Hiring & Talent

In Visible’s 2022 Portfolio Support Survey (full report here), VC Operators reported that the number one support request they receive from portfolio companies is help with sourcing and hiring talent. This makes complete sense considering funds are investing in companies they hope will scale quickly, and in order to do so, companies need to recruit top talent quickly. This post outlines 5 ways VC Funds can better support their portfolio companies with hiring and talent. 1. Develop recruiting expertise internally at your VC fund. For funds just thinking about making their first platform hire, consider hiring someone with a recruiting or talent background and making that your defined approach to your VC platform. Alternatively, if your fund has the resources, consider bringing on a Head of Talent either full-time or on a contract basis to lead your portfolio talent initiatives. 2. Bring in external expertise to educate founders. Invite relevant talent service providers to deliver content to your portfolio companies on the topic of sourcing and recruiting talent. Your companies will benefit by learning best practices from an expert and also by being introduced to a vetted service provider if a company decides to outsource recruiting for a role. Tip: Record the content and host it in a place where other portfolio companies can access the content in the future. (We like using Notion at Visible). 3. Create a curated list of vetted recruiting service providers. If you’re not sure where to start, you can begin by asking other founders and VCs where they’ve found talent. Which service providers, job boards, and networks did they use? Document and host this information in a place that can be easily accessed in the future. Here’s a VC & Startup specific recruiting firm to check out –> SCGC Executive Search 4. Host job-matching networking events. Hosting events for portfolio companies is a great way to build community and expand networks. Consider hosting an event or session specifically focused on bringing together your portfolio companies and talented candidates for intentional networking. 5. Add recruiting tech to your VC Tech Stack. If you’ve decided talent is going to be your VC Platform’s area of focus, it may be time to invest in recruiting technology to support your efforts. Here are three recruiting tech platforms to check out — Bolster – Bolster is an on-demand executive talent marketplace that helps accelerate companies’ growth by connecting them with experienced, highly vetted executives for interim, fractional, advisory, project-based, full-time or board roles. Bolster also provides startup and scaleup CEOs with software, programming, and content to help them assess, benchmark, and diversify their leadership teams and boards. Sign up for a free partner account here to unlock a $2,000 credit for your portfolio companies. Getro – This is an automated job board that updates as your portfolio companies add or remove job openings from their career pages. It takes the manual work out of connecting people and companies in your network. Pallet – This is a community-led job matching platform. You can host all your portfolio job opens in a single place to host on your website and promote on social media. For an example of a VC Fund’s pallet board check out K50 Ventures Portfolio’s pallet board. Visible for Investors is a founders-first portfolio monitoring and reporting platform. Learn More

What is a VC Platform? First off, if you’re reading this article because you haven’t fully wrapped your head around what a VC Platform is, that’s ok. The term Platform is still relatively new in the VC world with the first VC Platform roles being formalized around 2013. The term VC Platform can be defined as formalized post-investment support and services that VCs provide to their portfolio companies to help increase their chances of success and differentiate the VC firm. Stephanie Manning from Lerer Hippeau decoded the VC Platform role and explains that a Platform role (or roles) vary by title but responsibilities typically fall into these six buckets: Talent Business Development Content, Marketing & Communications Community & Network Operations Events In sum, Platform roles help formalize the post-investment support processes and make them repeatable and reliable. This image is from the Lerer Hipeau Blog Post Paths into Venture Capital: Decoding the VC Platform role. Related resource: How to Get Into Venture Capital: A Beginner’s Guide Why VC Platforms Roles Exist VC Platform roles exist for two main reasons — To scale support — Investors get spread thin as their portfolios grow and they need a way to scale their support. To differentiate one firm from another — At the end of the day, VC’s are all selling the same product, capital, and need a way to differentiate themselves to attract deal flow. Different VC Platform Approaches Although the objectives of all VC Platform roles are the same (see above), VCs take different approaches to Platform based on the needs of their portfolio, available resources, and differentiation strategy. If you’re hiring for your first Platform role, it’s likely you don’t have a Platform strategy defined yet. This is completely ok to start, but would heed the advice from Jay Acunzo from NextView Ventures and note that “platform only works when you’re known for something”. Acunzo goes on to suggest the following: Firms with broader investment strategies should pick another focus area to ensure platform success, whether by owning a tactic (e.g. workshops, video, etc.), a business function (e.g. recruiting, design) or a sector (B2B SaaS). Even if a firm invests outside that industry, it’s still a better approach to be truly meaningful to one audience than mostly forgettable to many. With this in mind, right before or right after your first hire, you should be thinking about where portfolio needs, available resources, and your VC brand align. Check out our post on Defining your VC Platform Approach which includes a VC Platform Positioning Exercise template to kick off your brainstorming. What to look for in your first VC Platform Role Although you’ll eventually want your Platform to specialize and “be known for something” if you don’t know what that “something” is yet, we suggest looking for someone with marketing, events, or recruiting experience as a first hire. Previous experience with startups or working in Venture Capital is a major bonus but making it a requirement may narrow your search significantly. Jack-(or Jill)-of-all-trades type often do well in platform roles because they’re going to be wearing several hats at once. When interviewing candidates look for someone with a proven record of creating things from scratch (from idea to implementation) because you’ll want to find someone who has the ability to try out a few different approaches to post-investment support and be ok when some flat-out don’t work. They’ll also need to be a persuasive communicator because they will need to convince both your investment team and your companies to try new ideas. And finally, as you think long-term about how your portfolio and Platform will grow, you may envision this person managing a Platform team. Therefore, it’s a good idea to hire someone who has the organization and leadership skills required to lead a team. A summary of traits to look for: Building relationships is second nature Enjoys organizing events and bringing people together Takes a creative approach to problem-solving An idea generator AND executor Ability to wear multiple hats and remain organized Previous experience working with startups or at a startup Can deliver on projects with little guidance from others Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and persuasively Aptitude for managing a team Writing the VC Platform Role Job Description To get started with writing the job description for your first VC Platform role, it’s a good idea to check out real examples from other firms. Here you can find a public-facing VC Platform Job Board which includes job descriptions for various types of Platform roles. You could also utilize LinkedIn and search for VC Platform Manager or Director of Platform to view open roles from other funds. How to set your VC Platform Manager up for Success You may find managing someone in a Platform role to be challenging from the perspective that their work may seem unrelated to the focus areas of other fund staff. And that’s because it is. Ask any first Platform hire and they will undoubtedly tell you they felt isolated and even lonely in their role. This is why it’s critical to encourage the new hire to create their own peer network of people in platform roles outside of the fund. This network can also help them upskill more quickly and have people who understand their work to bounce ideas off. Thankfully, a welcoming community of people like this already exists. The VC Global Platform Community is a network of people in platform roles around the world who connect virtually (via a forum, video calls, and events) to discuss best practices, exchange ideas, and foster relationships. You can additionally support the new Platform hire by backing them up when they want to implement new ideas and need buy-in, and ensuring there are opportunities for them to be heard. A Platform person’s nightmare is being excited about rolling out a new idea but not being able to get the ‘air-time’ with relevant team members to push it forward. As a manager, you can keep this communication channel open by setting up a regular (try quarterly) meeting between the Platform hire and the investment team to discuss post-investment support initiatives and decide on next steps. Consider using Visible.vc’s portfolio reporting tools to increase transparency between your Platform team and Investment team. And finally, your new Platform hire will want to know their work is making a difference. It’s a good idea to challenge them to come up with their own method for defining and measuring success for improving and formalizing your fund’s post-investment support. Check in with them about these goals on an agreed upon cadence. Hiring your first VC Platform role is a great way to scale the post-investment support you offer your portfolio companies and to differentiate your fund from the sea of other capital providers. However, it’s not always easy given this hire will be working on initiatives that other staff members haven’t previously dedicated much time or resources to. But with the right person, and by being intentional about setting them up for success, this new hire can add immense impact to your fund’s performance. Visible for Investors is a founder-friendly portfolio monitoring and reporting platform.