The Journey from 14 to 100

Let me start by answering the question of why 14 and not 0? This article is based on my stint at Stockal. I joined as the 14th employee (technically, Consultant) and so I don't want to take credit for the 13 who joined before me. Simple.

The most brilliant ideas are destined to fall flat if they’re not backed by the right people.

Having been a part of multiple startups during my many HR gigs, if there is one thing I have learnt, it is that the most brilliant ideas are destined to fall flat if they’re not backed by the right people. Even the most tenacious leaders and robust products are only as strong as their employees. While the lookout is always for new and promising talent, it matters even more to an early stage startup, trying to get off the ground. As the HR, my first task was to understand where we were headed and quite honestly that was the most difficult question to be answered. It was important to understand the vision and culture that the founders aspired for. Once that was clear, it was about getting the right manpower, the right set of people, building a team and more importantly, retaining them. Over the first few days, I talked to existing employees and figured how they managed during the low times and by the end of the first month, I knew I wanted a company built on perseverance, freedom and responsibility. The logic I worked with was that if you hire the people that appreciate freedom and can take full accountability and responsibility for their behaviour and decisions, a thriving culture and business was bound to follow. The bigger task at hand however was finding the right fit- in terms of culture, in terms of personality and to find someone excited about more than just the "salary in hand" and ESOPs. For this, I had to gauge what individuals looked for in the role, in the less than 30 minutes interaction or the "HR Round".

Between 2015 and 2018, Stockal went through the textbook startup experiment: stumbling, learning and moving on. In 2019, the company levelled up from being an early-stage venture to a growth-stage one, focusing on generating demand in the country and building pipeline with/for channel partners. When I started out at Stockal in September 2019 , barring the Co Founders, there were 4 developers; 1 intern, 2 in product; 1 Executive each in Sales, Product, Legal and Research. By the end of the year we were 26. Two years into the business, the focus was towards building a robust product that would meet and exceed customer expectations and then present it to large and mid size channel partners. In January 2021, with limited resources and all kinds of Covid related hindrances, we released the much anticipated Mobile App and touched 79 by December. Today, we are 100!

No surprises, but the first 10 to 15 people in an organization are commonly referred to as the base team. They are the team that build the product and getting it to run on wobbly limbs and the remaining 85 - 90 is the ‘growth’ team, the team that typically help the product take off, attract the audience and build the brand. The genotype of these teams decide the future of the company forever. These people need to be passionate about the vision of the company ,treat it like their own and ultimately act in it's best interest! I think when I hand picked these 86 folks, conversations were more around why they weren't excited at the company they were with, what they wanted to achieve in life and why they chose to work in a startup, rather than some enterprise or established companies? For me, personally, I was more keen on what skill or capability they bring to the table and what they were passionate about, rather than experience and alma matter.

What helped was that the founders were clear as to what to look for in candidates; required skills combined with a hustle approach and an urge to be a part of the next big thing in fintech. In my mind, I wanted to build a purpose-led leadership which wasn't impacted by external distractions or upheavals (common in start-ups), because of the clarity of its own North Star and invest in building a performance driven culture without diluting the soul and spirit of what Stockal is/was meant to be.

The A team was mostly hired through reference and by leveraging personal networks. Speaking of which, 68% of our first 100 came through referrals, including yours truly. I think the culture speaks for itself when a major portion of hiring takes place through referrals. Thinking back, the mandate to employees were to refer the best person/team mate they had worked with. This helped accelerate the hiring time and refine it to the extent that interviews were mere discussions to validate gut feelings with other people’s perceptions. Building a team, sans a fully developed product or an office space was definitely not the easiest thing I have done. Adding Covid situations to the equation really did add some frustration and ups and downs, especially with folks working from home. However, eventually, I have realised that the people who wanted to work with us were enthusiastic about what we were doing and were willing to take risks to do it. IMO, a succesful employer brand depends on how much the team believes in the company and what it has to offer.?If they believe in the leadership, work towards the objective of the company and towards building a long term sustainable organization, the battle is half won.?

The one learning that has stood out is that in order to create a truly collaborative environment, and a tight-knit, performance-driven team, one must employ leaders and employees that are honest with themselves first, and others. A ‘rockstar’ performer might be able to do code well and fast or sell to a 100 or 1000, but a bad attitude will not just ruin the business in the long run, it will also create a toxic environment. Hence, going by my trusted advisors and my tyrst with not-so-good employees is that, the most important thing while making hiring decisions is to have to look at the person holistically and understand why they want the job, what they want to do for the company and how they plan to execute. The best fit candidates are the ones who are in it for the opportunity; the ones who aren't there for the paycheck or the work life jhenga; the ones who want to be a part of the organization because they believe in the company and are hungry for the opportunity to be a part of something special. Also, with responsible and accountable employees who hold the company's best interest at heart, founders will be comfortable with relinquishing control, leaving them free to focus on making the business successful and the product truly global!

Here's to the next 100!

P.S- Barring a strictly legal hire, we did not have a single consultancy or freelance recruiter to help us hire the first 100. It was just us, one big blue team, the Stockal Team.