Last year, I was hiring for a CTO - we hired the client a real killer! He is actually also a subscriber here - Robert, I hope you are reading this - and if you’re not, dont worry, im going to drop you a whatsapp to remind you!
Anyway - from the first call I had with Robert, much like love, I knew that he was the one
He was the best candidate - by like a country mile
So what does Robert have to do with my balls?
Well buckle in, because today we are going to talk about me growing a pair, and whats been happening - and somewhere in there - we will be talking about your balls too (yes even for the ladies, you need to get some balls) and i’ll be helping you out, dropping some nuggets of wisdom for your own growth
Btw, im coming back to this intro, cause as i am writing this - i just realised this is a freaken long ass post, really get comfy haha - but im trying to make it funny and engaging and also teach you something, so its worth the effort!
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Back to Robert
The guy is a ridiculously strong developer - definitely the strongest I’ve ever hired - i actually shared his profile with a friend of mine - Tom Cohen - he runs a 50 million a year Startup and makes more than 1 million dollars of reveneu per employee
Anyway, when I shared Roberts profile with him, first not only was he impressed, he then asked me if I could find him someone like this for his own company lol.
And we almost didn’t hire Robert!!!
Now we are getting to the balls part - we got lucky to hire Robert, he was outside of the clients budget, BUT the candidate they were interviewing, at the last moment, tried to leverage a second opportunity to make the startups compete and give him the best offers and thats when he got “expensive” and thats when the client thought - if they were going to spend this kinda money on someone, they should meet with another in that ballpark
They met Robert, and like me, fell in love immediately - they even asked me to dig in deep to the background, cause he was too good to be true lol - every reference we did, came back making this guy look like a mythical creature more than a human haha
The client did hire Robert, and they’ve been crushing it ever since - Client is SUPER happy, Robert is SUPER happy - and of course, my bank account, i mean, i am SUPER happy 😛 we had to give the client a discount on our fee, to make Robert more budget friendly and we gave them 6 months to pay the fee too - their last payment will be in March
Anyway, all this SUPER happy stuff, we got that by luck - if that other bastard candidate didnt try swindle clients for money and equity, we never would have looked at Robert at all and we all would have lost out
and why?
Because i had no balls - I should have told that client to listen to me, to trust me, to meet with Robert, then make judgements on salary expectations.
But i was a baby, i was timid, and i wasn’t doing a great job of communicating the value Robert had
So what did I learn, and what can I teach you?
Back yourself - I knew Robert was the best, but i didnt back my ability to recruit and find the best candidate
Now when i send in candidates i believe in, i am far more pushy and ask the clients to also trust me more on my expertise and my recommendations
What does backing myself look like in the real world?
I had a client that is a pain in my ass - i called them, told them we need to update how we work together, or not work together at all - they write me on weekends, they expect miracles to happen because “well Grammerly has that feature” yes woman, grammerly also have 100mil USD to burn through…
That client messaged me on Friday night to apologise for the stress and pressure they put us under and extended timelines in order to have better quality work - normally, i’d just work longer hours to get the job done while swearing them out in my mind
What you can learn from this! You need to set boundries, and make people to commit to them!
I had a developer that came in recommended to me - he used AI to during the interview to answer my technical questions - usually i just move on, but this time, i am backing myself, I know that I can interview them and find out if they are any good - more over, the people that sent him to me, usually i would just tell them the candidate wasnt good and try preserve the relationship - i gave them both a good lecture, told them about investing in relationships and being professional
What can you learn from this? Don’t let shit slide, either with yourself and your own standards and expectations, or with others, if they disappoint you, let them know!
I have an amazing candidate for a client and he is delaying interviewing her, because he thinks he will just hire who he already likes
Im not letting him off that easily - i gave him a well thoughtout strategy and consideration for why my candidate is best and worth the extra budget - more over, I called the client, and insisted they meet with my candidate, even if they hire their favorite now, that my candidate would be really valuable later on as well
Usually, i just let clients make their decisions and i try not to interfere much
How can you get something out of this story?
BACK YOURSELF - if a client or recruiter or whoever, decides you arent the right person, but you feel you 100% are, dont just take it on the chin, push back, make a point, prove a point and stand your ground!
THATS A WRAP
This was a different kind of post - it was a long ass story, so I want to know what you think about it
Reply here and let me know - do you prefer these kinds of stories that then tie in advice? do you think i grew my balls or just acted emotionally? do you miss the old format? should I combine the old with the new? etc….
ANY HOW!
Let me know if you like this and as usual:
LinkedIn - I’m always hiring - but only 2 to 4 people a month - connect with me on and send me your CV - currently, I only hire people with 7 or more years of experience - if you have less, but are EXCEPTIONAL, i’ll make exceptions
Youtube - i’m always making content to help you out, subscribe and binge
Free Career Advice - i’m going to be giving away CV feedback for early subscribers for free, I usually charge $100 for a resume roast - i’ll make a recording and send you feedback - just reply back to this email with your CV - its totally free for first 10 people