Like with early stage investing, AngelList holds explosive possibilities for the extremely messy and noisy process of matchmaking companies with their people.
Founders spend way too much time pitching their company to investors. AngelList makes it completely simple. It pares back most of the BS but preserves much of the core informational and social processes that make people come together (e.g., credentials, social proof, track record).
The paring back of extraneous information is key – everything is up front, simple, and clear.
Compare how a startup looks on AngelList versus their CEO’s cluttered LinkedIn profile. The difference is obvious.
Many of the best startups are using the amazingly clean and clear offering from AngelList to hire as well. Beyond being simple and appealing, AngelList attracts knowledgeable engineers who are specifically interested in real startups not generic “I want a job that pays more” opportunities.
Plus, it’s free.
How to Recruit (and Post a Job ) on AngelList
So here’s how to do it. Just follow these steps to recruit successfully using AngelList:
- Be a notable startup founder or angel investor with an account on AngelList. Most companies have at least 1-2 such people involved somewhere in the food chain.
- Post your gig for free and watch the candidate applications come in.
- Now here is the hard part… you need to adopt an extremely fast and lightweight screening process. Don’t focus on a heavy evaluation of the candidate, but do a quick match on skills, career stage, and interest instead.
- Then hire for a trial. “Come work here, we’ll pay you.”
If your potential candidate has a job they love/need/want already, then they won’t say yes. And that’s fine! They would also be super hard to fire if they quit to work with you and it didn’t work out.
But that won’t be everyone, or even most people. These are all active candidates coming your way, not passive.
So if there is a match, you know it’s game on.
Amol Sarva is the co-founder of HireNurture, a startup focused on turning passive candidates active. Amol has co-founded several startups including Virgin Mobile, Peek, Halo and Knotable, built a building in New York called East of East, and studied cognitive science for his Ph.D.
