Welcome to the first edition of the Great Lakes Hypergrowth Talent Roadmap, where we explore all the aspects of building high-growth teams.

The fundamental truth of great investments, especially in private companies, is that great outcomes are the result of really great talent. There is practically no limit to the amount of time that a company can spend on recruiting, nurturing, and retaining talent when in the pursuit of hypergrowth glory. Likewise, any good investor worth their salt should be spending as much time, if not more, assessing the leaders around the table as they do product, go-to-market, strategy, market, etc.

To take it a step further, when it comes to building a hypergrowth business, it is incredibly important to find hypergrowth talent. Sometimes that means finding people who have been-there-done-that, but that is not always feasible. A lot of times, hypergrowth talent means knowing what you are looking for and being aggressive about going to get it. And that can mean having a hypergrowth hiring process.

The way a company recruits talent can evolve over time. At the earliest stages, our belief is that there are three deeply important guiding principals when it comes to running a recruitment process: Speed, Intentionality, and Commitment.

Speed: Recruiting, hiring, and aligning on talent can be the biggest limitation to growth. Most folks who set out hire do so in a lackadaisical manner. They think that interviewing is easy, talent comes to them, and worst of all, they have all of the time in the world to find talent. What’s more, people are slow to add someone to their talent pipeline, as well as cut someone from their talent pipeline if it’s clearly not a fit.

Find out fast and find out quickly how much your talent is impacting your growth. When building a hypergrowth business, a founder doesn’t have a lot of time. They don’t have a lot of free time, yes, because the job is very demanding, but they also don’t have a lot of time to get things right. We tell our startups that after they raise venture capital (and most startups, even if they don’t raise venture), the business has a terminal illness – it’s called cash flow. A gun is pointed at the a company’s head and problems need to be solved quickly.

Startup leaders have a million problems, but none of them are as bad as the fact that they don’t have enough time in the day to do everything they need to do. This causes problems to compound over time as they pile up and start to fester and get worse. Thus, finding talent is a company’s most important problem. Find the right people to help a company overcome the compounding problem of not-enough-time-in-a-day. And do it quickly.

Intentionality: It’s one thing to move quickly and set a strong pace, but if a startup doesn’t do it with an appropriate amount of intentionality, things can go from bad to worse. Most people think that hiring is easy. Find someone who has done the job before, who you like, who is interested in the job, who doesn’t cost too much, who is ready to make a leap at the right time, who (maybe) lives in your city, and who is well positioned to solve your problem. How hard can it be?

Very hard. That’s why it’s critical to develop a strategy, process and structure that allows a hiring company to move quickly and with purpose. This allows a company to know what tradeoffs it can make, what values really matter, and how and where to search for the right talent. Not only that, but it allows for companies to filter out the fluff more quickly. If you know what you are looking for, it makes the looking a lot easier than if you are groping around in the dark.

Commitment: It’s critical to evaluate targeted talent through their commitment to rapid growth, the sacrifices that come with that, and their willingness to be all-in. I am not saying that a company should only hire people who want to work 80 hours a week and never talk to their families. We all know that people get stuff done in all manners of different styles and there a million ways to work hard and get stuff done. However, I do think a hiring company can identify who really wants to be there and who has no interest.

What does being “all-in” mean anyway? It means that an employee believes in a mission so much that they aren’t going to get distracted by shiny objects. They are going to go out of their way to more fully understand what they are working on and what the rest of the company is working on. They will try to see the whole picture. They will ask questions and challenge assumptions, not to be rude, but to harden the conviction of others. They are going to be professional in all the right ways.

Find people who are committed. And make sure you keep them committed as well.

Stealth Job Opportunities

If you’re looking to be part of a fast-growing company, we have several exciting opportunities that might be a perfect fit! Reach out to Peter Schmidt at peter@refinery.com to learn more about these roles.

1. Product Manager near Chicago, IL

This company headed for hypergrowth is redefining marketing and brand recognition through advanced data insights. With solid growth to date, they are looking for a competent product manager who is not afraid to put hands on a keyboard and think strategically.

2. Go-To Market Team near Chicago, IL

This capital-efficient AI company is reaching an inflection point. They are building a go-to market team to meet surging customer demand. If you are interested in AI and revenue enablement, this is your position!

3. Customer Success Manager near Columbus, OH

A fintech innovator who is solving revenue recognition challenges. Currently experiencing insane inbound traffic and need a go-to market person with customer success experience to help execute on their growing pipeline.