Startup Hiring Advice from Lever CEO Sarah Nahm with Holly Liu | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Seren Holly, the founder and CEO of Lever, shares her personal journey from being a speechwriter to becoming a founder, the challenges she faced in making the hiring process more inclusive, and the importance of building a strong team and culture.

Key Insights

• 💼 Key Insight 1: The idea of becoming a founder or CEO was not something that Seren Holly initially envisioned for herself, but she was influenced by the innovative and entrepreneurial environment of Silicon Valley.
• 🌍 Key Insight 2: Growing up in Alabama, Seren Holly was deeply influenced by her experiences with social justice and civil rights, which has shaped her perspective and values throughout her career.
• 💡 Key Insight 3: Seren Holly initially studied design and had planned to go into design consulting or work at a design firm, but she unexpectedly ended up at Google as a speechwriter, which exposed her to the world of tech and startups.
• 🏢 Key Insight 4: Seren Holly highlights the importance of proactive recruiting for startups to attract top talent in a competitive market. This involves reaching out to potential candidates through various channels and emphasizing the company's unique value proposition.
• 🔎 Key Insight 5: Seren Holly emphasizes the importance of behavioral interviews in the hiring process, as they provide concrete examples of a candidate's past experiences and patterns of success or failure, which can help predict future performance.
• 💬 Key Insight 6: In order to make hiring more inclusive, Seren Holly suggests creating a culture that encourages open dialogue and acknowledges diverse perspectives. This can include implementing structural changes, such as onboarding sessions on diversity and inclusion, and establishing employee resource groups.
• 🌈 Key Insight 7: Lever, Seren Holly's company, focuses on building an inclusive culture by challenging stereotypes and promoting collaboration between "technical" and "non-technical" employees. They aim to create a culture where everyone feels empowered to contribute and think creatively.
• 💪 Key Insight 8: Seren Holly advises early-stage companies to prioritize hiring and view it as a critical aspect of their success. By investing time and effort in recruiting the right people, founders can build a strong team and ultimately drive positive results.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: Did Seren Holly always have a desire to become an entrepreneur?

No, Seren did not see herself becoming a founder or founding CEO while growing up in Alabama. It was during her time at Stanford and working at Google that she started considering entrepreneurship.

Q: How did Seren decide to leave Google and start Lever?

Seren left Google to pursue personal growth and experience different things. She worked with several early-stage teams and eventually decided to start Lever after finding the right co-founders and identifying a change happening in the world regarding the importance of talent in organizations.

Q: What challenges did Seren face in making hiring more inclusive at Lever?

One of the challenges was the idea that technical people were considered more valuable than non-technical people. Lever aimed to break this stereotype and create a culture where both technical and non-technical employees were respected and their contributions were valued equally.

Q: How does Lever work towards building an inclusive culture?

Lever incorporates inclusion into its culture through various initiatives. This includes providing diversity and inclusion training during the onboarding process, having employee resource groups, involving employees in decision-making processes, and creating a common language to discuss differences in a respectful manner.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Seren Holly grew up in Alabama and had no intention of becoming a founder or CEO.

• The influence of her time at Stanford and working at Google led her to consider entrepreneurship.

• She studied design and thought she would pursue a career in design consulting, but ended up joining Google and later founding Lever.

• Lever focuses on making the hiring process more inclusive and has implemented strategies like behavioral interviewing and impact job descriptions.