The CTO Show with Mehmet Gonullu #459 Hiring Like a Poker Pro: Joel Quintela’s POKER Framework for Better Decisions
In this thought-provoking episode, Mehmet sits down with Joel Quintela, a business psychologist and former computer systems engineer, to break down the biggest hiring blind spots—and how to fix them. Joel shares how psychology, structured assessments, and poker strategies can help founders and leaders hire better, retain top talent, and create winning teams.
You’ll learn how to go beyond gut feel and “culture fit” into something more predictive—and scalable.
🎯 Key Takeaways
• Why bad hires hurt startups more than big companies
• How to identify and avoid founder blind spots when hiring
• The difference between person-job fit and person-environment fit
• The P.O.K.E.R. framework to align perception with reality
• Why most roleplays and interviews fail to predict success
• The hidden cost of complexity in HR tech and candidate experience
• Why founders often think they’re good at hiring—but aren’t
⸻
🧠 What You’ll Learn
• How structured job profiling can reduce attrition
• How to assess motivation fit in early interviews
• What data-driven hiring looks like at scale
• Why simplicity and clarity matter more than AI in talent tech
• The link between self-awareness and high performance
👤 About Joel Quintela
Joel Quintela is the founder and CEO of Quintela Group LLC, a minority-owned business enterprise specializing in HR technology solutions. With over 25 years of experience in HR assessment technology and 15 years as an entrepreneur, Joel has worked with numerous Fortune 500 clients to improve their hiring processes.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelquintela/
🕒 Episode Highlights (Timestamps)
00:00 – Intro & Joel’s background
03:45 – Why gut feeling fails in hiring
07:00 – The impact of a bad hire on startups
10:20 – Common founder blind spots
13:45 – Job profiling: the missing step in hiring
16:50 – Role plays, assessments, and triangulation
22:10 – Culture fit vs real environmental fit
28:00 – Complexity kills: The UI/UX trap in HR tech
34:30 – The P.O.K.E.R. Framework: From perception to reality
47:00 – Final thoughts on performance, mindset, and human behavior