GTM 64: Hiring Ethereal Talent with Chuck Brotman and David Teichner

This week we have a special 2 guest episode, with the best hiring guru's in the game, Chuck Brotman & David Teichner.

Chuck is the co-founder of Blueprint Expansion, a GTM roles recruiting firm that has helped over 50 VC-backed companies make amazing Sales, Marketing, & Customer Success hires. Prior to starting Blueprint in 2020, he worked for over fifteen years in various sales and sales management roles, building teams across presales, partnerships, SMB, Mid-Market, & Enterprise Sales. Chuck lives in the Bay Area with his wife and has two daughters, a junior at UCLA and a freshman at UC Santa Barbara.

David has 25 years under his belt as a serial entrepreneur. Built and exited companies in MarTech, FinTech and Media. He's invested and advised for over a dozen companies, and launched AccelerateHC seven years ago to help companies think through the organization they need and ultimately help them recruit high performing talent.

What You Will Learn:

• Understanding your business goals before expanding your team.
• Utilizing a ‘White Board’ exercise throughout the interview process.
• How to hire the most ethereal talent in an oversaturated market.
• Knowing which role to hire for when budgets are tight.
• How to avoid making a bad hire at the early stages.

Highlights:
(1:35) How Chuck initially started his career in recruiting.

(4:40) How David got drawn into recruiting.

(9:10) Generalists vs Specialists for Seed/SeriesA startups, which should you pick?

(14:00) How to decrease the chance of making a bad hire at the early stage.

(21:00) The importance of implementing a strong process when hiring talent.

(22:38) Maximum number of skills/behaviours you can test for during an interview process.

(25:27) Optimal length for an interview process.

(30:05) How to test for ethereal factors that you can’t put on paper in an interview.

(35:10) When budgets are tight, who do you opt in for, another AE or a sales leader.

(38:29) How to navigate the ‘lead’ roles / player coaches.

(40:50) Hot Take: The “Hire slow and Fire fast” mentality no longer serves us.

(41:45) Hiring people for their titles and hot logo’s on their resume does not guarantee success.

Guest Speakers Links:
Chuck Brotman's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbrotman/
David Teichner's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dteichner/

Host Speaker Links:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Referenced Resources:

• If you're looking for any help with your hiring process, fill out This 3 Question Typeform and we'll connect you directly with Chuck and David.
• If you're a talented go-to-marketer on the job hunt, fill out

The GTM Podcast
The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.

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