Build Your SaaS

Adam Wathan: how small startups hire employees (Tailwind CSS)

Listen Later

How do founders of small bootstrapped companies hire new employees?

Adam Wathan got over 1600 people who applied for two new roles at Tailwind Labs (a small team of six people). They ended up hiring two people, but neither of them actually applied. This wasn't how Adam expected (or hoped) this process would go. There were lots of surprising takeaways and lessons learned from the whole experience.

"If you figure we spend 5 minutes on every single application, that was like 133 hours straight reading applications. Processing these job applications was basically my full time job for 2 months." – Adam Wathan

Links:

  • Hackers Inc podcast
  • Tailwind job opening announcement
  • Design Engineer job posting
  • Staff Software Engineer job posting
  • Reddit: 11 months of job searching visualized

Have feedback on this episode?

  • 👉 ​Leave a voicemail here​
  • 🐦 Reply on Twitter

Timestamps:

  • (03:40) - What's the size of Transistor and when did you last hire?
  • (05:24) - How did you meet or find your employees?
  • (07:12) - Adam's process for hiring
  • (12:44) - The energy required to process applications
  • (17:32) - What got people in to the 100 list?
  • (21:03) - Did Adam get any videos in applications?
  • (24:49) - Previous employment was a good indicator
  • (30:16) - Painting a picture of what the position looks like
  • (32:02) - The kinds of people who applied
  • (34:52) - How did the application process work out?
  • (38:52) - The kinds of questions we asked applicants
  • (42:25) - Does a great conversation impact a hiring decision or not?
  • (49:24) - Does having the position open in public help?
  • (51:36) - How Adam was connected to the people they hired
  • (59:31) - The importance of conference conversations
  • (01:02:20) - Finding ways to share your work in public
  • (01:06:11) - The process does work... just not this time
  • (01:12:30) - Could I ever get comfortable with a 70% success rate?
  • (01:20:53) - Bringing in someone you knew vs a fan
  • (01:26:45) - Keeping a tab in different areas to pull from

    • Thanks to our monthly supporters

    • Rewardful.com
    • Greg Park
    • Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co
    • Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af
    • Bill Condo (@mavrck)
    • Ward from MemberSpace.com
    • Evandro Sasse
    • Austin Loveless
    • Michael Sitver
    • Colin Gray
    • Dave Giunta

      • 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
      📺 Learn       how to start your own podcast!

      ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      Build Your SaaSBy Transistor.fm
      • 4.7
      • 4.7
      • 4.7
      • 4.7
      • 4.7

      4.7

      81 ratings

      More shows like Build Your SaaS

      View all
      Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

      Freakonomics Radio

      32,156 Listeners

      The Joe Rogan Experience by Joe Rogan

      The Joe Rogan Experience

      229,089 Listeners

      Startups For the Rest of Us by Rob Walling

      Startups For the Rest of Us

      700 Listeners

      Shopify Masters by Shopify

      Shopify Masters

      379 Listeners

      Niche Pursuits Podcast: Find Your Next "Niche" Business Idea! by Spencer Haws: NichePursuits.com

      Niche Pursuits Podcast: Find Your Next "Niche" Business Idea!

      192 Listeners

      Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

      Y Combinator Startup Podcast

      236 Listeners

      Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats by Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski - Full Stack JavaScript Web Developers

      Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

      984 Listeners

      REWORK by 37signals

      REWORK

      210 Listeners

      My First Million by Hubspot Media

      My First Million

      2,632 Listeners

      The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

      The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

      5,526 Listeners

      Hard Fork by The New York Times

      Hard Fork

      5,468 Listeners

      The Startup Ideas Podcast by Greg Isenberg

      The Startup Ideas Podcast

      206 Listeners

      The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis by Nathaniel Whittemore

      The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

      591 Listeners

      Mostly Technical by Ian Landsman and Aaron Francis

      Mostly Technical

      26 Listeners

      Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Prof G Markets

      1,356 Listeners