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Rebeca Hwang: How Do You Assess Talent?

Name: Rebeca Hwang: How Do You Assess Talent?
Uploaded: 2012-06-08T19:09:44+00:00
Duration: 10 s
Channel: GHION.AI
Description: In this interview segment, the host asks how to assess talent before and after hiring or partnering. Speaker B explains a partner‑selection process that…

8 Jun 2012 · 0 min

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In this interview segment, the host asks how to assess talent before and after hiring or partnering. Speaker B explains a partner‑selection process that starts with voice‑of‑customer research, visiting at least ten ESCOs operating in multiple countries, and targeting partners with five or more years of experience who have encountered both success and failure. He emphasizes the importance of learning from past failures and the ability to recover as key signals of a reliable partner. Speaker C outlines her personal talent‑assessment framework: first ensuring alignment of core values and morals, then seeking complementary skill sets to avoid competition, and finally looking for individuals who display obsessive passion for any domain, as that intensity often translates into dedication to a startup or entrepreneurial venture. The discussion highlights practical criteria and mindsets for evaluating both external partners and internal team members.

How do you assess talent before and after you hire or partner with someone?
Very good. So for partners, when we did our VOC, if you will, and I think you've heard from Steve Blank and others, get out of the building early. I think we went to about 10 ESCOs with operations in over 15 countries. And at least 5 years of operating experience. That's what I was looking for. In other words, I wanted to see someone who has tried the best and failed, tried the lowest option and failed, and give me some of the real pain because I really wanted to make the better choice. Once I start down a road, I want to make sure that I know what makes other things fail so that I'm designing around that, if you will. That's a partner. And talent, I'm looking for people who recognize that part of success is failure. So the ability to recover, I really look for someone's ability to recover.
In my case, it's usually I start with a value system. If I don't have the same values and morals with the person I'm going to spend probably the most amount of time at work with, it's just not going to work. So we have to agree on basic tenets of of the values that drive us. Second, I think it's very important that we have complementarity. Oftentimes I meet people who have the same skill sets as me and we don't really work well together because we compete and we end up getting on each other's feet. And then the third part, I like people who are obsessed about something. It may not be the topic in question that I'm trying to build, the actual product that I'm trying to build, but people who have a certain level of passion passion and obsession about something, it could be chess or it could be cheerleading or football, they tend to also have an easier time getting obsessed about the startup or entrepreneurship project that you may have with them. So I look for obsessiveness.