439. The Question that Every Investor Should Ask, Teasing out the Characteristics of Generational Founders, and Recruiting Lessons from 1000+ Interviews (Katelin Holloway)
Jun 24, 2024
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Katelin Holloway, VP of Founders and Operations at Seven Seven Six, discusses HR Tech Development, Identifying Strong Founders, Using a Standardized Scorecard System for Evaluation, Assessing Founders' Integrity, Important Questions for Founders, Common Hiring Mistakes, and Recruiting Lessons. The podcast covers diverse topics from talent identification to successful partnerships and bleeding-edge technology investments.
Importance of maintaining high food quality in a profitable business model.
Operational skills valuable in investing and HR leadership parallels.
Avoid common hiring mistakes, hire slow, fire quickly, seek genuine alignment.
Deep dives
Tovala's Success and Partnership with Costco
Tovala, a meal kit company led by CEO David Rabi, has achieved profitability with nine figures in revenue and a significant partnership with Costco. Rabi highlights the success of their Omaha Steaks cheeseburger product and emphasizes the importance of maintaining high food quality even during profitability by focusing on cost-effective yet satisfying menu items.
Caitlin Holloway's Unique Path to Venture Capital
Caitlin Holloway, a founding partner at 776, shares her unconventional journey to venture capital from a background in teaching, working at Pixar, and leading HR teams at companies like Reddit. She emphasizes the value of operational skills in investing and draws parallels between HR leadership and early stage investing.
Accidental Angel Investing in HR Tech
Holloway discusses her accidental entry into angel investing through the HR tech space, where she identified a need for better tools and systems for people and culture teams. By leveraging her operational experience and industry insights, she unintentionally turned her sweat equity into successful investments in HR tech startups, leading to unexpected financial gains.
Founder Hiring Mistakes and Strategies
Holloway advises founders on common hiring mistakes, including over-hiring, hiring too senior too soon, and underestimating onboarding time. She emphasizes the importance of hiring slow and firing quickly, while also recommending founders to seek hungry, scrappy team members who align with the company's vision and culture.
Insightful Interview Questioning and Authenticity
Holloway shares unconventional interview tactics, such as testing candidates' authenticity by using casual language and observing their reactions. She stresses the importance of genuineness in interviews to assess cultural fit and cohesion within the organization, highlighting the need for alignment between candidate behaviors and company values.
Katelin Holloway of Seven Seven Six joins Nate to discuss The Question that Every Investor Should Ask, Teasing out the Characteristics of Generational Founders, and Recruiting Lessons from 1000+ Interviews. In this episode we cover:
HR Tech Development and Investment
Changing Dynamics in the Venture Capital Industry
Identifying Strong Founders, Through Talent Identification and Instinct vs. Data-Driven Approach
Evaluating Startup Founders and Products Using a Standardized Scorecard System
Assessing Founders' Integrity and Delivery on Promises
Important Questions to Ask Founders During Investment Meetings
Common Hiring Mistakes Founders Make, Overhiring, Not Pacing Hiring, and Hiring Too Senior
The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area.