E71: How to Scale Talent | Andy Price, Artisanal Ventures

"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing

This week on Turpentine VC, Andy Price, a veteran executive recruiter and venture capitalist, joins Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich from HR Heretics, a Turpentine podcast, for a deep dive into the crucial aspects of hiring, retaining, and developing top talent. Andy has built leadership teams for renowned companies like Snowflake and DocuSign. Check out HR Heretics for more conversations like this one (links below)

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

Listen and subscribe to HR Heretics:

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hr-heretics-how-cpos-chros-founders-and-boards-build/id1712407491
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WML9AfadzaH9WCR4HHqbZ
• Substack: https://hrheretics.substack.com/

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LINKS:

Artisanal Ventures: https://artisanalv.com/

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FOLLOW:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyprice1/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:

• Even at top companies like DoorDash, executive hiring only succeeds two-thirds of the time, while most firms see one-third success rates.
• To mitigate hiring failures, recruiters must deeply understand a company's problems and weaknesses, not just focus on their strengths.
• Back-channel references are crucial but must be handled carefully, with recruiters making vague inquiries without revealing specific roles or companies.
• The ideal number of references is 5-7 meaningful ones, focusing on depth of conversation rather than quantity of references.
• Founders often get attached to "shiny new" executive candidates and forget about the people who helped build the company.
• When layering an existing executive, the person needs to be involved in the interview process but with clear expectations about their role.
• The best companies like Snowflake and ServiceNow succeed through seamless executive transitions and continuity.
• To help up-and-coming executives scale, companies need to invest in advisory networks and strong board members who can provide mentorship.
• The best executives rarely actively job hunt - instead, they study industry trends in their spare time and maintain relationships with select recruiters.
• Multiple one-year executive tenures are a red flag; ideal careers show 3-6 year commitments at successful companies.