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> It’s better to use LinkedIn as a source for candidates, but when possible, send a short and personal email to initiate contact. You can save time by using a s

> It’s better to use LinkedIn as a source for candidates, but when possible, send a short and personal email to initiate contact. You can save time by using a service like Upwork to send emails to candidates on your behalf, but make sure that all emails read as though they come from you personally. Please, please, do not do things like this. The rest of the advice in the doc seems okay, but it really only scratches the surface of what's involved in starting a company. One thing that seems notably absent is the difficulty of the ups and downs in a startup, and the challenge of getting through the dark times.

palakchokshi 7y ago
To add to this I would like to say that if you do reach out to candidates be cognizant of the fact that you interrupted their life with this solicitation so be sure you provide all relevant information about the job, position, duties and details about your startup in the email so the candidate can make a decision if they are interested or not from your email. If they have to go out and spend 30 minutes to an hour to google stuff about you then it's probably not going to happen. Lastly if they don't respond to a LinkedIn message or email within a week just move on and don't keep sending follow up emails. There is a reason the candidates didn't respond because they don't want to and shouldn't have to spend even 5 minutes responding to your unsolicited email Thanks
- pseudoramble 7y ago
  This is by far the most important aspect to me with getting a message. I've only been sent around 2-4 messages with this much detail. These are the ones I actually reply to, even if I'm not interested at the moment. It's usually somebody who I'd at least want to stay in touch with. And often, if they've written something like that, it's usually something I'm somewhat interested in. Maybe the cost versus the returns on these kind of messages aren't worth it to companies. But I really appreciate them.
muzani 7y ago
It's one of those things that are nice at first, but everyone uses "personal emails" as part of some kind of funnel, and so it gets binned fast.

palakchokshi 7y ago

To add to this I would like to say that if you do reach out to candidates be cognizant of the fact that you interrupted their life with this solicitation so be sure you provide all relevant information about the job, position, duties and details about your startup in the email so the candidate can make a decision if they are interested or not from your email. If they have to go out and spend 30 minutes to an hour to google stuff about you then it's probably not going to happen. Lastly if they don't respond to a LinkedIn message or email within a week just move on and don't keep sending follow up emails. There is a reason the candidates didn't respond because they don't want to and shouldn't have to spend even 5 minutes responding to your unsolicited email Thanks

pseudoramble 7y ago
This is by far the most important aspect to me with getting a message. I've only been sent around 2-4 messages with this much detail. These are the ones I actually reply to, even if I'm not interested at the moment. It's usually somebody who I'd at least want to stay in touch with. And often, if they've written something like that, it's usually something I'm somewhat interested in. Maybe the cost versus the returns on these kind of messages aren't worth it to companies. But I really appreciate them.

muzani 7y ago

It's one of those things that are nice at first, but everyone uses "personal emails" as part of some kind of funnel, and so it gets binned fast.