Raising $19 Million, Recruiting Amazing Talent & Making it Equitable with Kaitlynn Knopp, founder Pequity
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"Your first few hires need to have hunger. Hunger to accomplish and to achieve is critical. They are the ones that are going to build the baby." - Kaitlyn Knopp
Hey, It's Alex!
I know....ain't nobody gonna love your company more than you do.
But the right people on your team are an invaluable asset. Beyond their resume and their accomplishments, early-stage companies need people who not only believe in the mission but see themselves growing with the company and continuing to master their craft. Their dedication to the mission and their growth helps the company hit goals.
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish." You need that right mix of drive and talent.
But if I had to choose - I'd pick drive every time because most talent can be taught.
What you'll find in this traction briefing:
How to identify the right hires for your company.
The right strategies bootstrapped startups can employ to find talent in an increasingly competitive market.
How to show potential investors the value that comes with investing in your business.
The recklessness of startup layoffs.
Founder: Kaitlyn Knopp | Company: Pequity | Location: San Francisco, CA
Where was she before Pequity?
Before Pequity, Kaitlyn worked as a compensation analyst for several years. She worked with established companies like Google and with rising startups like Cruise. She then worked as a consultant helping different comps analytics teams build workflows and processes around compensation.
Problem
In her time as a consultant, she realized that the systems she'd already created and mastered could be leveraged across many businesses, especially smaller companies that do not have dedicated compensation teams. This could be templatized for scale.
Motivated by wanting to close pay gaps pay and her desire to help companies save thousands of dollars, Pequity was born. Pequity creates efficient workflows that reduce friction between paid data and paid decision-makers.
Here's what you'll learn...
How To Find The Right Hires For Your Company & Make it Equitable
Train And Trust Your Gut: Easier said than done! It goes without saying that trying to find the right hires for your company can be a nerve-wracking process. Honestly, you won't always get it right. So how do you reduce your possibility for errors? Train your gut.
Lesson - Instinct is a powerful decision-making tool! Let's face it - potential hires only let you see what they want you to see. A candidate might look great on paper, but they turn out to be the wrong fit for your company. Although there's no fool-proof strategy to finding the perfect hire - your gut rarely lies. Pay attention to your first thought on a candidate. For Kaitynn, that means following up on any doubts she has on a candidate. Speaking to former colleagues to get their real perspective. To learn more about how to find your next perfect hire, click here.
Learn how to hire like-minded candidates and reduce attrition here.
How To Compete With Big Biz For Top Hires
Build A Strong Culture: Can you afford that $300k salary that Netflix passes out like cheap receptionist candy? Probably not... and if you can, spill the tea, friend! Now, Large corporations are paying higher salaries than ever before. Not only are they paying more but the benefits that they provide are also pretty sweet. What is a smaller company or startup to do?
Lesson - Create a strong company culture! And no - I'm not talkin' about having a kegger and happy hour every Friday because that's not culture building. Would you want to work as an employee in your own company? While pay will always be important, today's employees are looking beyond their paychecks. What are your company's values? Are there non-monetary benefits that you can provide? Although Pequity could not compete with industry heavy weights, Kaitlyn and her co-founder offered employees additional benefits like investing in their continued education and giving them flexible working hours. Learn how your company can compete with larger companies for talent here.
Walk It Like You Talk it To Secure the Bag
It's All About Numbers: You're not running a charity and investors don't owe you a check. If you're in alignment with your investors, you all want to see a return on investment in the form of monetary and non-monetary impact. In order to show that you're on the same page, you gotta walk it like you talk it to secure the bag.
Lesson - "At the end of the day dollars shut up doubters, and if you can put dollars on the board, you’re going to be able to impress people." - Kaitlyn Knopp. Show potential investors why your company is worth investing in. Have your numbers in order! Cash is king when it comes to securing VC funding! This is how Kaitlyn was able to raise. She had the traction and could show how it was growing. Learn how to walk the talk here.
Learn how to communicate traction to investors like a BOSS here.
Here's Your Weekly Tea
The Recklessness of Startup Layoffs
"It’s our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Every week we hear about mass layoffs from high-growth startups like Reef, Glossier, Cameo, Noom, On Deck, Robinhood, Avo, etc. The list is freakishly long. We're not talking about a few people, we're talking about 600+ companies and 100K+ layoffs. Don't believe me? Check out this database of layoffs and the rising trend since the beginning of the pandemic.
Chasing Ridiculous Valuations & Statuses: The recklessness of startups scaling fast to chase ridiculous valuations and statuses has to stop and BOTH founders AND funders are culpable for fueling this toxic rat race.
The Price Paid with Human Livelihood: The scale for scale's sake has major consequences that mostly impact the people who were willing to believe in the company and its leaders by offering their time and talent. Ping ponging with people's livelihoods is unacceptable.
Weaponizing "Pivot" & "Strategy" as Scapegoats for Bad Behavior: Mass layoffs are NOT "strategy". This is simply scale without integrity that hides behind mantras like "high risk, high reward" to dismiss bad behavior.
Key Takeaway: We get to choose how we operate businesses and how we choose is a reflection of what we value as leaders. Continuing to choose a path that dishonors people is a sign that those "vision" statements that most startups preach to "make the world a better" place is as fake as these valuations. This model adds no value. We can do better.
TRACTION TOOLS: How to get it done...
Turn an Investor "No" To A "Yes"!: There's nothing easy about fundraising. Learn here how one of our queens was able to turn an investor no to a hell yes!
Hire Quickly And Easily: Hiring takes time and resources away from your company. Get the tools to help you hire faster here.
Build A Strong Company Culture: A positive company culture greatly reduces attrition. Learn the 7 ways to build a strong company culture here.
Outsource While You Bootstrap: Outsourcing is a great way of finding highly educated and experienced talent within your budget. Learn how Outsource Global has mastered how to do this here.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY
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