Don't Judge a Movie by its Poster

I was on my mobile app Flixster the other day looking for a new release on DVD. Something different that I haven't seen before. I'm an action flick guy and I'm drawn to things visual so I migrate towards the best cover/movie poster I see. Now to clarify, I'm a movie buff, I go to the theatre whenever the next big Action flick is released. I also make sure if there was something I missed, I rent it via DVD or OnDemand. So I've seen most of the popular ones. This time I was looking for something new, a movie that slipped the reviews of the critic’s elite for some reason and wound up merely breaking even at the box office if it made it there at all. I chose The Legend of Hercules! The poster was enticing as Hercules himself standing powerful with a sword in the forefront and a host of warriors in the background fighting a great battle. There was lightning, thunder and fire in the red sky with black smoke. I was hooked!

Which brings up my point, back to the movie in a moment... I realized after I watched the film that I, like many others, tend to judge by outward appearances (some outcomes good and some bad) more often than I should. Now, I'm not superficial, I do my research and due diligence in the important things like business, expenditures, major decisions and especially hiring. To most however, hiring the right people is different. Most organizations these days tend to look at the tangibles (age, beauty, university, GPA, types of companies etc...) as the major motivator to initiate the process, while others, like myself look at the intangibles (character, accomplishments, loyalty, work ethic etc...). I tend to advise my clients on the importance of the intangibles when hiring in a startup. Startups are gritty, chaotic, they lack structure, and can tend to force people to think on their feet and make decisions in the moment. GPA and someone's looks have nothing to do with that kind of stress.

Case in point, I was recently viewing the orgchart of one of my past clients, a small startup in the Series A phase, and I noticed they hired a new VP. Looking at the new VP’s profile I noticed that the person had the title of VP on their profile nonetheless, they were fit, looked young, and had trendy clothes on in their profile picture. They also went to a decent university and had some interesting volunteer work. When I scrolled down through the profile I was amazed to see a serious lack of substance, leadership, and experience to qualify as a VP let alone at a startup organization. As I mentioned earlier, I do consider a candidate's appearance to somewhat be a factor, however, only as it relates to their job (sales = presentable) and if they’re groomed, clean, and presentable in a collaborative environment as well as personal high gene dictates a lot about the person but that's where it ends for me.

So you can imagine my amazement when, after all of the insight, guidance, and strategy I provided to this organization they would bring on such a junior player for an impact role who lacked experience and had no clear leadership experience. Will this person be able to bring the company to the next level? I don’t know, however, the odds seem low IMHO. I realize that there are a lot of young entrepreneur CEO’s out there who defy the odds and come up with an idea that is ground breaking that disrupts entire industries. They make millions based on their ideas, creativity, and the demand for their technology. Nonetheless, I’ve seen statistics for Angel/Seed/Series A companies have a 90% fail rate, Series B is below 50%, and Series C is below 10% (these stats are not necessarily official, I found them on Quora). With those types of odds wouldn’t you consider your key executive stakeholders to be seasoned and experienced? To have at the very least "done it before" or at all? Is someone who’s older, over weight, or not “attractive” ruled out instantly? Thinking that way and taking chances like that only leads to great failure.

I’ve been involved in startups since 1990, both as a participant and as a third party business partner and I’ve seen some really successful organizations and great ideas run into the ground due to a bad hire. Someone hired their buddy or brought on a slick looking, fast talking character like the guy in the original Die Hard movie that said, “Hans… Booby!” and wound up getting shot! I’ve also seen startups succeed with less than pedigree individuals (or sleepers as I like to call them) who may or may not have the looks or the degree from an elite university or a high GPA but they have the grit and the fortitude to succeed. They possess the outstanding intangibles like character, integrity, work ethic, experience, tenacity, and a relentless desire to win. They may be older, or younger, thin or over weight, or from a diverse background, however you slice it, these “intangibles” are the key ingredients to a successful endeavor. So many candidates get passed on these days because, although they may have the accomplishments and experience, they didn't finish college or their GPA was 2.7 and on and on... The automated resume mills these days are programmed wrong, we've taken the human element out of hiring and it's leading us down a bad path for convenience sake, but I digress.

I also see so many startup leaders who stay up at night worrying about “preserving” their culture in their demand to grow the business. Again, in my experience, personalities wind up changing over time as individuals work side by side together for a common cause. There may be risk in hiring outside your "culture zone" but I’ve seen it come around more times than not. So the next time you realize you need to hire someone, keep an open mind, look at the person and their accomplishments and don't put as much emphasis on the pedigree. In the long run, your organizations success is at stake.

So, back to The Legend of Hercules… hated it!