Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Bootstrapped Lean Startup Job Connecting Tips


As a bootstrapped lean startup entrepreneur; the shoestring budget + passion I have --- needs to go a long way pushing a product with a culturally fit team.

So, finding hackers, creatives and self-starters looking to be apart of a bootstrapped lean startup experience, is a search that can take months if not years  – and there isn’t a centralized solution in today’s climate to find these types of innovate people.  

So to help my follow bootstrapping + lean entrepreneurs, I have decided to post a comprehensive approach on how to fill the gaps of your founding or early stage team – so you can focus on what matters – execution  & your customers.

How to start your search
Are you a Bootstrapping  + Lean Startup?
If you just have an idea and are shopping it to investors – you are not a bootstrapping or a lean startup.  

It’s never too late to get your project under the reigns of Bootstrapping + Lean Startup Principles.
http://www.ashmaurya.com/2010/03/bootstrapping-a-lean-startup
http://arcware.net/the-personal-side-of-a-bootstrapped-startup
http://jimlastinger.com/2011/09/the-bootstrapped-startup-50

Your Check List
Team Member Target:
Your focused target workers are interesting group of people – focus on them:
  •        Startup Peers (serial entrepreneurs, hackers, founders, self –starters, mentors, advisors, etc.)
  •        Startup Moonlighters (employed person who wants to work in a startup on the side)
  •       @ Home (parents, disabled, etc.)
  •       On-Hiatus (person who decides to leave the workforce to peruse personal work interests for awhile)
  •       Students (a college student looking to intern or work for a startup for experience or credit)

Only source the following if they work for sweat equity or you are willing to pay a fee)
  • Freelancers
  • Consultants
  •  Offshore
  • Recruiters

Where is your search?
  •        Social Communities
  •        Startup Job Boards
  •       Networking

Social Resources
These sites will keep you connected to your peers, information and resources.

Bootstrap Startups
Bootstrap Startup communities & resources.

Lean Startups
Lean Startup communities & resources


General Startup Networking
Online

Locational
(I am sure this can be expanded)

Posting Search
Posting Budget
Know the time and money you want to invest in your search.  Understand the tiers of your expenses:
  1. ·      Lean  ($0 - $49)  
  2. ·      Micro  ($50 - $99) 
  3. ·      Premium ($100 + $899)

Job Sites
Lean

Micro

Premium

Google+
Google+ is a great resource for your startup team and sourcing your customer base – it enables you to connect, learn and grow your startup.  You should already have team and business Google+ pages & circles. 

To source and connect with founding or early stage members you should try the following:

Search
In the search bar type in an interest (e.g. Startup, Bootstrap, etc.) then select how you wish to distinguish it.

Everything
  •        People and pages
  •        Google+ post
  •        Sparks
  •       Hangouts

Form Everyone
  •        From your circles
  •        From you 

From Everywhere
  •        (input region)


Circles
Create circles with specific people, potential partners and interest - that are related to your business field.
  •        Make a ‘Startup’ interest circle
  •    Keep up to update with your industry and resources

  •       Make a  ‘Startup Hire’ circle
  •  Make sure you post to those circles with relevant information and to those that are interested in the field – and or into Startups. 

Find People, Partners, Interest through Directories
https://plus.google.com/u/0/103907225546063045621/posts/bhdfqDk8eTn


Google+ Hangouts
Google+ Hangout is a good alternative to Skype.
I was introduced to its relevance for my startup by my fellow peer +Robert Rice   … and I haven’t stop using it for every day needs for my startup.

Join
Join “Public” Hangout that deals with the area your startup is in (or relevant interests) – make sure it is always relevant info that you need. 

It’s a great way to learn new things, get resource information, meet new people and make those connections.

Host
And don’t be afraid to host a Hangout with your peers – even if it’s just talking about issues of your entrepreneurial experience.  You’d be surprised that your not alone and that there is a wealth of information you didn’t know that your peers may have, that you really need.

Interview
Hangouts bring a quick connect, clean, innovative approach to connecting face to face with Google+ users – that possibly could be your next team member. 

Use this area to conduct interviews with people right on Google+.

It’s a great way to find out:
  •        if they are a cultural fit for your startup team
  •        to preview their portfolio, with screen share
  •       get the answers you need right away without continued email tag

In Conclusion
I hope this outline is helpful to your bootstrapping lean startup.

I would love to make this a much more comprehensive post – so I welcome anything positive by my peers to add to this posting.

‘by all means’ ~ share.

V
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2 comments:

  1. SagarFebruary 10, 2012 at 1:15 AM

    This is very informative. Specially the list of Startup Networking sites...

    Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 10, 2012 at 1:20 AM

    Thanks Sagar

    I hope it helps other ~ and that I can go back and edit this post to make it much more informative and uniform.

    Here is some more information I was given by a startup peer
    http://www.quora.com/Finding-Co-Founders/How-do-I-find-good-technical-co-founders

    Another website to add to the list - http://builditwith.me/ for those developing web, desktop and mobile Apps

    ReplyDelete

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