Scaleup Vlaanderen
The hiring hacks of Lorenz Bogaert & Karen Boers
Everyone in the tech world is familiar with the story of the PayPal Mafia. A select group of the payment service's top people who started or invested in new companies after they left. Think Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, or the founders of LinkedIn, YouTube and Yelp. What fewer people know is that we also have such a story in Flanders: the Netlog Mafia.
Not that Lorenz Bogaert would compare himself to Musk & Co, but his trajectory is somewhat similar. The social network Netlog, which lost the final battle against Facebook, led to a lot of new companies. Just think of such kleppers as Realo, Twoo and Delta, which have millions of users. Lorenz is also behind squeaky-clean things like Bizzy or Talkie and is involved in many startups and scaleups as an investor.
Lorenz was therefore the perfect person to give a keynote at Superhires. About a hundred people gathered in Antwerp for a whole afternoon to follow workshops, attend a panel discussion or meet new people. In his presentation, Lorenz gave tips that he also passes on to the scaleups he coaches.
The first tip was perhaps the most controversial: Don't hire. 'You don't need big teams, you need dream teams,' it sounded. 'Instagram has proven that with just 12 people you can also be worth a billion. At Twoo we were 5 when we had 1 million users, at Delta we were 6. A common problem is wanting to hire too many people too quickly.'
It's a mantra that also resonates at Netflix: talent density is more important than a large team. Rather 10 absolute top talents than 25 mediocre employees, as they bring down the level of the end result. In addition to talent, the office is also important, according to Lorenz. Choose a place that is easily accessible, where you feel it is alive. For example, he plans to move to the Ghent Winter Circus with a number of companies, a location right in the center of the city.
'As a founder, also be aware of unconscious bias. Sometimes you unintentionally take away small things that can cause you to miss out on a top candidate. For example, if you yourself are very active on LinkedIn but the person you are contacting is not, you may be unfairly snapping when that person does not respond to your message.'
That prejudice - and how to deal with it - was also a big topic in the presentation Karen Boers gave at Superhires. In Kenya, she became inspired for what would later become BeCode, a coding school to retrain underprivileged people to become programmers. Karen headed BeCode for many years until she left there in February.
'By 2030, there will be 584,000 job vacancies in Belgium. At the same time, 5.8% of people between 15 and 67 are unemployed. BeCode has already trained more than 2,000 people from very diverse backgrounds. After a 6-month internship, 66% of them remain employed or can stand on their own two feet.'
Like Lorenz, Karen cited that unconscious bias. 'You don't talk to a group of people: make the person you want to hire as human as possible. For example, look for 'a Ukrainian refugee with a PhD who is not working here' instead of 'a refugee.' Speak - literally - their language. Connect with organizations that have connections to the people you want to reach. By speaking to the people you want to reach first and including them in your recruitment process, you can make your ads much more human afterwards.'
Indirect channels such as consultants and investors can provide a good influx of candidates. In turn, other indirect players are to be avoided. 'I always advise entrepreneurs against working with recruiters. You have to look for and target suitable candidates yourself, and expect the same from your team.'
Lorenz spoke at Superhires not only about hiring talent, but also what is crucial once they are on your team. 'Spoil your team to reduce stress, not to keep them.' People need to stay for the product or the team, but you need to pay them well and provide variable income.'
Finally, Lorenz brought up another hiring hack that few entrepreneurs deal with: consider parents. "I have regularly had to explain to parents of potential employees why working at a startup is relevant. For some people, it's not natural to just start working at a company whose future may be uncertain. You have to get ahead of that doubt by having a strong story and, if necessary, being willing, like me, to go with the parents of the top talent you want to bring in.'
