In this episode, we dive deep into startup sales hiring with Anis Bennaceur, a masterful talent scout who's cracked the code on building exceptional early-stage teams. You'll discover why most founders hire wrong, how to spot founder-DNA in candidates, and the brutal interview techniques that filter out B-players before they contaminate your culture.
Anis Bennaceur is the co-founder and CEO of Attention, a startup building AI agents that revolutionize sales conversations. A second-time founder, Attention has raised close to $20 million from Eniac, 645 Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, and Alvin.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
01:25 - The Triangle of Talent: Why 80% of your employees are useless
04:26 - Level 5 superstars can't be trained - they're born that way
05:43 - Your first hires must think like founders or you'll fail
10:25 - Why Anis only hires people obsessed with Paul Graham essays
15:58 - The $100K hiring mistake that saved Attention's culture
18:35 - Two sales candidates talked each other out of joining - here's why
21:40 - Always hire salespeople in pairs to create internal competition
25:34 - The midnight email test that reveals true A-players
27:56 - One interview question that exposes scrappy hackers instantly
31:23 - Using ChatGPT to detect hiring red flags you missed
35:02 - Three biggest life failures: The therapist interview technique
41:42 - Why Brian Chesky's anti-selling method filters out mercenaries
54:54 - The Saturday night Slack test that predicted employee turnover
56:52 - How political extremism kills startup culture
58:25 - "If you had the contract, why wouldn't you sign?"
1:05:15 - Rejecting candidates who negotiate reveals commitment issues
1:12:13 - Stop listening to customers - they'll build you a faster horse
