Derrick Morton

CEO, FlowPlay

Hiring and Firing

Founding Team
 No other decision you make
will be this important
 Who’s your opposite?
 You can’t do it all
 Don’t be stingy
 Equity is earned not given
 Can you live with them for
60 hours a week for 4
years?
 Non-competes?
When to Hire

 Go Kicking and Screaming

 Can you afford the additional burn?
 Is this role the absolutely most important one?
 Can it be outsourced?
 Can it be done by a contractor instead of an
employee?
 Is it permanent or temporary in nature?
What You Need
 Generalists not Specialists
 Hire VERY smart people – don’t settle
 Don’t Hire Big Guns
 “Where’s my team?”
 You don’t need managers, you need contributors
 Committed Zealots will beat Well-Paid Experts
any day
 Use Interns Liberally -- 25% of staff?
Interviewing

 If they have no interest in what they do

outside of work you don’t want them
 SIG Membership
 Hobby Coding
 What drives them?
 Watch their expression when you tell them you
pay below market but compensate with equity
 Look for creativity even in engineers
 Give them a test
Landing Key Hires

 Give them status – it’s cheap

 Sell the dream of where you’re taking them
 Show them how they can make an impact on
the business
 Be clear about how this role will change over
time
 Be honest about the roller coaster they are
about to board
Managing The Team
 Divide and Conquer – let people do their job
so you can focus on all of yours
 Fire early - Bad employees will suck the life
out of your company
 Keep Everyone in the Loop about the status
of the company
 Use a dev system but keep it simple
 Always have one main thing that you’re
trying to accomplish with a hard deadline
Layoffs

 Make the core team part of decision if

possible
 Tell the people that are staying first
 Tell the people that are leaving next
 Get everyone together as a group after
 Present a plan for success
 Tell them what you are giving up personally
 When things turn around, don’t forget their
sacrifice
Firing

 There should be an escalation process – no

one should ever be completely surprised
 No one in the company should be surprised
either
 Performance should be a public exercise
 Don’t get emotional
 Talk to the team afterward – at least their
immediate peers
Benefits

 Pay low but benefit well

 Pay 10% under market and spend 20% of your
savings on perks
 $1 million/yr payroll = $20k/year?
 An army marches on its stomach
 Provide distractions that build teamwork
Little Things

 Everyone must sign a Business Protection

Agreement
 Able to be hired
 Work is the property of the company
 Trade Secrets will be protected to the full extent
of the law
 Have an employee handbook
 Keep good files
 Derrick Morton
Founder & CEO, FlowPlay
derrick@flowplay.com