You might think of your average Venture Capital (VC) firm as simply an investment firm that provides early-stage startups with funding to help spark fast growth. With the number of entrepreneurs on the rise, VC firms are competing for the top-notch startups and money isn’t the only selling point they have to offer. Networking, business development and marketing assistance have previously been great intangibles VC firms have offered, but now they are expanding to assistance with filling jobs and providing job-related tools to their portfolio companies.
First Round Capital is just one example of a VC firm expanding into this new area. They just hired a Head of Talent Acquisition, who will be in charge of finding, acquiring and helping to hire candidates in their portfolio companies. Given that startups aren’t considered experts in hiring, you can see how valuable this offering is for a VC firms portfolio companies. They’ve identified a need by their startups and are “aggressively focused on creating value in hiring during the first 18-24 months of company construction,” Josh Kopelman, Managing Director.
First Round Capital isn’t the only company focusing on assisting their portfolio companies fill jobs with great people quickly. Comcast Ventures prides itself on helping portfolio companies with business development, marketing, PR, finance, partnerships and jobs. “We help with hiring when needed. Besides a universal job board we post, we have deep relationships in the community and have introduced several of our portfolio companies to key new hires. We continually search for people and tools that will optimize our portfolio companies’ success.”
Kleiner Perkins also hired a recruiting strategy leader to assist their portfolio companies. His first accomplishment was developing an internship program for their portfolio companies, which resulted in gaining over 1,000 applicants from which they selected 30 candidates.
Increasingly, we’re finding VC firms are very engaged and motivated to help their startups hire great talent. They are doing so through tools that recruitment professionals have seen for years, including VC-focused job boards such as Startup Hire and VentureLoop for portfolio companies. Candidates can apply at the startup’s website or even the Venture Capital firm’s website.
What other tools could VC firms offer their portfolio companies to help with hiring (e.g. social media job postings, applicant tracking systems, video interview, etc.)
