By Elizabeth Weil, Managing Partner, Scribble VC
This is #4 of 8 “flash content drops” in collaboration with MOMA artist & entrepreneur Paul Budnitz (CEO, Superplastic). We cover The 3 Types of Intelligence, the Future of NFTs, the “Creator Brain”, and How to Stoke Risk-Taking. You can follow me on twitter to get them.
(p.s. SUPERPLASTIC IS HIRING! If you want to join a rocketship or know someone who should, Superplastic is hiring a Director of Marketing, a Marketing Manager, and a Paid Media Specialist.)
“If you can just own your weaknesses, then you have all this hiring power suddenly.” -Paul Budnitz, Founder & CEO, Superplastic
When people make a “bad” hire, they will often say it was a compromise they shouldn’t have made.
But here’s the truth — every hire is a compromise.
The hiring manager just didn’t realize what that person was actually bad at.
The big myth and mistake in hiring is that people have to be good at a lot of things.
That myth starts from the top. If you as a leader own your weakness and you know what you are bad at, then you can hire someone else who is strong in that area.
This then becomes central to the culture — Self-Awareness. If you as the Founder/CEO are self-aware, it gives permission to your team to be self-aware also.
That changes how we hire because it brings to the forefront what we need, and inspires us to focus on what candidates’ true strengths are.
If you can just own your weaknesses, then you have all this hiring power suddenly.
Every hire is a compromise but you need to know what compromise you are making with that hire.
Elizabeth’s Pro-Tip: One strategy I’ve found effective is asking people to write their own job descriptions from scratch. It shakes out what they are actually strong at and excited to do, and helps you avoid fooling yourself into thinking they will rock at something when they just won’t.
Stay Tuned → Coming up at 7am tomorrow — The New Culture Code: How to Wire Your Team for Risk-Taking (3 min read). Follow Elizabeth on Twitter to get this content drop.
Contact Superplastic or Elizabeth:
→ If you or someone you know wants to meet Superplastic, they are hiring!
→ Follow Elizabeth on Twitter for the content drops, subscribe to her Medium essays, and check out the Scribble team and portfolio.
Elizabeth Bailey Weil
Founder and Managing Partner, Scribble Ventures (Scribble.vc). Previously Andreessen Horowitz, Twitter. Investor: SpaceX, Slack, Coinbase, Figma, Clubhouse, Calm. Letterpress printer (@paperwheel). Ultramarathon runner. Mom to @thirdweil and twins.
