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I'm out of my depth here, but doesn't this feel a bit short-sighted on the part of start-ups? If talented folks are applying to ghost jobs and never hearing ba

I'm out of my depth here, but doesn't this feel a bit short-sighted on the part of start-ups? If talented folks are applying to ghost jobs and never hearing back, aren't they less likely to apply later when real vacancies open? I know it's an employers market atm since firms don't have the cash flow to scale, but interest rates are coming down and it won't always be this way. Again, I'm out of my depth, recruiting is not my expertise, etc...

jedberg 2y ago
Well, it's a game theory thing. Probably a few people will ignore their outreach after they remember the company never got back to them. But in most cases they will probably assume the application was just lost. Or if it's a hot startup that just got a round of funding and has an interesting problem, they won't care. On balance it probably helps more than hurts.
CryptoBanker 2y ago
Once they've applied once their resumes are on file. These companies can always reach out to a candidate at a later date
- gwbas1c 2y ago
  That's somewhat short-sighted, because many good candidates aren't on the market long.
5thaccount 2y ago
> doesn't this feel a bit short-sighted Absolutely feels that way... but it may also be VITAL. The first (really only) goal of a company is to not die. I call this the SHL rule - as it was recommended several times to SHL that he kill off Gumroad. Who can kill a company varies over time. Initially, that is likely 100% the founders. Either giving up, feuding or running out of money. Then investors/debtors have the power to kill a company off. Finally, and every company should be so lucky to reach this level, acquirers/bankers/Government can kill off a company. Making sure you don't die - and knowing who has the power to kill you off - should be prioritised at (almost) any cost. As an example, I once had a client who spent $X0K a month on AdWords for one keyword exact matched. It generated almost no revenue. The main investor would Google this one word, and if the site did not rank 1st both paid and organic, he'd threaten to pull all future funding. The company was loss making at that time, so that would have killed it off. I moved that one keyword into it's own AdGroup, called it "Investor Relations", never talked about it again, and years later the company was sold for $X0,000,000.

jedberg 2y ago

Well, it's a game theory thing. Probably a few people will ignore their outreach after they remember the company never got back to them. But in most cases they will probably assume the application was just lost. Or if it's a hot startup that just got a round of funding and has an interesting problem, they won't care. On balance it probably helps more than hurts.

CryptoBanker 2y ago

Once they've applied once their resumes are on file. These companies can always reach out to a candidate at a later date

gwbas1c 2y ago
That's somewhat short-sighted, because many good candidates aren't on the market long.

5thaccount 2y ago

> doesn't this feel a bit short-sighted Absolutely feels that way... but it may also be VITAL. The first (really only) goal of a company is to not die. I call this the SHL rule - as it was recommended several times to SHL that he kill off Gumroad. Who can kill a company varies over time. Initially, that is likely 100% the founders. Either giving up, feuding or running out of money. Then investors/debtors have the power to kill a company off. Finally, and every company should be so lucky to reach this level, acquirers/bankers/Government can kill off a company. Making sure you don't die - and knowing who has the power to kill you off - should be prioritised at (almost) any cost. As an example, I once had a client who spent $X0K a month on AdWords for one keyword exact matched. It generated almost no revenue. The main investor would Google this one word, and if the site did not rank 1st both paid and organic, he'd threaten to pull all future funding. The company was loss making at that time, so that would have killed it off. I moved that one keyword into it's own AdGroup, called it "Investor Relations", never talked about it again, and years later the company was sold for $X0,000,000.