Enough to be Dangerous: Rantings of a Headhunter

Do you know the way to San Jose?

2007-06-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

Well my family bit the bullet and is moving out to San Jose.....will still be keeping the Waltham office but expect to expand the Mountain View office since things are once again booming in CA.

Seems start ups are active again...but larger companies seem to reporting financial difficulties.....months ahead should be interesting.....

Maslow, the economy and goals for 2007

2006-12-28T09:20:00.000-05:00

Well its come to the end of another year – the time where we evaluate what we achieved and what is possible for the year to come. The economy is pretty healthy right now and I can’t help but see how that affects this process. It makes me think of Maslow’s hierarchy…

If the basics are covered you can set more substantial “self- actualizing” goals?

I think of this as I met a member of my advisory board out in CA recently. He asked me what my company values were. I had read his business plan and had been surprised at how much detail he had put in regarding his company’s values. It all seemed a bit “squishy” to me. I wondered if it might be an east coast vs west coast cultural difference. As far as I knew…most East coast firms had one value….REVENUE. And obviously….that ranks high on all entrepreneurs list as that hits the basics of Maslow’s hierarchy…the survival needs. But if those are covered…do we get the luxury of thinking beyond that for what can be achieved and how we want our companies to be? So beyond where you want to be in 5 years….if you were to look back…..what would you be proud to accomplish? These are some of my thoughts why finishing my planning for 2007.

Trust your instincts and don't be trigger shy

2006-11-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

Trust your instincts – don’t be trigger shy

I find with start-ups most execs are a little unsure of themselves when it comes to hiring. Especially my international clients who are doing their first hiring in the US. A new employee is such a crucial endeavor for a startup, that they treat it like buying a new home. They really have to see a lot before they can make such a large decision. They seem to have trouble trusting their own instincts that they almost have to make the mistake of losing a great prospect before they feel ready to make a decision.

It’s unfortunate for me, because my firm ends up doing the search two or three times before we can seem to get the timing right. If there were only a way to convince our clients that we “know” good candidates….we see them all the time. We are experts in the area of identifying talent.

Obstacles to avoid in hiring:
1) Slow decision making – not realizing quick enough that the market is good and the better candidates are not around for long
2) Board involvement – the more people involved in the decision…the more disagreement over candidates, slower process etc.
3) Process problems – with a slower more uncertain hiring process…candidates don’t feel “wanted” and “loved”. If they are real superstars, they are going to want to go where they get this….they want to feel they bring tremendous value
4) Don’t be cheap…good candidates cost more. With all things, you get what you pay for. Is it worth it to restart an entire search over a small portion of options or 5-10k? Probably not.

In summary – trust your instincts make quick decisions and provide competitive compensation – only then will you attract the best and brightest.

Silicon Valley Mixer Tuesday Nov 7th in Sunnyvale

2006-11-03T08:49:00.000-05:00

For any of you attending the Israel Web Tour in Palo Alto, CA…there will also be a great networking event Silicon Valley Mixer for serial entrepreneurs in Sunnyvale at:
DATE: Tuesday, November 7, 2006
TIME: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

LOCATION:

Plug & Play Real Estate Building
440 N. Wolfe Road, Sunnyvale, CA

There will be over 300 attendees. It looks like a great networking event.

Winter

2006-10-29T18:52:00.000-05:00

It snowed today here in MA....brrr....

Will be glad to be in CA next week!

Only 3% of the population sets goals?

2006-10-26T23:59:00.000-04:00

I was listening to a Brian Tracy audible book called Success Mastery Academy

First off...fabulous...very motivating and great tips although slightly outdated (1997?). But at one point he said that only 3% of the population set goals. How sad is that...think of how much more we could achieve if we set goals.

Then there were more interesting statistics about research done with college grads...what percentage had goals (only about 20%) and then only 3% actually wrote them down. When they went on to check out these people years later the ones that were by far the most successful were the 3%.

Interesting thing is....you would think goal setting would be taught in school...high school at least. At least if you set up the habit then...it could really start affecting results in college or at work.

My husband is a high school teacher and I am going to see about whether I can get him to push for that in his school.

Enough ranting for now....

New McCue Group Website!

2006-10-26T23:10:00.000-04:00

Well...finally our website is up! A few tweaks left...but thought it was worth putting up...

www.mccuegroup.com

Israel Web Tour Nov 6-9th in Palo Alto

2006-10-26T22:37:00.000-04:00

Heading out to Palo Alto in a couple weeks for the Israel Web Tour to investigate a new group of Israeli technology firms. Reminds me a little of Rush week in college...

I am excited to check out these new companies:

BeInSync Allow individuals and small business to access their data from any computer of location

Fixya FixYa offers user-generated tech support, troubleshooting, repair, and customer service on over 700,000 products.

Foxytunes -Create the best way to enjoy all the great things the new music universe has to offer – by bringing together all user’s favorite players and services without forcing users to choose or give up anything they like

Gizmoz A multimedia communications company which enables an advanced medium of personal visual emotional expression for consumers and Pop culture business on any network such as TV/IPTV, Mobileand Internet.

ILCU Strives to be the number one social city guide through its website ILCU.com and its extensive affiliate network. On ILCU.com urban people can find the most up to date entertainment information and meet and socialize with others.

inter8ing: An advertising platform and better rating program for the blogs.

Kasamba Kasamba is an online marketplace for immediate, personal, high qualified expert advice

MyHeritage MyHeritage creates a unique and profitable community service by fusing Genealogy, Social Networks and Face Recognition technology

RadarSync RadarSync developed a computer driver and software update tool. It prevents common computer problems and optimizes performance by tracking, downloading, and installing both hardware device driver updates and software patches, fixes, and upgrades for a system.

Skylow Skylow delivers the cheapest available price for any requested flight route around the world. SkyLow.com provides the ultimate search, compare, and book engine, serving both consumer and business segments.

SpearCast SpearCast’s mission is to become the market leader in high quality business ratings for consumers searching for local businesses online. By using its patented VoIP technology, SpearCast will provide reliable ratings (e.g. the best plumber, dentist or Italian restaurant in your area), taking a leading position in this $30bn market.

Trusted Opinion Trusted Opinion’s mission is to leverage it’s core Social Recommendations Engine™ technology to enable networked circles of individuals to share and reap the benefits of their combined knowledge and experience to generate commercially unbiased, uniquely personalized ratings and recommendations for each and every user.

ViewScore ViewScore simplifies the product research process for consumers by aggregating product review content from thousands of product review sources across the Net and generating a single product score that best captures the world’s view and opinion of the product

Yedda Yedda is a Community Knowledge Exchange – a Web 2.0 service that connects knowledge sources with knowledge consumers, leveraging the long tail of knowledge and creating a social network of people with similar topics of interests

I would like to thank the organizers of this event, The California Israel Chamber of Commerce (aka Iris and Shuly)

Q3 results looking good

2006-10-10T10:17:00.000-04:00

Feld in his blog discusses results of Q3 looking good for 9 of 11 of his companies....my clients right now are all on target as well...with positive expectations for results in Q4....and lots of hiring on our end. Would like to hear which areas are not seeing the same positive action

Begging for forgiveness....

2006-10-04T00:28:00.000-04:00

I told one of my international clients who is currently in the US about my favorite quote today "It's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission" - Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. It came to mind after trying to decide if we had enough Board approvals to make an executive hire (where timing was critical).

One of the most facinating things I get to see is the dynamic between entreprenurial new executives and their Boards. It is often a strange dynamic...and it has been interesting to watch my CEO clients navigate the waters and "grow up" with their boards. I haven't read much on...and would welcome any recommendations on any that guides to Board involvement throughout certain stages of growth. I am talking to one of my favorite client Board members tomorrow....and will ask his view....will report back then....

Crossing the Energy Chasm

2006-09-27T23:31:00.000-04:00

Met with this fantastic energy start-up firm yesterday. Second round of funding (37 M), has the capability of turning coal into natural gas...cleanly. The ramifications are huge...yet it seems...as much as everyone agrees there is an energy crisis in store for us... we face Moore's Chasm (Crossing the Chasm) once again in nth magnitude.

It reminds me of Hurricane Katrina. Not a few months earlier, my husband and I had watched a movie about a hurricane hitting Louisiana and creating a huge oil crisis. We always seem to know what's coming but don't do enough to rectify it in time. While apparently the actual crisis wasn't large enough to cause enough concern...what will? And if its not a natural (or god forbid un-natural disaster), will the industrialization of China be the tipping point?

While working in the technology field is always fascinating...I am really excited to work with this firm in the Energy field....to have a chance to be involved with something SO potentially useful.

Well getting a bit crunchy here....enough rant for now.

L

Inc. Magazine's "How to make great hires"

2006-08-20T16:15:00.000-04:00

This month's Inc features information on how to make great hires. They make suggestions like having all of your candidates in the same room for an interview, giving them personality and intelligence tests and putting them through rounds of interviews. While more information can always help your analysis........are we not forgetting that it is once again becoming the candidates market? By the time you get through the process...your candidate has joined another company....one that nurtured them from the beginging.

I think these days, you are hard pressed to find a company so desirable - it can actually demand a lenghthy, painful examination of any one candidate. And if a company does take this route...how many people is it excluding because they are not willing to go through the process?

As a headhunter, my experience has been that the best candidates are not looking .....they are happily entrenched in the work they are passionate about doing. To extract them from that situation is a delicate task that takes patient nurturing, subliminal sales and counseling techniques and precise timing. (A very cool, recently funded technology always helps too.)

While I applaud the coverage of the various techniques....I beg companies to think about their process adn how they are selling and treating their candidates. A good interview experience for one person....who may talk to 10 others is great free PR.

Hiring is much more an Art then a Science.