Fantasy Football is everywhere these days and it has completely changed the way NFL games are watched. You can be in a position of both rooting for your local team (go Bears) and against them at the same time. Sign up for two (or more) different leagues and you may be rooting against yourself. Ah, I remember the days of just watching a football game…
Just like fantasy football, hiring in startups is never easy. The complexities of finding and integrating people that fit with your vision and culture are great. Who to put where, when to fill the position, changing personnel – you may find yourself feeling like a NFL head coach every week.
The rigors (ha!) of playing a season of fantasy football can teach us much about hiring teams. Yes, maybe there is some saving grace of weekly frustrations with your fantasy team never producing their projected numbers after all:
Have a Game Plan – The Chesire Cat once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” You must start with understanding a) what you want to build, b) the makeup of each person you want with you in the trenches and c) how everyone fits together into a team. You won’t get it right (no one does), but map out a strategy first before just drafting away any player that looks good.
Amazing how many founders we see that say they have a hiring strategy but aren’t patient enough for the game to come to them. These founders try to force the action by hiring people that may not fit into the overall game plan at that appropriate stage.
Build for the Entire (Long) Season – You build a fantasy team to make sure at the end of the year you can put the best team on the field for the playoffs. That means picking up (and letting go) players through the season, bringing on strength and cutting the chaff. Players also get injured and you have holes that immediately need to be filled, so you need to know what players are out there to be called on if needed.
The only constant in startups is change, so be ready at all times for the unexpected. The season is long so don’t get rattled when things don’t go as planned.
Know the Type of Player You Want – Do you want to draft the cagey veteran who is going to produce solid returns each week or go for the upside with the younger rookie that may make a bunch of mistakes but capable of outsized returns? Hard to trump hiring people who have already succeeded (or failed) in previous startups as they have an understanding of the toughness required to build a successful startup. At the same time, hiring younger talent gives an energy and channel into the next wave of great people that could scale into your company. Good to have a mix of both.
Slot Players Correctly – Most standard fantasy leagues make it easy for you: slot 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1K, 1D and 1Flex player into your lineup. Every startup should think the same: what are the best slots to fill for the different stages of the business? What should be the amount of engineers, bus dev/sales and distribution personnel? This optimization will never be perfect, but always coming with a game plan lets you focus on who you want and where you want to slot them.
Think of Your Team as a Depth Chart – When drafting a fantasy football lineup, you must know where the player lies on the team’s depth chart, which ranks all players by position giving you some idea of how much they will play. Building a company from scratch means knowing at all times how each employee fits within their position as well as how they are moving up in their verticals. This is quite important when it comes to scaling a business, and the depth chart analogy is a good one.
Put the Best Lineup on the Field Each Week – Players get hurt and can’t go that week. Sometimes certain matchups present themselves and you are better served to start a bench player over your starters. Sometimes the entire team doesn’t show up, and everyone lays an egg. Startups are no different. Stuff happens, people need to fill others slots at times, and make sure the best team is fielded every week.
Be Laser Focused on Performance – Part of the fun of fantasy football is at the end of the game, based on the rules of the league, you know exactly how each player performed by the number of points earned for that week. Startups should have the same scorecard mentality in all life stages of the company.
Every employee should know what the top 3–5 KPIs are every week, and know at the end of each day if they individually and corporately put up a big number or didn’t show up. Measuring success is crucial especially in early days, so make sure you think through what variables are important each week (don’t just take from other companies) and that your team knows the score at all times. We see a lot of real-time scoring on screens throughout startup offices (just like real-time fantasy scoring on your mobile app).
Make Sure Everyone Sees Playing Time – Give your team a chance to shine, and only way to do that is to call their name and get them in the game. In fantasy football, you actually get to see how your bench players did each week. Life doesn’t happen this way (unfortunately) and you have to take risks. Even if it is only for one play, everyone wants to see playing time, and your team will become stiff and disenfranchised if you only play the same starters each game. Also, you’ll never know how they handle the spotlight if you don’t give them a shot.
Conclusion:
The founder’s goal is to get the best out of his or her team, no different than running a fantasy team. That requires a keen understanding of how your team fits together at all times and each player’s strengths and weaknesses.
There are plenty more nuggets to take from fantasy football (who knew), but focus on the list above and you just may take the trophy at the end of the season.
Recipients of this post are not to construe it as investment, legal, or tax advice, and it is not intended to provide the basis for any evaluation of an investment in any fund. Prospective investors should consult with their own legal, investment, tax, accounting, and other advisors to determine the potential benefits, burdens, and risks associated with making an investment in any fund.
