What challenges do startups face when sourcing talent for their new ventures?
They must present themselves authoritatively with few resources, which requires personal investment and dedication on the parts of all involved. Startups often are headed by a group of personal and professional friends and their immediate network. Highnote was no exception.
This is the story of how Computer Futures provided a professional, exceptional talent source to a client and added value that was crucial to their success in the early stages of their journey.
The Challenge
Highnote is a platform for the expert community of healthcare professionals to share best practices, solve problems, and discuss information in medical science to improve patient outcomes. Their mission is to expand the circle of knowledge for valuable information in the medical community with higher visibility than traditional means. The time saved in retracing steps to solutions by other members of the medical profession results in more lives saved and help for more patient problems.
To obtain the necessary funding in the pre-seed stage, the company had been sourcing investors through direct, offline relationships. To progress to a multi-million seed round the following year, the company needed to demonstrate its primary means of connection with its intended audience of medical professionals: a mobile app.
When founder Aaron Papermaster posted on LinkedIn requesting a recommendation for an app developer, he expected someone in his first-degree network to provide a referral. He was not disappointed, though the source was not what he had anticipated. Turner Kallen, Principal Consultant at Computer Futures, discovered Aaron’s need through his personal network and knew his relationships within the tech community would yield the perfect hire for Highnote.
Our Consultation
Entrepreneurial is as entrepreneurial does.
Computer Futures was founded with an entrepreneurial spirit that remains present in all our business dealings to this day.
Entrepreneurs require talent that is measurable not singularly through technical skill, but an intricate balance of value added to an organization. The startup culture offers the right talented professional the chance to “get in on the ground floor” of a successful venture when their personal investment and dedication pays off.
The opportunity of building a new app from scratch is a creative app developer’s dream project. Alignment with the mission of helping the greater medical community save peoples’ lives and make a positive impact on the world is an attractive proposition for an innovative new professional.
Our recruitment professionals worked with Highnote to construct a job description that would translate the needs of the business to the mobile job market.
Our Approach
Brandon Jackson, Principal Consultant at Computer Futures, utilized his network to find a technically qualified though inexperienced candidate that was hungry for a project and thirsty to prove his abilities as a talented developer. He was inspired by the notion of creating an app from scratch, carrying through its functionality, and being a part of Highnote’s success.
After a short interview process, the candidate was hired for a one-week project contract. This is not typical for any industry, let alone in tech, but the low resources of a startup called for a different approach to a relationship with a new teammate. Highnote had not previously considered partnering with a staffing firm and wanted to confidently hire and extend the partnership through the life of the application.
The developer immediately proved his impeccable value to the Highnote mission, completing quality work on schedule and under budget. His passion and drive to accomplish and exceed expectations greatly impressed Highnote’s stakeholders. The contract was extended to three months for this project-based role. Conversion to full-time employment is under consideration.
The Result
The contractor is making waves within the Highnote company, not only performing well within his duties but offering value to the future of the organization, which is what Computer Futures specializes in. Thanks to Computer Futures network, accreditation process, and personal relationship, Highnote found the perfect human resource for their needs. By partnering with a staffing firm like Computer Futures, they have made an investment in their future as a growing organization.
Furthermore, Computer Futures’ excellence empowered Highnote to confidently hire the best matched talent on the market for their needs. Highnote has committed to making Computer Futures their go-to partner for tech talent once they have achieved funding to move to the next round of investment, which at this time is outside capital to be expanded into institutional investors in due course.
