Growing With a Startup

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Angel Operators

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Angel Operators

Vol. 2 of Growing With a Startup

Rune Kvist
Apr 28, 2021
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Angel Operators

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Growing With a Startup: operational yet personal lessons on building better organisations. Hit reply to tell me what resonates.

Hi everyone,

Growing with a Startup distils operational yet personal lessons for building better organisations. Fast.

This week, there’s just a single idea: Angel Operators. VP-level operational expertise to build teams from scratch. Fast.

Enjoy,

Rune

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Angel Operators

Hire Angel Operators before you build permanent teams.

Angel Operators are like Angel Investors: Instead of early investment, Angel Operators bring interim, first-boots-on-the-ground operational expertise. They help you build teams fast and avoid basic mistakes.

Think, a former startup VP Talent joining on a 2-month contract.

At Aula, we recently increased our hiring goal from 3 people to 30 people. Deadline: yesterday. 

But we had zero recruiters. Panic. Not where you want to be as COO. 

We decided not to panic-hire a full, permanent recruitment team overnight. 

Instead, we brought in an Angel Operator, Tris, on a 2-month contract. Tris has scaled startups from 200 to 2,000 people. And runs a network of 5,000 recruiters. In short, Tris Has Done It Before. 

Tris has been like a gift from Heaven. In 2 months, Tris and our People Lead, Ozzie, built a full interim recruitment team hiring 40+ engineers per year and helped find a permanent talent leader. Mariya starts on a solid foundation next week.

Now, Tris is phasing out. Job done for the Angel Operator.

Angel Operators have helped establish most new functions at Aula before we hired a permanent team. Helene built our support team in 2 months. Jess built our People Operations foundations in 2 months. Heather has built our finance function the last 12+ months, part-time. 

The benefits of Angel Operators are:

  • Time. Don’t hire before you know what the team should look because your house is on fire.

  • Shortcuts. Experienced operators help you avoid basic mistakes. 

  • Hiring. Instant access to networks. Get help attracting your permanent leader.

Find your Angel Operators: 

  • Ask your board/advisors for recommendations. Ideal profile: former VPs/Directors with experience in an environment similar to yours. 

  • Pitch the thrill of building something from scratch without the stress of a long-term startup journey.

  • Ask candidates practical questions. They need to be able and willing to be a 1-person team. For example: “Which CRM would you choose and why?” 

  • Don’t underpay. The right Angel Operator can save you thousands of dollars down the line.

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Angel Operators

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