Episode #791 - Why Startup Success Is All About Who You Hire with Feras Alhlou

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Welcome to this edition of the million Dollar Mastermind podcast. This is where we pick the brains of high achievers from all walks of life and get their hard earned real world insights on winning. I'm your host, Larry Wydell.

As a founder, early stage founders especially, you have to be creative. Sometimes you don't have the money, the cash to hire someone who has 10 years experience in such and such. So with this gentleman that I mentioned earlier, it wasn't sort of blindly, let's say let's hire you, but we said let's work on a plan for you to do this to learn and get this specific certification in two months.

Yeah.

And if you do it. So he's committing to us. We committed to make him an offer and we had a gentleman's handshake and we said, we will hire you, get these certifications. And. And he did. So we did want him to commit, just show some interest into our area and make sure he likes it. And we didn't pay him a penny for that. There was, that was again, the trust was there. So. So as a founder, look in your network, look into people that you've hired, especially if you've hired A people. And for early stage founders, you got to hire A people because A, people will always bring A people and B, people will bring you C people.

Right, Right.

Because they don't want people to compete with them. They have all kind of issues. B people. That is so. So I remember one person we've hired and I won't put, I won't mention their name to put on the spot. They might not be comfortable with this, but I can tell you, Larry, they brought us four other folks in a span of a year. They're all superstars. They're all like, they just, they rock.

Yeah.

In different areas. But it was that, you know, I've worked with this person and they're really good at what they do and they're nice.

Yeah.

I didn't have to do a whole lot of vetting after I heard this from someone I trust, someone who proved themselves to be an A person in my business. Their word to me was gold. And once they said that this, I recommend this person, obviously do all the, all the logistics and their interviews and all that, but that, that to me made a huge difference. We ended up just getting amazing people from this one. A person. And.

You had you read a recent book about Tom Brady that a similar type thing?

Well, yeah, the book is called Hidden Potential by Adam Grant and he mentioned in one of the example is is not just looking at someone's resume and what they've accomplished. It's also the road they travel to get there. And what you said earlier in terms of that drive, and he said, I think it was, was 199th. That was, that was Tom Brady in.

Yeah, yeah.

And he said the one thing that all the scouts, all the recruiters did not look, they did not look at his heart. They didn't look at the drive he had. He worked harder than anyone else. So I, in. This is, this is, you know, I think when you hire people again, it's easy to do a technical assessment of their skills. And I think that's important just so you know where they, where they land. Are they, do they, they, are they novices? Are they experts? So it's important to assess where they are technically, but I think digging into other things they've done. Did they run a marathon? Did they get a black belt in a martial art? Did they, did they have to work two jobs while they're in college? Do they, Are they supporting Asian parents today? So you have to look at their background and look at what is it that they, they've done outside of work. Those will give you indicators on their ability, their capacity to learn and to contribute.

Absolutely. And to, you know, that's even true with relationships. You know, it's just like, you know, you, you know, you know, I talk to my. A lot. Well, I won't say who I talk to it about, but they, you know, I say, like, what does this girl want to do with their life? He said, oh, I don't know, maybe I should ask. He said, like, you know, they have hopes. You know, the idea is to get partner up with people, have similar hopes and dreams and motivation, you know, or, you know, I just want to have a normal life, a quiet life, but as opposed to someone who wants to travel the world and have a lot of adventures and do things like that, if it's, it's on us if we don't at least ask the question, you.

Know, and you got, you got to ask the important question, you know, important questions. It's, it's not, not, not the thinking, thinking back. The color of the color of the eyes and color of the hair and, and look at important stuff in life and the values and so I've been married for over, for 36 years now. So I do speak from congratulations experience.

Congratulations. Yeah.

Ups and downs, you know, the journey. But people, I think, yeah, exactly. You have, you have to dig deep and ask the important questions.

Think back to when you did that recruiting presentation and that hiring presentation, what were some of the, what are the things that stick out when you just think back to that that are like important points that you'd love to emphasize for people that could just save them so much trouble and time.

Yeah. Defining a few things come to mind. One is defining the role that you are looking for. So, so just a couple paragraphs. I need, I need a salesperson. Not sufficient. I need someone to help me with project management. No, write it down. Give a lot of details about what you expect them to do. It's all about expectation management and then also understand where they're coming from. So for example, this, the sector, did they ever sell in the sector that you, if you, let's say you do management consulting for pharmaceuticals. If they've done work in that space that might be helpful. Also the size of the company where they've built their experience. If they've always worked in corporate, in Fortune 500 or in Fortune 1000 and you're this tiny company that you're just starting, there might, there might be a mismatch because in a larger company salespeople are used to having all the assets they need. Case studies, white papers, websites that, that are ready for them to help convince the customer in case you probably don't have 110 of those resources. So I think documenting again the role itself to summarize and understanding if making sure they have relevant experience to what you're selling and then in terms of did they sell to the types of clients you want to sell to? I think those are those important things when it comes to hiring.

Now you rattled off that phrase expectation management and I got the feeling immediately that that was a phrase you use a lot.

Yes sir. We, you know, they, they scars. So, so one of the things, one of the reasons I'm doing what I'm doing with, with the company startup with Ferris is to share what we've learned over the years and sometimes you end up making these mistakes again. You know, you're rushed to do something, you got to hire. There's an opportunity. So in a recent venture we are expanding in a new market. So we're a seven, seven figure business in, in, in Dubai. Actually I'm, I'm, I'm co founder of, of the business there and we want to expand to a new market and we're hiring for that new market. So in a way it's like a new business because new market, different type of the ways to sell and, and the products to sell. And we see the opportunity and we don't have anyone on the ground so you rush to hire and my goodness, I did not follow my own checklist, you know, but that, that heat of the moment, that entrepreneurial thing like yeah, I got, I got a cap, you know, I got to take on those opportunities and, and, and sell. So you end up hiring someone. Completely different expectations. Again, they worked in a big company, we're a small company, relatively speaking and there's zero self support. You expect to, to hunt and gather. He, he's expecting to get warm leads and he would nurture them. So those important details got lost in the heat of, of hiring someone. Again, I don't want to blame us or them or. It doesn't matter. It's, it's those expectations, what you expect your employees to do. I just made an offer to someone this morning for one of the businesses and I spoke before we did the virtual handshake. Here's what to expect from us A, B and C. Are you ready, willing and able? Are you sure? Sleep on it. No rushing. So the wound is still fresh from this other hire. So it's important I think to manage expectations financially in terms of the role itself as well as, as what you want them to do for you and the environment that they are going to be in.

How have you found these succeeding companies? You know, people who hear about someone who is a serial entrepreneur and started companies, sold companies, they wonder how do you find these opportunities and, and how, you know, how would I go about finding these opportunities? A lot of times it's organic. You know, you're already involved in something and idea comes up in a conversation or someone brings it to you. How did you find your. You said you7 different companies you've been through.

At this point it was every partner I partnered with to start the ventures I've, I've known at one phase in, in my life in my personal friends and, and friends of friends circle or through work, ex, ex workers. So. So a friend of mine from my very first job back to home shopping in Florida, he had. When we talking about Dubai. Why would I, you know, I'm, I've been here most of my life. Like I, I never done any business in Dubai overseas, but this person was a general manager for Motorola in Dubai and then when, when Motorola folded and, or got bought by Google. I think so. Yeah. He ended up repeat, you know, coming back to the States.

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So he knew that Dubai market, market and he know the Gulf area really well. So he, he, he said, hey Ferris, I'm, I'm done with my first, you know, I climbed my first mountain, I'm ready to go on the second mountain. And you have a successful business here. Do you want to branch out to Dubai? So that was, that was 2013, 2012. 2013. And, and now, and now, now we have a thriving business there. So, so it was this first, this, this friend, ex colleague from my very first role, my first, you know, I was an employee at the time, but the impression you leave on people, your reputation, that you work hard, that you're easy to work with, that, that you know, you learn. He didn't reach out to me just because I was successful at the time, but he had that personal experience, you know, he knew me and I knew him. So it's important for folks even if you're not ready to start your, your venture, your job, your, you know, or, or even if your career, your reputation at work and also outside is really important. As, as Warren Buffett said, it takes 20 years to build your reputation and then you can lose in five minutes.

Yeah.

So that is really important that the network, my network, and I'm just fortunate to be surrounded by amazing people.

You talked about leveraging your network early on. How about expanding on that? Tell us more about that.

Your, your, your friends and family and, and, and, and, and, and you know, companies you worked, you worked at. Also I encourage people to also volunteer and, and be of service. If you're starting a business, you might not have a whole lot of time, but maybe you can give an hour a week and take your son or daughter and go to Habitat for Humanity. And I've, I've, I've met people that I've ended up either hiring or working with, or maybe finding founding companies with who I learned I got to meet through some nonprofit work. So, so whether you go to the gym and you don't meet people there, whether you Go. I'm into martial arts, so I have, I have a network of friends in martial arts, so that you have all these circles that you should develop and also contribute, contribute to and nurture and be generous with your time and money and thought and expertise and whatever you believe in. You know, the universe gives back in different ways, and I believe that. So don't go and volunteer to get something out of it. Just do it for the sake of helping and serving. But somehow, somewhere, someone will remember you and they'll reach out to you, and then you have an opportunity and you pursue it, and then you do something great.

Well, it's like, it's similar to continuing to learn, to continuing to expand your network of friends and contact and keeping it fresh. You know, it's, you know, you have fresh friends with fresh contacts, with fresh markets and insights, and that's part of keeping your, your, your own attitude fresh, don't you think?

Yes. And, and they're always, there are always things to learn, and they're, they're. If you're, for example, let's say you get into a new hobby or you, you go out to, you know, I go to Colorado in, in, in, in. In the fall with a bow and we go to the mountains, and I have, I have my, my friends there. That, that, that I also, I, I, I, you know, the bonding that takes place on the mountains.

Are you a bow hunter?

Yes, sir. Yeah.

Okay. I'm a bow hunter, too. No way.

No way. Yeah, I saw that, that you're 100. I was gonna ask you about it off air. Here it is.

All we do is, my son and I, that's due to my son. But, you know, he, we, we didn't know anything about hunting. So he grows up and I, I want to do something with him and he says, well, you know, wants to hunt and, you know, we didn't even know anyone who hunted, you know, and I didn't even, you know, I bought a magazine on hunting. You know, pretty soon we had the clothes and we were making trips. But then he had to make it the nth degree of difficulty. He only was interested in bow hunting with a longbow, you know, and wood arrows and things like that. It's like, could you make it any harder? But now, you know, we've got elk, you know, monster trophy elk on the wall and all the fact we just put them up in my studio out in West Palm this past weekend, and they've been in storage for a long time. We finally got them up on the wall, but, yeah, Another bow hunter.

Absolutely. You know, 20, 22, fall 22. We got, we got a six by six in. Really. So, so yeah, and it's, you know, in terms of, and I wrote something about it and I, I actually submitted an article to one of the hunting, hunting magazines. So maybe I'll send it to your way. But it is, it's absolutely timorous. It's three of us and we always go. I've been, I've been going, I think seven or eight years now.

Yeah.

And one of them is an ex coworker now again a colleague now he introduced me to, to, I've hunted before, but bow hunting is new to him, was new to me. But the, what you learned, the hard work, you know, you know what it takes. People think people have no idea what it takes. Most people have no idea what it takes.

Yeah.

So it's a lot of preparation. You prepare six, seven months in advance.

Yeah.

So entrepreneurship is not very different than that. So whatever hobby you pursue, if you want to run a marathon, you're going to prepare six months ahead. Right. If you want to do whatever in life, anything that's worth worthwhile is going to take hard work. So those skills and that determination to pursue and get things done in other areas of life, they can definitely help you on your entrepreneurial journey.

I want to switch gears here because we're going to have to wrap this up, but do you build your company with the idea of selling it right from the beginning? Do you have the end result in mind of like, we're going to build something big, but we want to package this thing up and have the opportunity if we decide to move it on down the road is important to, to be thinking like that early on.

Now I do when I started. No, but being in the Silicon Valley, everybody, you know, you hear the story of people, you know, getting funding, have an idea. They, they, they, they get a beta out, they get an alpha out, they, they get funding, they grow, they sell it. So the idea of building and exiting was always there, just being part of the Silicon Valley. But I think for entrepreneurs, you got to build a solid business. You know that Larry, like you, you just, the numbers have to make sense. They have to have a strong culture. You have to have the right customers, you have to have that revenue, you have to have that profit margin. And when you do that, then you have options. And I think that's what's important.

That's a great point.

Different in life, you might want to sell for whatever reason. It could be health reasons, could be Your second tired of it. It could be family reasons, it could be whatever. But if you build a solid business, then you have a whole lot of options ahead of you. And that's what I, I typically highlight with.

I think that's a great point, Ferris. And no matter what you have in your mind, if you don't build a solid business, you're not going to have those options.

Exactly.

And part of a solid business is where it will run. It can run without you there. Minute by minute and stuff like that, you put systems and people in place. Let me ask you this to wrap it up because we've got to go. You've got to go. And I always like to let my guests leave with a final word. And usually we've covered a lot of topics by the time we get to this point, but there's often something that people have in their mind that they want to pass on before we wrap it up. Do you have something that you'd like to pass on to the people who have been listening with us through this?

Yeah, thank you for asking. If you read the news today, the business news, it's sort of a bit gloomy. There are a lot of layoffs. I mean just Salesforce, just enough 700 people went LA times 20%. I just read something on LinkedIn. MBAs from top schools are not finding jobs.

Wow.

Salary increases, bonuses are decreasing. So it does sound like doom and gloom. And people are talking about a recession. So my advice to those who are working and they want to go up the corporate ladder and to entrepreneurs is don't get distracted by the news. Obviously be aware of around you, what's around you. Be aware of the industries that are booming and growing. But it's really, there's no better time than starting a business than when you're ready. And when you're ready, it means that you vetted the idea, you have some resources and you have a little bit of financial Runway. So if you have it in you, especially if you want to start your own business, do all the proper business planning. You don't have to have a 50 page document, but do some vetting of your idea, talk to others, talk to other entrepreneurs, look at the pain point that you can solve. And then if you get laid off and you have some severance, this might be the most, the ideal time to start a business because you have time and you have, you have a Runway. So, so it just takes a bit of risk taking and it takes a lot of hard work. So that's, that's my advice to folks out there. There's nothing worthwhile in life that you can get without hard work. So, so, so don't be, don't be influenced by the surrounding. Be aware of the surroundings, but just work hard. Learn from what you're doing and you are, you're much more likely to to be successful.

All right, great, great words. Great wrap up. Thanks so much. This has been great and look forward to talking to you down the road.

Thanks.

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