on-going discussions to keep you from executing. You should be utilizing Lean Startup methodology to get your idea moving but collecting feedback as it grows.
What business ideas have you been hiding? Share with me in the comments or on Twitter @br_ttany.
Want to read more advice for young entrepreneurs? Check out this week’s Startup Edition.
Photo of Valiyaparamba Island.
Getting to Zero
We may see the last generation of AIDS sufferers in our lifetime. The day will come when zero new babies are born with AIDS and those already affected will be able to treat a majority of the symptoms. The (RED) organization along with countless others are working to make take their addressable market to zero.
A few weeks ago I met Chrysi Philalithes, Chief Digital Officer at (RED)™, at the Women Innovate Mobile breakfast where she shared this video about (RED)’s mission to get to an AIDS free generation. It got me thinking about tangible market destruction.
At USV, we work with companies who are working to disrupt existing industries, like Kickstarter for fundraising or Skillshare for education, or create new markets, like Twitter for media, where the view of potential customers over time is up and to the right towards millions or billions.
(2007 - 2012 Twitter growth graph)
The viewpoint of (RED) is quite the opposite. It’s how to stop creating new customers and reduce the number to zero. The process is very much the same as a startup: What does the future look like, and how do we get there? How do we best serve our market? How do we provide care to the people who need treatment with limited budget and resources? How do we make sure our KPIs are heading in the right direction? However, graphs in their board meeting must look very different.
Perinatally acquired AIDS, new cases, 1998–2010 
If you have a bug to work on building something, think about how you could use your free time to help eliminate something. (RED) along with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Charity Water and thousands of other non-profits are building organizations that could use your help. Whether it’s ending child hunger in your neighborhood or making sure every person has access to clean water globally, find what appeals to you. Non-profits need expertise in building an organization, solving problems, and rallying a community around a cause, all skills you can bring back to your day job.
Getting global or local problems to zero will be a whole lot easier if all of us make it our mission to help.
Support (RED)
From June 1-10th, JoinRed by buying (RED) products, watching movies, donating money or taking time to spread the word.
What are you working to eliminate?
Let me know @br_ttany.