Denver Startup Week: The Recap

by EdgeLink on Sep 24, 2013 in EdgeLink Happenings, Start-up Hiring Strategy

What are the top ten mistakes startups need to avoid when hiring their staff? This was the topic of a lively discussion at the Newsgator offices during Denver Startup Week. Denver Startup Week wrapped up on Saturday, Sep 21, 2013. John Kindgeski, Account Manager, Denver and Aaron Mills, Branch Manager, Denver represented EdgeLink as a key sponsor at the event. John quarterbacked a panel discussion on Hiring Mistakes Startups Should Avoid (Get the presentation here). The expert panel included Kelly Taylor of Pivotdesk, Chris Black of Tendril, and Aaron who were welcomed to a full house at NewsGator Technologies offices.The Firm’s Recruiting Strategies. Once you are comfortable that the firm has a recruiting team, find out specifically how they recruit. Do they use job boards? Are they utilizing social media as a way to attract candidates? Are they involved in networking groups and networking sites such as LinkedIn? Check out their web sites to see what kind of thought leadership their team is producing – is there strong knowledge management and subject matter expertise amongst the recruiting teams? These are all very essential qualities of an effective recruiting engine, and if lacking, could result in poor sourcing and poor hiring.

BJohn had this to say about the event, “Every startup not only needs to hire great talent, but needs to retain these skilled professionals. Denver Startup Week provides a perfect forum for startups to engage in dialogue and collaborate the best ways to manage talent in launching a company forward. Learning from others to avoid pitfalls out of the gates is critical in the startup phase of a company.”Time to Source. Consider how long it takes an IT firm to source appropriate candidates for the open positions. Check with their sales team and recruiting teams to determine an average timeframe. If the time from receipt of a requirement to candidate submittal is overly long or all over the board, this may be a red flag. The firm should have an adequate talent management database and knowledgeable recruiting team that knows where to quickly source specific technologies. If they don’t, you may want to look elsewhere.

The room was full of attendees representing a large variety of new business endeavors and throughout the evening the panelists were challenged with thoughtful and exacting questions ranging from how a potential employee will fit into the company’s culture to how to attract the best people to your organization. Chris, Kelly and Aaron all had astute and detailed responses, giving their listeners some timeless advice and strategies about the interview process, setting expectations, giving and receiving feedback and projecting the right company image. Even after the presentation ended, the conversation continued with the panelists and attendees enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres while networking with each other.

Regardless of their very different backgrounds and professional interests, everyone there shared their common motivation for success and passion for excellence, representing the very best of Denver’s new businesspeople. These attendees were not your average employees looking for inspiration and beer during work hours. These were the best and the brightest, taking time after hours to invest in their professional progression and learning how to build their businesses and achieve their goals.

In another example of excellence during Denver Startup Week, the week ended with more participation than ever and was one of the top attended and most successful events in the country! Throughout the week, projections were exceeded and the events overflowed with more than 5,000 startup community members engaged in some 125 community-driven events. With so much enthusiasm and participation this year, Denver Startup Week is an event to look forward to in 2014!

Thank you to all of those that attended!

If you would like to see the presentation from Denver Startup Week, you can download it here: Hiring your Startup Team – Denver Startup Week Edgelink.pdf

For more information on Denver Startup Week, please visit their website here.