Harj Taggar - How Startups can Compete with FAANG Companies when Hiring Employees

Harj Taggar explains how a startup can compete with FAANG Companies when hiring employees. Harj Taggar is a partner at YC and was the CEO and co-founder of Triplebyte, a tech recruiting startup.

[ankursinghprime]

i thought you meant something else by "competing"

[ChoogyNet]

Thanks for the tips on competing with FAANG companies for talent

[hkharryfunk]

For employees reading this. Do not choose a company that does this. I've been cool aided into working for a startup so has everyone I know. If you work for a startup and it turns out to be an airbnb you will still make less than what you would've working for a faang for the same amount of time. Most yc companies are not airbnbs and give almost no equity. Life is short. Don't slave away and make someone else rich.

[codewithkam]

One thing being overlooked here is that we're talking about hiring people, which means paying people for the service they offer. They don't want to join a Golf club or sth like that, it all boils down to money (in different forms), so better be honest with yourself and accept the fact that if someone can get a good offer from any of those companies they will chose them over you without hesitation unless you can offer them something that gives them the feeling that in long run they're gonna make more money. Again we're talking about paid work, not hobbies.

[codewithkam]

Also, I liked the video as it provides some useful points irrespective of the exact context, not everyone is in Silicon Valley after all.

[Surgebrawlstars]

I think this is very bad advise, let me point out why I think so:

Hiring fast is the worst way to hire the team you really need, you need time to find the right person, firing fast won’t fix the lost opportunities, time and money that a bad hire generates plus big tech can compensate the hire slow with simply hiring more people in the same time period, they have more HR people and team members that can do interviews, not to mention money.

Personalized attention: is not a competitive advantage when hiring: you have to personalize all the steps if not then how can you assess the person you are interviewing is the right one?

Cancelled projects: isn’t this pretty much what every startup do? You more often than not work on things that very likely will be shut down, scrapped off etc, so if you join a startup thinking you are going to work on the same thing for a long time, think again.

[AILab-knwj]

I liked this video. Thanks for sharing

[SportsIncorporated]

There went hire slow, fire fast out the window :)

[tejo]

There are other reasons why someone may not want to work for a faang company... Techbro culture, not fitting in, the desire to do something to make the world a better place ect... Harder problems sooner in ones career.

[ab]

I'm getting some Men in Black vibes from 0:16 😆

[youssefa]

Hm YC advice is typically great but this one feels a bit off. If you're a startup, you probably need to hire generalists who are passionate about whatever it is you're making. If the candidate is considering a FAANG job instead of yours due to money, then they're DEFINITELY NOT the right fit. It likely means that their heart is not in your start up enough to forego the higher salary. Having a lower salary and worse deal is AN ADVANTAGE to filter for the people who resonate strongly with whatever it is you're making.

Although to be fair, life is not simple/black and white. There are shades of grey, and a billion caveats. Maybe there are cases where this advice is good. I don't know enough to know for sure.

[communicationaccount]

How do we convince them to crunch???
Not the "you have no other option than to crunch"
. NO! Never!
.
I'm talking about
The way I wake up in the middle of the night and run to my my pc half naked to type out my half decent idea.
I need to be torn off from my work & be forced to pee & eat. Because I haven't moved from my chair for 7 hour.
.
I want people with that level of passion / drive.
I'm ready to sell my sole to provide them fair compensation for their work.
But I want everyone I hire to have the drive to out-perform me.
And I'm willing to give them my position if they did so.
.
How can I do that???
Is that a realistic hiring goal???

[Nick_Tag]

I know someone who was rejected by Google as a man, hired or at least offered a job by GoCardless as a female, and then scooped by Google at the 11th hour back from GC (as a female).... not making a statement because they are my friend and a very talented programmer, but if this isn’t positive discrimination I don’t know what is

[sumtingwong]

These are all 2nd rate, you cannot compete, its just a last ditch effort.