Always Be Hiring

This post originally appeared on Linked In.

A good friend of mine recently published a book on raising money called Get Backed. One of the core principles of the book is that in order to be successful at raising money, you first raise friends, then money.

What does that mean? Investors invest in people, and they invest most often in people with whom they’ve established a relationship already. That’s why the common wisdom is that you’re always raising money, even when you don’t need it. The early part is all relationship building. They get to know you, you get to know them. No one’s asking for anything at first.

The same principle applies to hiring great developers (and probably any other position).

A common misconception among untechnical founders is that if you are building a kick-butt company (which, of course, you are), developers will beat a path to your door. Here’s why that’s more often false than not:

  • Great developers are more than likely already working for someone they enjoy working for. They don’t need your job
  • Your company is one of 100 that come across their bow every day (only slight hyperbole). You coming inbound with a random email, even if a warm introduction, is likely to have little impact
  • Great developers know that the best jobs often come from unexpected places, not from a job posting

Instead of taking the path everyone else does, which is to start looking for developers when you need them, start looking for them way ahead of time.

What does this look like?

  • Be constantly asking your fellow founders, advisors, and network who you should get to know
  • Once you’ve got some folks on the list, invite them to coffee or lunch or beers and (here’s the key) DON’T PITCH THEM ON YOUR COMPANY. Talk about your company? Yes. Try to sell them on it? No. Get to know them, find out what makes them tick, what they care most about. Invest in them as people
  • When you’re done, thank them for their time and ask if there’s anything you can do to help them out
  • Keep good notes on your meetings, and make them easily searchable. “Sara mentioned that she’s going snowboarding in Tahoe in two months.”
  • If you’ve met someone who you think would be a fit for you down the road, put a reminder on your calendar to follow up with them at some point in the near future. “Sara, I hope your doing amazingly well. How did that trip to Tahoe go? I’m so jealous. We’re doing really well here, continuing to grow but the dragons are everywhere. Would be great to catch up sometime soon if you’re up for it, my treat again.”

And so it goes. You’re getting to know them, and you’re telling the story of your company over the course of a few months, and hopefully piquing their interest. Once you’ve established a working relationship, the email you send to ask if they’re interested in joining you flows naturally.

“Sara, I hope you’re having a great week! I know you’re really happy where you are, but I did want to let you know that we’re hiring a new senior front end developer. I know you’d be a perfect fit based on our conversations, so I wanted to let you know about it before we make the posting public. Here’s the private link. Let me know if you’re interested! If not, I’d appreciate you letting me know of anyone who you’d recommend.”

Everything is personal now. Your invitation to Sara, your asking her for her recommendation.

Stop competing for talent by playing the same game everyone else is.  You should always be hiring, especially when you don’t need to be.