Over the past four years, our team at Human Capital has partnered with thousands of talented engineers to help them figure out the best next step in their careers. At any career junction, our members are deciding among four career paths:
- Join a high growth company
- Join a large company
- Start your own company
- Pursue an academic career
We’ve placed hundreds of our members in first jobs where they were one of the first 25 employees at industry-changing companies such as Brex, Nuro, and Robinhood. We’ve also supported a number of our exceptional members starting great companies like Bolt, Nova Credit, Brex and Qualia.
Today we are excited to share some frameworks that have helped us effectively partner with the best high-growth startups in the world and guide our members to the best-fit opportunities that can create a significant difference in their lives.
Each year, more than 1,000 new startups receive funding from venture capitalists in the United States. At Human Capital, we firmly believe that only a few startups are exceptional. We developed this seven-step framework to independently analyze each company and identify exceptional opportunities.
1. Funding From a Top-Tier Venture Capital Firm
- Individuals mistakenly think the best-emerging companies are fighting for capital from the best venture capital companies.
- In reality, the top venture capital firms are competing to fund the top entrepreneurs.
- Of all the successful startups to date, almost all have received funding from one of 15 to 20 notable venture capital firms.
- Although being funded by these firms does not guarantee your startup will be successful, almost all startups that succeed at scale are funded by these VCs.
- Additionally, working at a startup funded by a top tier-firm reduces reputation and brand risk in the case of a non-optimal outcome.
2. Experienced or Exceptional Founders
- One of the main factors defining the trajectory of a startup are the people and culture. Which is mostly formed by the founders. Therefore, having experienced or exceptional founders who can attract the best talent and create a great culture is critical.
- Creating a startup is a carefully curated form of art, and most first attempts at growing a company do not result in success. Engineers should look for startups whose founders have experience leading startups and creating great teams or have relevant experience that proves their exceptionality.
3. Is the Startup Solving an Important Problem?
- Most startups are building products or technologies that get the founders excited but doesn’t solve a large problem.
- Great startups solve significant problems that people and/or organizations experience at scale.
- Each job seeker should ask themselves, “Do I care about this problem?” and “Is my skillset valued to make this company successful?”
4. Does the Startup Have an Experienced Engineering Team?
- Although the problem the startup is solving is important, a tech-venture will not be able to propel itself forward without a skilled and experienced engineering team.
- Engineers who practice active leadership and invest in younger talent can make or break the pace at which a startup grows.
- For recent college graduates, identifying which startups have engineers that make superb managers, leaders, and mentors is an excellent strategy.
5. Does the Startup Pay Its Employees Well?
- At the end of the day, many people want to be generously rewarded for their contribution.
- Top startups pay highly competitive salaries in similar ranges with large tech companies, and the equity portion of the compensation can become a highly lucrative wealth generation opportunity for engineers who optimize for the long term.
6. Does the Startup Have an Inclusive Culture?
- Without a strong culture based on inclusive ideals, even startups with great engineers tackling important problems can struggle immensely.
- Although culture at each startup looks different, we believe the ideals of inclusivity, open communication, and respect must be present in a great startup.
- Whenever speaking with a company’s founders or employees, try to get a sense of the company culture — and ensure it is dynamic and inclusive. The best way to learn about a company’s culture is to ask for anecdotes or practices that demonstrate the company’s values in action.
7. Does the Startup Provide Sponsorship to International Engineers?
- The best startups purposefully build diverse engineering teams from around the world and sponsor elite talent to make this dream of diversity a reality.
- Although there is a minimal financial cost of sponsorship (~$5,000), ventures that provide sponsorship regardless of where engineers call home are best suited to grow dynamic teams.
After using the first framework to create a shortlist of startups, the question becomes how to figure out the right startup for you. These are frameworks our team of principals goes over with our members in detail to develop a curated set of target companies for each of our members.
Step 1 — Find Which Startups Align with Your Understanding of Impact
At Human Capital, we believe each and every talented person should be driven by the desire to create a positive, lasting impact in the world. When evaluating which startup is best for an individual, we encourage each person to consider what we call the Three Layers of Impact.
Three Layers of Impact:
Layer 1: The Impact the Startup Has On the World
Key question: How can this company make the world a better place?
Layer 2: The Impact the Startup Has On You
Key question: How can this company grow me to be better at [x]?
Layer 3: The Impact You Have On the Startup
Key question: How can I make a significant contribution to the success of this company?
We recommend that each engineer rank every startup they encounter on a scale of 15 for each of the three layers of impact, with 5 being the best score. Ideally, the startup you choose to pursue will have a score no lower than 3 in each category. Startups that have multiple categories ranked as 4 or higher are exceptional opportunities. We also suggest each engineer think critically about these categories before committing to an offer.
Notably, we find that many of the world’s tech giants provide meaningful products to the world yet fall short in providing a multitude of opportunities for engineers to impact the company. Although quite impactful on the global stage, these giants are already well established.
Step 2 — What Are the Motivations That Drive You?
Most recruiting platforms ask engineers easy-to-filter questions such as preferences for company size, industry, and location, etc. At Human Capital we believe these qualities are surface-level indicators for actual motivations that are a level deeper in abstraction. For example, no one wakes up in the morning dreaming to work at a 30-person company, but if you ask someone their ideal company size, they might answer 30–50 people. Most of the times this means that the person wants to work in a company that is small enough to provide full exposure, high amounts of responsibility and high potential upside. This size also means the company is large enough that it is somewhat de-risked and has raised significant amounts of capital.
Given that traditional job filters don’t actually capture the true motivational drivers of engineers, we’ve created our own 5 Motivations framework or MATCH.
5 Motivations — MATCH
M — Mission and Product
- Is there a problem or industry you truly care about and want to make a difference in?
A — Advancement — Personal and Professional
- Where do you want to be in the next 3 to 5 years?
- What’s the kind of environment place you want to be in that, over the long term, will make you feel that you have actualized your potential?
- What are the growth areas you want to focus on today that will help you most with those goals?
T — Technology and Role
- Are there certain technologies that you want to focus on and become an expert in?
C — Compensation and Upside
- What are your long-term financial ambitions, and how important is the long-term wealth creation aspect of your compensation (equity) today?
- Do you have any constraints regarding your annual salary such as debt — or any other financial responsibilities?
- What’s an annual cash compensation amount that would make you satisfied?
- Is a signing bonus important to you?
H — Humans — People and Culture
- What kind of culture will allow you to get to your flow state?
- How important it is for you to build friendships with your co-workers?
- Are there certain individuals in the company you are talking to who you see as role models?
Using MATCH Framework
- Priority rank these 5 Motivations overall
- Define what each of these means to you
- For each opportunity, you are considering, rate these motivations on a scale from 1 to 5
Conclusion
Whether undergoing your first recruiting experience in startups or determining which step is best in an established career in innovation, these frameworks can be utilized to make the seemingly chaotic startup recruiting process more clear. At Human Capital, we are dedicated to helping engineers and innovators succeed. If you are looking for recruiting or career advice, please contact us at info@human.capital
