Key Takeaways
-
Top support request: Portfolio companies ask their fund for help sourcing and hiring talent more than any other kind of support, which places talent work inside a platform strategy rather than beside it.
-
Internal talent hire: A fund builds recruiting capability in house by hiring someone with a recruiting background, either a full-time Head of Talent or a contract hire leading portfolio talent work.
-
Outside expertise: A fund routes founders to vetted external recruiters through educational sessions and a documented provider list built from recommendations by other founders and investors.
-
Job-matching events: Events that put portfolio companies in a room with candidates expand hiring networks and build community across the portfolio at the same time.
-
Recruiting tech stack: A fund adds recruiting tools to its own stack, using an executive talent marketplace like Bolster, an automated job board like Getro, and a community job-matching platform like Pallet.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do portfolio companies ask their investors for help with hiring?
Funds back companies they expect to scale quickly, and scaling quickly depends on recruiting top talent quickly. Sourcing and hiring talent is the number one support request VC operators receive from their portfolio companies, according to Visible's 2022 Portfolio Support Survey.
How can a VC fund help its portfolio companies hire?
A fund helps its companies hire in five ways: developing recruiting expertise inside the fund, bringing external talent experts in to educate founders, keeping a curated list of vetted recruiting providers, hosting job-matching networking events, and adding recruiting technology to the fund's own tech stack. The five span in-house capability, outside expertise and tooling.
When should a VC fund invest in recruiting technology?
A fund invests in recruiting technology once it has decided talent is its platform's area of focus. Tooling supports a sustained program, so the spend follows the focus decision rather than leading it.
How can a fund make its talent support reusable across the portfolio?
Record the sessions external talent experts deliver and host them somewhere every portfolio company can reach later, so one session also serves companies that join after it ran. Document the curated list of recruiting providers, job boards and networks in that same accessible place instead of rebuilding it for each founder who asks.
