Why Startups Should Manage Recruitment Directly

Steve LudwigHiring ChallengesLeave a Comment

person holding a tv remote control

When you are a startup, you have to take every opportunity to get your name out in order to attract customers and talent.  Yet, many startups give up a massive opportunity for increasing name identity.  This happens in a number of areas, but critically when they are seeking their first salesperson. Startups often turn to recruiters to fill this role … Read More

Understanding the Startup Journey

Steve LudwigValue Creation JourneyLeave a Comment

image showing the stages of growth from startup, through developing the playbook, to scaleup

When you are on a journey, it’s always helpful to have a map. It’s no different for B2B tech startups.  Through our experience, research, and interviews with leaders in the startup space, we have developed an easy way to understand the growth cycle of startups. There are three distinct phases for B2B tech startups, with each phase requiring a specific … Read More

Failure as the Path Forward

Steve LudwigPathfinder SalesLeave a Comment

wooden tiles spelling out learn from failure

The best person to be the first sales hire for a B2B tech startup is someone that can deal with failure and rejection.  Repeatedly. They need to learn from each experience, refine the pitch, gather insights, and develop new approaches and potential clients. They have to keep doing this until success hits.  The question for entrepreneurs—and everyone else— when they … Read More

Why Are You Throwing Money Away on Recruiters?

Steve LudwigHiring ChallengesLeave a Comment

Road sign saying Wrong Way

If it’s expensive, it must be good.  That’s a common bias we don’t want to admit we have, but we often fall for it. There’s also a saying in large organizations that someone never got fired for hiring the most expensive solution if it bombs. Not true if you went with the cheap approach and failed.  This brings us to … Read More

Pour One Out for Failed Startups

Steve LudwigPathfinder SalesLeave a Comment

image of person dressed in traditional mexican attire for the day of the dead

Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, is a celebration in Mexico held on November 1 and 2. It is a day when friends and family gather to remember and pay their respects to those that have passed. The celebration was brought into the global pop culture consciousness through the Pixar film Coco.  In the same way, the tradition … Read More

Can you Codify a Person’s Soul?

Steve LudwigPathfinder SalesLeave a Comment

a person with an indication of their soul above them

How do you know a person you are about to hire is who they say they are?  You call in the modern Dr. Frankenstein. These are Ph.Ds in lab coats that peel back the outer layers of ego and self-defense and peer deep inside the nooks and crannies of your gray matter to get to the truth, the unvarnished essence, … Read More

They Don’t Know What They Are Doing

Steve LudwigHiring ChallengesLeave a Comment

Road sign saying Wrong Way

We like recruiters. We hate recruiters. It’s one of those relationships.  As founders of B2B tech startups, we tend to turn to recruiters to find our first stales hire because they have the capacity and the networks to bring you what you need when you need it.  Except, of course, when they don’t. Especially when it comes to a first … Read More

A Very Particular Set of Skills

Steve LudwigPathfinder SalesLeave a Comment

finding a path through the woods

Kicking off the dust of stupid corporate politics and incompetent bosses.  Early retirement. Expensive cocktails. Fabulous vacations.  Having to worry about inheritance taxes and not raising entitled children.  Ah, the daydreams of startup life.  We get it. We’ve been down that road more than once. (And believe me, getting a reliable crew for both the yacht and the private jet … Read More