MobieTrain swept the recruiting startup finals today at UNLEASH, a strong message that learning and development are what employers care about now.

“Every Startup – from Google to Facebook – starts with someone believing in the idea. That’s what we are here for today!” said Jerome Ternynck as he kicked off the final pitch session for the recruiting startup awards at UNLEASH, in Amsterdam. As the founder and CEO of SmartRecruiters, MrTed, and others, Jerome knows the nerve it takes to get on a stage in front of hundreds of people and pray they see your vision for the future.

. @jerometernynck hosts #UNLEASH18 startup competition! pic.twitter.com/orEHg3wqAG

— SmartRecruiters (@SmartRecruiters) October 24, 2018

Today, four startups took the stage with vim, and laid it all on the table in the hopes of becoming this conference’s recruiting-tech champion.

First up, MobieTrain, a micro-learning platform for the retail sector. With content at the point of need as well as fun badges and helpful nudges, this app is imparting needed-knowledge without the headache of lengthy courses.

Micro learning with @mobietrain goes for the gold! #UNLEASH18 pic.twitter.com/q6xu93n1xz

— SmartRecruiters (@SmartRecruiters) October 24, 2018

Second on the stage, Career Spark, this company wants to transform career pathing by making people decisions more data-driven rather than opinion based. How? Through machine learning and fact-based data science that helps you learn from your company’s top performers.

.@career_spark wants people-decisions to get data driven! #UNLEASH18 pic.twitter.com/ZHJJbDo4Vx

— SmartRecruiters (@SmartRecruiters) October 24, 2018

Third, Candidate.ID, the platform that turns your recruiters into marketers. Save time and increase the quality of hire with this ATS/CRM integration that includes candidate nurturing and scoring, email marketing, and closed-loop, real-time reporting tools.

“Genuine talent pipeline means you know who is cold, who is warm, and who is hire-ready!“ — @Candidate_ID pic.twitter.com/hsqQtSYnY4

— SmartRecruiters (@SmartRecruiters) October 24, 2018

And finally, Zapiens, knowledge management software that uses AI to raise the level of intelligence in your company so your employees can get answers fast!

.@zapiens find talent — and keep it — with data based learning solutions for your employees! #UNLEASH18 pic.twitter.com/kMtZqrgRDO

— SmartRecruiters (@SmartRecruiters) October 24, 2018

After the pitches, we heard from the judges about who they found impressive, Candidate.ID and MobieTrain emerged as clear front-runners.

“I’m split between Candidate.ID and MobieTrain,” shared Bill Boorman. “Though I am leaning slightly towards the latter because I think a platform that focuses on one sector, in this case, retail, tends to do better.”

“Yes,” agrees China Gorman, “I like that MobieTrain isn’t trying to boil the ocean.”

In the end MobieTrain won out, with Candidate.ID taking a close second. As Jerome pointed out, ”Sometimes it’s better to attack the market with a knife over a hammer.”

The main challenge that judge Yvette Cameron foresees for today’s winner is content creation. A stellar learning flow still needs the right sequence information. It will be interesting to see how this fresh recruiting-tech tackles this in the year to come.

Are you a Startup ready to compete? Check out Hiring Success 19 Recruiting Startup Awards!

Having trouble finding all the staff you need? Perhaps it’s time you started treating candidates like customers? HeyJobs can help you with that.

Meet the companies vying for the title of Recruiting Startup Of The Year (RSOTY) at Hiring Success 18, in San Francisco, March 12-14. Register here!  Your vote determines which six are flying to California to pitch their ideas to 1000+ Talent Acquisition leaders and puts them in the running for the grand prize.

One of these six will be selected by a group of C-Suite experts and industry analysts for the ultimate prize of a Gold Sponsorship to Hiring Success 19, worth $10,000, which includes a branded booth and dedicated demo-room for potential customers to interact with their product.

To give us a better idea about his vision, HeyJobs CEO and founder Marius Luther answered our questions about his startup and how it came to fruition.

What’s your company’s elevator pitch?

HeyJobs is a cutting-edge marketing solution that brings the best candidates to companies. In a challenging and changing job market, HeyJobs partners with you to make recruiting successful again.

What gave you the idea for your startup? Is there a particular experience you could point to?

In our previous company, Memorado, we were always faced with not being able to hire fast enough. We tried all available means: jobboards, agencies and came up short. In the end, we started applying exactly the same logic and methods we used to acquire customers: data-driven online marketing on all available channels, highly converting landing pages and a lean funnel. The result was that more than 90% of our hires in that year came through our own “talent acquisition machine”. So we took the idea, “productized” it and now more than 500 organizations recruit with the HeyJobs recruiting solution.

Of all industries to tackle, why recruiting?

We believe connecting the right talent with the right opportunities helps people live a fulfilling live. Employment has a very positive impact on wealth, peace, security and health of any society and we are proud to make an impact in this way.

How do you envision your idea changing the talent acquisition landscape?

In the same way, Google and online marketing changed the “customer acquisition” landscape. Recruiters and organizations will abandon the previous world of gut-feel based selection of jobboards, paying for listings and not being able to measure results. “Talent Acquisition” teams will form and use technology and data to maximize ROI on recruiting spend, measure results and create predictable success. HeyJobs serves as a “Google Adwords for Recruiters” which enables recruiters to steer their whole recruitment marketing from one place, rely on our machine learning technology to increase efficiency and use our software products to increase conversion rates.

What does ‘hiring success’ mean to you?

The ultimate success is hiring people who will do a much better job than you could ever do it yourself. Finding, attracting and developing talent to become the next generation of leaders and ultimately be good enough to make your own job redundant.

What is your favorite interview question and why?

“Tell me about the topic you are most passionate about in life. In 3 minutes, help me become an expert in that topic by explaining it.”

I love this question because it helps me find out a) how passionate/driven the person is, b) how logical he can explain, c) whether he is an exciting personality. Also, this way I learn about a new topic every interview.

What’s the role of technology in hiring?

I see technology as an “enabler” to help me do things I always wanted to do but never had the time to do. Post hundreds of jobs automatically to 100+ channels and adjust budgets daily based on how many candidates each channel delivers? What would take days to do manually, can now be done in seconds. Schedule interviews in seconds instead of writing forth-and-back a hundred times?  I am very critical of technology “replacing” human analysis and intuition in individual cases. For example interviewing is already such an individual and difficult task for humans that computers and machine learning will come up very short in this area.

Who’s the hottest hire in Silicon Valley today? No, it’s not the data scientist, mobile app engineer, or digital marketer; it’s a user experience designer. Today, if your enterprise app isn’t beautiful, simple, elegant, and easy-to-use from day one, your company has little hope of becoming a billion-dollar business. Design is everything.

Data from jobs website Glassdoor showed that, in early May, 2,260 companies nationally were hoping to hire user experience (UX) designers.That compares to 975 companies trying to hire big data engineers, another “hot” hire. Jobs for user-experience designers are expected to grow 22% over the next 10 years; in the San Francisco Bay Area, epicenter of the current tech boom, Glassdoor reports the average salary for a senior UX designer at about $114,000, as of last month. The head of one New York-based startup recently told me he’s now paying UX designers two times what he pays other types of equally experienced designers, compared with just 30% more a few years ago. This CEO is actively recruiting UX gurus in Europe — despite the visa costs — because of what he sees as a pronounced shortage in the U.S.

Having been an entrepreneur and investor in enterprise software companies for 20 years, I’ve seen a huge shift in the last few years toward creating a stellar user experience. Remember when software companies like Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP sold massive, costly, complex applications that took months to learn? IT administrators spent several months installing and learning how to use the new software. Then, employees sat through training courses and muddled through complicated screens to figure out their new “productivity tools.” Ironically, the applications were so poorly designed that they hampered productivity; many end-users were so confused, they avoided using the apps all together.

Next-gen SaaS companies like Salesforce.com made rolling out software faster and cheaper, but the user experience is still pretty dreadful. Well, no one will put up with that now. IT administrators—and employees accustomed to using beautifully designed products like Apple’s iPhone–want to instantly “turn on” Web and mobile apps so employees can grasp new enterprise tools within minutes, with no formal training. In fact, some of the best designed applications are consumed by the employees directly with no training or involvement from IT whatsoever.

A few years ago, SaaS companies such as Box, Dropbox, Atlassian,and Zendesk led the charge to create elegant and easy-to-use enterprise apps. Today many enterprise startups like Captora, Any.do and SumAll (Battery Ventures is an investor in SumAll) are also baking design into their DNA. In each case, a UX designer was one of the first five hires, and product design was core to the company’s product strategy. This is in stark contrast to traditional enterprise software companies like Oracle, SAP and Salesforce, where design was an afterthought.

Let’s look at some examples to see how far we have come.

Box vs. Sharepoint 

Zendesk vs. Remedy

So, as an enterprise software entrepreneur, what does a design-driven world mean to your company at a practical level?

• First, make sure an experienced designer is one of your first five hires. This will ensure design is prioritized early in your company’s culture.
• Second, aim to hire one designer for every three to five engineers. This ratio may sound high, but remember that design is a competitive advantage over time. Better product design typically yields higher product engagement, quicker sales cycles and higher customer lifetime value.
• Third, consider making UX a VP-level role. It would not surprise me to see more enterprise companies elevate the design function to a senior status. One recent example of this is Trifacta, where two of the company’s senior executives have “Experience” in their title – Jeff Heer, cofounder and chief experience officer, and Tutti Taygerly, VP of user experience. Once designers see your company has a VP-level design role reporting directly to the CEO, they’ll be more likely to accept job offers, as they know their contributions will be valued.

Of course, large enterprise software companies aren’t about to give up on the design race without a fight, and companies such as IBM have publicly announced initiatives to hire thousands of UX designers. But startups have an edge in the “race to simplicity” because it’s far easier to create an elegant product from scratch than it is to fix a clunky and complex one.You can put lipstick on a pig (digitally), but it’s still a pig.

This article was written by Roger Lee in the My Say Column by Forbes and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.  Photo Credit ChrisLaBrooy. Learn more about SmartRecruiters, your workspace to find and hire great people.

10. EAT Club: Who doesn’t love lunch time deliveries? Add local restaurants and goumet menus to the mix, you are definitely going to have a product that is in high demand (plus they promise it will be at your desk by 12:30! Yum).  Ousama Haffar, VP of Sales and marketing told me, “We look for candidates that are incredibly passionate, great team players and have outstanding problem solving skills. We knew it was the right time to hire because our business is seeing strong growth and customer demand that we couldn’t keep up with unless we had great talent.”

What we learn from EAT Club is don’t be afraid of scaling your startup.  To keep happy customers you need a team that can accommodate their needs. Emphasize quality, if you make a promise to customers, hire people who are dedicated to keeping it.

9. GigaOM: GigaOM gained their reputation and following based on their ability to be disruptive, current, and innovative. GigaOM says, “GigaOM is a new type of media company with a business model that leverages technology, transparency, and access to information. The company’s growth has been propelled by great writers, journalistic integrity, industry depth and audience engagement.” GigaOM went from one blog writer to a massive new source employing 139 people.

What we learn from GigaOM is you need to know exactly what you need when hiring. Yes, positions evolve and so will your business but there cannot be any confusion about who you need next to grow your business.

8. Kaltura: Kaltura is the world’s first Open Source Online video Platform. This startup is a disrupter. Kaltura found a gap in the market and a way to move the industry forward. Their impressive growth could not have been accomplished without a stellar team that was ready to shake up an entire industry. Their social product requires a social and technically inclined staff, and they post job openings to Twitter and their blog, starting the hiring conversation

What we learn from Kaltura is, “fish where the fish are.” Take a look at the type of people you need and want to hire. Where do they like to hang out? How can you get their attention? Posting jobs to you social sites allows you to get in touch with a new audience.

7. Prosper.com: Investing is now more socially and financially rewarding thanks to Prosper.com. Their team believes in fair lending practices and providing opportunity. This startup needed a team that believed in changing the fundamentals of funding. CEO Stephan Vermut told me, “Borrowers and Lenders are quickly realizing the benefits of using a peer-to-peer lending platform like Prosper to meet their financial goals. As adoption of our service accelerates and we plan for growth, we will continue to stay focused on attracting top talent that shares our passion for great customer service along with creating the best products and experience in the peer-to-peer lending industry.”

What we learn from Prosper.com is to inspire people with a mission and they will want to work for you. Your product needs to be bigger than itself and solve a problem that people face.

6. Hearsay Social: Jerome Ternynck says you know you’ve hired, “the best, because there is no better.” How do you know they are the best? A successful track record. This Social Media Management system finds its business in improving conversations  and enhancing relationships between brands and consumers. Hearsay Social believes in hiring people with experience. For example they have a founding executive of Google on their team AND a product maven from Microsoft. For Hearsay Social it is all about pure talent and the ability to prove it.

What we learn from Hearsay Social is that giants in the industry become giants in the industry for a reason. Sometimes they are not always obtainable or realistic hires for startups, but there is ALWAYS something to learn from them, they are leading by example.

5. Zirtual: Zirtual has redefined what it means to be someone’s assistant. This invite-only concierge service is about making people’s lives better.  Co-founder Erik Jensen said,“Zirtual grows at rapid but comfortable pace. We take a lot of pride in hiring talented individuals that are not only a great fit with our vision culturally, but are passionate about their endeavors outside of work—whether that be perusing their education, arts, family, etc. With the nature of a distributed, virtual work force, the more relatable and personable our team is, the better the opportunity is for us to create long lasting, meaningful relationships between our clients and ZAs.”

What we learn from Zirtual is don’t rush to hire, the costs of a bad hire are too high. You want the right people for your team. You don’t want people who are one-dimensional, it’s worth the wait for people who have a lot to offer and believe in your mission.

4. Pinterest: People who work here say, “Design is in our DNA. I mean our founder is a designer!” Pinterest invested in designers and developers that would propel their product to the next level. Consistently being recognized for unbelievable amounts of growth among its users, Pinterest is in the elite of fastest growing startups. Pinterest provides a visual pinboard addressing every aspect of each users lifestyle. Knowing that people are their interests are constantly evolving, Pinterest and their employees need to keep up to keep people coming back.

What we learn from Pinterest is to invest in every department, but emphasize the functionality of your product. What matters most is that what you are selling works. Hire the best team for the technical aspects so they build a product that inspires.

3. GoPago: I don’t know anyone who enjoys waiting in line, and GoPago capitalized on this fact. Their total payment solution allows you to order and pay in advance, so all you have to do is pick up. They cut out the nonsense, and their hiring process stays true to this. Community Manager Carina Ost says, “We have been able to scale rapidly because our hiring process is maniacally focused on making smart, quick, efficient hires. SmartRecruiters facilitates this fast paced hiring. We are not afraid of being aggressive and direct, and show our commitment to our candidates by giving offers fast and expecting a fast response.”

What we learn from GoPago is not to be afraid of being aggressive. If you’re looking to hire the best talent you’re going to have some tough competition. Don’t take a back seat in making the best team. 

2. NastyGal: Imagine your business growing 500% each year since the time of its start? Sounds crazy, right? Wrong. That is exactly the path Nasty Gal has been on since it started as an eBay store selling one of a kind vintage pieces. With business growing as rapidly as they are Nasty Gal needs to be sure they are hiring an innovative team that’s not only passionate about clothing, but also insanely creative. Nasty Gal’s CEO Sophia Amoruso was a pioneer in social media retail, and she has continued to hire pioneers in her now globally recognized brand.

What we learn from Nasty Gal is that if you’re ahead of the curve your business will boom. You need to hire people that can keep up and stay ahead. Hiring people that understand your consumers is the best bet to getting a loyal following.

1. The Onion: The Onion is everyones’ favorite satirical news source. The best satire finds its strength in truths and it is not an easy type of humor to achieve it requires a highly intelligent, dedicated and creative individual. Katie Pontius, HR Manager says, “Our goal is to recruit and to retain the best. We’re constantly looking for people who align with our culture and can help drive the company forward. Our process is highly collaborative. Typically, candidates will meet with myself, the hiring manager, a few of their prospective team members, and almost always the President and/or CEO. All of our communication is centralized in our online ATS, SmartRecruiters. Hiring managers can log in and source resumes, read my initial comments, rank candidates – the works. This tool has been critical in rolling out our collaborative recruiting approach. Having a transparent process keeps everyone organized and informed, allowing us to make the best possible decisions when it comes to hiring.”

What we learn from The Onion is to empower your team and collaborate to ensure the best hire. Decisions on how to best grow your team should not be made alone. Using SmartRecruiters promises efficiency, inclusion, and amazing hires.

 
In a startup, besides the BIG IDEA, hiring is the single most important task. Without an amazing team making your vision into a reality is impossible. When there are only 10 people in a room the affect of one bad hire will be felt by everyone and sometimes can be detrimental. Learn how these 10 startups built a great team, and you’ll be a thriving business with over 100 people in no time. 

SmartRecruiters is everything a startup needs to source talent, manage candidates and make the right hire. Post to the best tech job boards, connect to the best recruiters, search the best databases – all within the intuitive (and free) SmartRecruiters.  Image Credit Ely Tran.

Founders dream of changing the world, but you can’t do it alone. The team you build will be instrumental in determining your future successes and failures.  Much has been written about a startup’s first hires, so let’s focus on some best practices to help scale your startup beyond 20 people.

Founders must evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their team.  Every company has organization holes.  Founders must diagnose which are the most important holes to fill to round out the team.  Startups are a team sport and skills must be complimentary. Early on all-in-one hires (aka “Unicorns”) can be invaluable because they cover more bases with fewer people. Over time, however, this strategy doesn’t scale.

Sometimes specialists are needed and other times you can hire on raw intelligence, teaching high potential individuals new skills. Hiring candidates who check all essential boxes but have room to grow often outperform someone who checks all the boxes at the time of hire.  They are also more likely to stick around as there is room for career advancement. The most ambitious and competent candidates rarely take roles where they already have all the skills required for the job.

In order to recruit “A players,” you must clearly define what you’re looking for.  Saying you want candidates exclusively from Google, Facebook or Apple (or Stanford, MIT, Harvard) is not a viable strategy for most companies. Hire on competency, intellect, determination and passion, not just on logos.

5 Hiring Tips for Scaling Your StartUp:

1. Clearly define the Roles & Responsibilities (the core competencies, qualifications, and key attributes that will drive success) for each position you need to fill.

2. Define Objectives & Key Milestones for success in the first 100 days and first 12 months.  This will enable you and your team to optimize the interview process, test for the right skills, evaluate candidates side-by-side, align internal perspective and set mutually agreed upon goals starting Day 1.

3. Ask short list of candidates to pitch you their ideas on what they want to accomplish in the first 100 days.  Use this to learn and debate ideas, opportunities & strategies. The best candidates will stand out from the rest.

4. Define & articulate your culture.  Not only does it attract more great people, but it’s a powerful weapon to keep the amazing people you already have.

5. Effectively tell your vision. Your employees should know it by heart and repeat it consistently when asked.  An aligned team is powerful and impressive. It unites, gives purpose, drives culture and differentiates your startup.  Remember, candidates are evaluating you too.  Startups evolve (and likely will pivot), but candidates want to know you have a vision, a deep understanding of your market and an undying commitment to succeed.

Mark Jacobson is Founder & Managing Partner of Ignition Talent Group. For over a decade, Mark has worked with and advised hundreds of startups, growth stage and public companies helping to build their executive teams.

SmartRecruiters is the social recruiting platform that makes hiring easy.

Organizations, especially young organizations, are learning that a strong employer brand needs to share content on social networks. This includes sharing photographs. Every single second, Instagram gains one user, and existing users upload 58 photos, comment on 81 photos and like 575 photos. In sharing photos, you must consider Instagram. While not all goods cater to be shared as photographs, all companies can share what kind of company you are, your values and your culture.

At SocialHRCamp SmartRecruiters CEO Jerome Ternynck said, “There are two types of social. The social within the enterprise, where people talk with each other and collaborate. And then social media, where the good word of the company is spread far and wide.”

Smart brands are establishing engaged communities that go beyond the office door. Showing engagement within the office promotes it outside the office. When the public can see that your employees enjoy doing what they do, and what’s going on inside the office is fun and worth sharing well, that’s intriguing.

Many big brands on Instagram have greatly grown their employer brand. Now it’s time to see how startups are spreading the good word on Instagram. Hats off to these companies that are doing it right!

11. @RINGCENTRAL: You can tell Ring Central employees are happy to be working! They feature pictures of Ring Centralers in all sorts of places. We really get a feel for the type of people that work there. By putting faces behind the brand you can establish personal connections with viewers.

10. @GOPAGO: Food porn, you say? I think so. GoPago cannot help but post all the delicious food they eat- and we don’t blame them. Their pay in advance service is available for all sorts of goods, including restaurants. Their Instagram gives the feeling they use their product. What’s better branding than that?

9. @SFMADE:  Part of SFMade’s mission is to, “build and support a vibrant manufacturing in San Francisco.” We are all for this, they are supporting innovation, creating employment opportunities and celebrating Bay Area Talent. Their pictures amplify their mission by showing awesome local products and vendors.

8. @onecampaign: One campaign is a grassroots effort of over 3million people in the fight against global poverty and HIV/AIDS. That’s right 3million plus, they are a force. Their pictures show volunteers, products, events, and stars all with the mission to inspire and change the world. Did I mention Bono?

7. @YELP: Yelp does a great job of creating diversity in their pictures. You can’t get bored, because it’s never the same. Yelp has pictures of cool events, company swag, food, office life, advertisements and best of all, office dogs. Who doesn’t love office dogs? We know the Yelp office is well rounded, exciting, and fun.

6. @themelt: The Melt has brought technology to the kitchen creating gourmet grilled cheese in a completely eco-friendly environment. These guys are stars of employer branding sticking to their company color scheme and showing off just how great their product is. Grilled cheese pictures to make you drool.

5. @DOLPHINBROWSER: Dolphin’s product is all about interaction. You can use gesture and voice to control your browser. If that’s not interactive, I don’t know what is. Their Instragram emphasizes that it isn’t just their software that is interactive but their team as well, showing all San Francisco has to offer.

4. @BLUEJEANSNET: Bluejeans is in the business of video communication, stressing that seeing is believing. Their Instagram highlights their product with screenshots of interoffice video chats. They show off their fun side by showing Halloween costume contests, office happy hours, and company picnics.

3. @FOURBARRELCOFFE: How many cups of coffee are posted on Instagram each day? When you search #coffee there are 3,614,090 photos. Still, their business, cups of coffee, doesn’t pigeonhole this San Francisco coffee shop. Four Barrel’s Instagram varies from architecture, to local farms, to the coffee making process. Not to mention happy caffeinated faces.

2. @timbuk2designs: timbuk2 is another San Francisco brand giving locals something to be proud off. Their “tough as hell,” bags are made to last and all in city. Their IG walks us through the bag making process, San Francisco, and begs the question, “What’s in your bag?”

1. @blurb_books: Blurb helps you make photos you love into real books. So we should expect that they have some amazing photography on their Instagram. They are among the elite Instagram photographers. Sometimes you get a sneak peek into one of the books they’ve published and think to yourself, “I gotta do that.”

So there you have it, the Top 11 Startup Employer Brands on Instagram. Take your cue from these leaders. If your sexy enterprise has got it going on, don’t be afraid to show off a little bit. These Instagram pictures are an opportunity to highlight your brand in a new and exciting way.

And remember it’s true, a picture can say one thousand words. What does your Instagram say about you?

Follow SmartRecruiters on Instagram.

At Network, Getwork I had a conversation with a guest about the importance of social media outreach. He thought it was unusual that a software company could possibly have any use or relevant content for social sites. I reminded him that SmartRecruiters is social software and that applies to office life as well, then I directed him to SmartRecruiters’ Pinterest and Instagram. The point is that even though we are a software company we have a personality and our employer brand should be shared! Every brand has personality.

Lately we have been spending a lot of time pinning and sharing our employer brand.  We’ve collected our Top 5 Coolest Startups Pinterests. These guys are doing a great job representing the personality of their company. And even though they may not have 100,000 followers, their boards are a fun place to be.

5. Eventbrite: They make sharing, creating, and customizing an event easy and accessible. Bringing people together for awesome events is part of their mission and their Pinterest represents that clearly. Eventbrite shares infographics on every subject, civic engagement projects, photos of vintage events, and so much more. Don’t just toot your own horn on Pinterest, it’s about establishing your employer brand but also finding shared values and interests.

4. Trulia: A residential real estate search engine that gives buyers, sellers, owners and renters the inside scoop on properties, their unique approach to the property search isn’t just about logistics, but personal touches as well. This Pinterest Employer Brand is filled with amazing property pictures and design ideas worth repining. Remember Pinterest is about photo-sharing, so you don’t want to overwhelm you readers solely with words.

3. Chegg: An online textbook rental company. Their founders were frustrated with policies and procedures of university bookstores. With the student in mind, they created a faster more cost efficient method of acquiring textbooks. Chegg’s Pinterest is student focused giving tips on everything from study habits to microwave friendly recipes. Know your audience and don’t be afraid to cater to them.

2. Minted: Printed paper products have never been more digital. Minted crowd sources graphic design from the global digital community, and sells great products. This is social commerce on every level. Minted’s products are perfect for the Pinter-verse, showing off paper craft ideas, holiday inspirations, and amazing designs for every event. Update your boards regularly because more activity on more topics is greater reach.

1. SAY Media: A digital publishing company that creates amazing brand campaigns. They’ve created another successful way for their brand to interact with the audience, and even potential clients. SAY Media’s Pinterest is truly a lifestyle page there is something for every techy, foodie, fashionista, music junkie, and animal lover alike. Don’t pigeonhole your brand! It’s a way to represent every aspect of your company, even the interests of potential employees.

These 5 companies are Pinterest stars of successful employer branding and social sharing. While there are many big brands on Pinterest,  these startups are not short on engaging content. We are looking forward to watching them grow and seeing how other startups will take advantage of this awesome photo sharing site.

Is your company using Pinterest to share its brand? Let us know, and share it below by leaving a comment. In the mean time, we love pinteracting with all of you!

‘Bootstrapped’ derives from the old phrase ‘to pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps.’ Bootstrapping means you don’t need any help to stand on your feet, as a business. In the startup world, it implies that your funding is limited, your risk is high, and you have fifty seven great business ideas that needed to be implemented yesterday. In this whirlwind, from vision to commitment to profitable company, you need to work with other great people.  Technology can help you find those people. For bootstrapped startups, a tech recruiting solution needs to (1) facilitate collaboration, (2) integrate social media, and (3) broadcast the good word with mass job posting.

(1) Facilitate Collaboration. On a team of 10 or less, each new addition is at least 1/10 of your talent pool (or at least it should be). Because of how much small teams work together, each new addition will also have a dramatic effect on the output of every existing member of the team. Remember, attitude over aptitude. Value cultural fit. This is why each existing member of the team must give input when hiring. SmartRecruiters offers an internal social feed to facilitate this internal collaboration when hiring.

(2) Integrate with Social Media.  Networks! There’s tons of talent in your networks. Share the opportunities. Plus, with a limited budget, free impressions are a bootstrapped startup’s best friend. With SmartRecruiters, you can share the free unique URL of your job ad on LinkedIn, Twitter – whereever – and create a careers page on your Facebook page.  Social media is simply changing the way talent is showcased. Leveraging your networks and networks’ networks (say that three times fast) is a must for startups (plus it doesn’t hurt to tell the world that you’re growing).

(3) Broadcast the Good Word with Mass Job Posting. This starts with the job boards that offer free postings (Indeed, Simply Hired, etc.), continues to the commercial boards, and (more importantly for startups) the niche boards. Niche communities are where startups often find the specialized skill sets they are looking for. You can post to all these job sites in one click with SmartRecruiters. Bootstrapped startups should also remember that each job posting is not just an ad for their job opening, but it is also an ad for their company.

The right people will help turn what needed to be done yesterday into what is done today. The laundry list of great business ideas may seem never ending. And it may seem like you can not spend a minute away from your business. This is why your tech recruiting solution needs to facilitate collaboration (share the recruiting workload), integrate with social media (leverage those networks, and harness organic traffic), as well as, broadcast the good word, “I’m Hiring!”

Join the Hiring Revolution. Hire with SmartRecruiters.

Startups think on their feet and offer a different point of view.

Startup blogs also reflect their funky style, and disrupt the marketplace.  Blogging presents an opportunity to level the playing field, connecting with customers, clients, and casual visitors in a personal and informal sort of way.

Here are 10 Startup Blogs who get it right, each in their own special way:

Let’s Begin the Top 10 List with an Honorable Mention: Sonar6 Blog.  No longer a startup since being acquired in 2011 by Cornerstone on Demand, their blog post, How Angry Birds Made Me a Better Manager is hands down my favorite startup blog post.  I had to include them because they are a great example for startups to follow. I love their funky and creative style that makes the reader learn but is also fun.

9. General Assembly Blog.  The company is a global network of campuses and learning for the entrepreneur while offering classes, learning, and valuable insights on their blog too.  The blog’s clean design makes it easy to read and navigate while offering small business and startup insights that can benefit big business and budding entrepreneur’s alike.  A great Startup 101 Guide.

8.
Kaggle Blog.  Entrepreneurs learn early that while life long learning is important, what’s more important for any new business to succeed is surrounding yourself with people smarter than you.  Kaggle is a nerdfest, offering data and analytics outsourcing competitions. Their blog is heavy reading.  As business pros, it’s important to keep pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone which is why I like their blog and visit regularly.

7. Girls in Tech Blog.  Sometimes, a blog can even be on the homepage. Girls in Tech is a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. Between their top ten lists, infographics, and tech event coverage, there is a lot of good information here for woman (and men) who are looking to grow in the technology sector.

6. Simple Blog.  Part of becoming a good blog is understanding the needs of your readers and intended customer audience. Simple consolidates all banks and financial management information in one place. Simple’s blog offers insights and resources on a variety of household questions.  The topics aren’t sexy – like the pros and cons of leasing a car and tax financial tips – but they are solutions that align with the product’s function.

5. Goodsie Blog.  Besides the fact that the company offers a much needed code-free e-commerce and Facebook store service, I love how they showcase their best and most creative customers on the blog. Great visuals! With the popularity of visual and photo sites like Instagram and Pinterest, Goodsie’s blog does a great job of getting the creative juices flowing for readers who are looking to build an internet marketplace.

4. Magento Commerce Blog.  As I mentioned earlier, blogs need to appeal to your audience and customer base.  Magento is an ecommerce platform and their blog provides updates to the technical aspect of their platform. It’s not entertaining like Sonar6, but their blog provides the necessary and important information that is accessible to their user base without having to wait on hold while they call an ill-fated 1-800 number.

3. Kickstarter Blog.  I’ve been following Kickstarter and researching (for myself) how self-published authors like Seth Godin are using it to crowdfund their publishing efforts.  To date, Seth has raised over $250,000 for funding for his next book.  I’m equally interested in the sense of community they’ve built which is continued on their blog as they feature member projects. It’s one of the best places to learn about startup trends and happenings in and outside your space.

2. Birchbox Blog.  The company offers trial sizes of an assortment of beauty and lifestyle products mailed monthly to your home.  Their blog is eclectic and offers product recommendations and beauty tips with a casual and stylish point of view.  I love that for all the press they have received since launching their startup, guest blog posts are featured regularly.   Their pictures, how tos and point of views make fashion and beauty easy for fashion moguls and stay at home moms alike.

1. Hubspot Blog.  This company has grown tremendously over the last 6 years since it lauched. Hubspot and their blog offers amazing amounts of great free content on Internet marketing and social media resources.  This shouldn’t be surprising; they wrote the book on Inbound Marketing. Their company’s culture still speaks to the spirit of a bootstrapping startup, allowing employees the opportunity to present and work on a workplace project of their choosing in the spirit of creativity, passion, and learning.

Just the culture and company personalities of the 10 blogs listed here are as different as the CEO’s and startup dreams who build them.  Startups are small, nimble, and can react quickly how and wherever they choose.  Blogs too (Don’t Forget SmartRecruiting!).  These are 10 of the best startup blogs who reach their audience that reflects their audience and mission. Who’s your favorite?  Please share below.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. When she talks, people listen.  Also, connect with her on Pinterest @blogging4jobs. Photo Credit BusinessWeek.

“Finding the right people to join their team is a huge hurdle for startups who are focused on growing their businesses,” said Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership. “SmartRecruiters makes that process easier and we’re thrilled to have them on board as a new partner to help our members.”

SmartRecruiters is a firm believer in the Startup America Partnership basic premise: young companies that grow create jobs.  StartUp America and SmartRecruiters have partnered.

We can make it easier for young companies to create jobs.  Currently, small firms pay a median figure of $3,665 in recruiting costs per hire, compared with $1,949 per hire at companies employing 10,000 employees or more (Bersin & Associates). This is a huge barrier to growth for small businesses, which employs the majority of our economy.  In fact, small businesses have generated 65% of net new jobs over the last 17 years (U.S. Small Business Administration).

The Startup America Partnership has assembled more than $1 Billion worth of commitments from dozens of partners to support the growth of startups in five key areas: Expertise, Services, Customers, Capital, and Talent (that’s where SmartRecruiters comes in!).  The free technology of SmartRecruiters allows businesses to source talent across the Internet, and easily manages all candidates in one place. SmartRecruiters will also be offering free and discounted job postings to third party sites.

“Startup America provides the best online resources to help a young company, not only survive, but also succeed,” said SmartRecruiters Director of Business Development Charlie Nelson.

Whether your company is in the Idea, Startup, Rampup or Speedup stage, Startup America can provide great resources, community networking or expertise (apply to a free Membership at StartUp America).

SmartRecruiters is proud to empower the Talent portion of The Startup America Partnership with the following free functionality:

• Applicant Tracking

• Unlimited Users

• Real-time Reporting

• Social Network Integration

• Career Sites (for your website, mobile phones, and Facebook)

It’s simple: if hiring is made easy, young companies will create more jobs, and grow faster. And that’s something that can make everyone smile.

As Lawrence Bossidy, former COO of GE, once said, “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”