Recruiting From Zero to One with Nakul Mandan, Co-founder of Audacious Ventures
Nov 14, 2024
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In a lively discussion, Nakul Mandan, Co-founder of Audacious Ventures, shares his journey from India to Silicon Valley during the financial crisis. He dives into why most VCs struggle with recruiting at the zero to one stage and reveals his innovative approach to building A+ teams. Nakul discusses the significance of resilience in the startup world, particularly in the face of COVID-19. He emphasizes the importance of intentional tech recruitment and how understanding customer urgency can shape effective product development.
Nakul Mandan's journey illustrates the importance of resilience and adaptability, especially for immigrants navigating Silicon Valley's challenges.
The podcast emphasizes that successful startups hinge on the synergy between visionary founders and their ability to recruit top talent.
Audacious Ventures exemplifies a shift in VC model by integrating in-house recruiting to better support early-stage startups' needs.
Exceptional founders seek venture partners who offer genuine support and strategic assistance, rather than just capital investment.
Deep dives
The Value of Team and Founder Dynamics
The foundation of a successful startup relies heavily on the synergy between a powerful founding team and the ability to attract top talent. A great founder must possess the innate ability to recruit an exceptional team, as their influence plays a crucial role in the company's trajectory. Without these elements, even the best advice from investors becomes negligible, emphasizing the need for strong team dynamics over mere guidance. The podcast illustrates that what truly drives startup success is the combination of visionary founders and a robust team that can navigate challenges.
The Evolution of Venture Capital Recruiting
Traditionally, venture capital firms focused on offering advice and guidance to startups, often falling short in effectively assisting with recruitment. The conversation underlines the inadequacies of the past recruiting models, which relied on providing generic guidance rather than actionable support. A more effective approach combines investment with a structured recruiting effort that addresses the early-stage needs of startups. By implementing an in-house recruiting strategy, firms like Audacious are demonstrating a more hands-on way to help founders build their initial teams.
Nakul Mandan's American Dream Journey
Nakul Mandan's journey from India to the U.S. during the 2009 financial crisis is showcased as a classic example of resilience and adaptability. Starting his career in venture capital at a challenging time, Nakul rapidly ascended within the field, ultimately launching his own firm, Audacious Ventures. His experience highlights the unpredictable nature of career paths, especially in high-stakes environments like Silicon Valley. The story reflects the immense potential for immigrants to achieve success through determination and the pursuit of opportunity.
The Importance of High-Impact Partnerships
For founders, aligning with venture capitalists who can significantly impact their success is crucial. The podcast discusses how exceptional founders often seek partners who can provide genuine support rather than just capital. This highlights the importance of a collaborative partnership where the VC not only invests but also actively contributes to the startup's growth. By integrating in-house recruiting teams, firms create a dynamic where they can genuinely enhance the odds of success for the founders they back.
The New Age of Seed-Stage Capital
The discussion brings attention to the evolution of seed-stage funding and the need for early-stage firms to adapt to changing markets. There is a recognition that most established VC firms cannot offer the necessary support to seed-stage companies due to their size and focus on later-stage investments. This shift opens opportunities for dedicated seed-stage firms that can provide the hands-on support founders require. Audacious Ventures, for example, combines capital with operational assistance, particularly in recruiting, to fill this gap.
Challenges in Building Recruiting Infrastructure
Developing an effective recruiting infrastructure is a complex challenge that many startups face, especially as they scale. The podcast outlines the common pitfalls and the essential steps in establishing a strong recruitment process. Founders are urged to be intentional about their hiring processes and to set clear expectations for the type of talent needed. This intentionality helps avoid potential missteps and ensures that each new hire fits well into the organization's culture and structure.
The Qualities of a Force of Nature Founder
Identifying and supporting a 'force of nature' founder is central to the conversation, highlighting the scarce qualities that set exceptional entrepreneurs apart. Such founders demonstrate high intelligence, extreme ambition, and an ability to inspire belief in others. The podcast makes it clear that these attributes are essential for navigating the unpredictable landscape of startups. Finding such leaders becomes paramount, as the right founder can outlast market conditions and challenges that would sideline a lesser candidate.
Nakul Mandan is the founder of Audacious Ventures. Prior to Audacious, he was a partner at Lightspeed, joining from Battery, which he joined in ‘09 in the middle of the financial crisis while living in India.
This conversation explores his journey immigrating to Silicon Valley and building an early stage venture firm from the ground up.
We get into why most VCs aren’t helpful with recruiting at the zero to one stage, his thesis on starting an early stage venture firm to help founders hire A+ teams, a crash course on early stage recruiting and building a sales team, and how COVID hit right after he left Lightspeed to raise Audacious Fund 1.
Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:43) Evolution of VC platform teams (09:53) How Audacious runs in-house recruiting processes (15:16) The reason large firms can’t help with Seed stage recruiting (17:06) Immigrating from India to the US mid-financial crisis (21:59) Silicon Valley's secret weapon (25:59) The opportunity to start a recruiting-focused Seed firm (30:14) Raising Audacious $90m Fund 1 in April of 2020 (36:58) The new guard of Seed firms (39:23) Why $50-75m is the minimum viable institutional fund size (41:48) How to work with the best founders (45:30) Navigating deal dynamics, term sheets, and valuations (52:24) The two hardest parts about starting your own fund (54:32) Lessons applied raising Audacious $125m Fund 2 in 2023 (58:46) Evolving from a PMF-first to Founder-first investor (01:02:09) Five traits of force of nature founders (01:07:05) How to build an A+ team (01:11:46) The importance of backchanneling (01:13:54) Why everyone thinks they’re a good people reader (01:14:35) Two most common mistakes in recruiting (01:20:59) Determining urgency of a customer’s problem (01:22:55) Hiring and scaling your first sales team (01:25:55) Why marketing is the hardest role to hire for (01:31:59) What good sales people look like (01:35:43) How to move up market + how to do pilots (01:43:40) Why Nakul admires Rafael Nadal
