MyPunchblog

I get bombarded from outsourcing companies all of the time. Some are professional requests, some are more salesy, and some are downright pushy. I usually delete most of them, but this one (that I got last week) was too good/funny not to post. Read carefully.

Sir, this is Jahangir from Art n Design. We are the team of expert freelancers, we know the value of time and professionalism. We are agree on all of your terms and conditions. We’ll sign the contracts with you and then move forward. Give us a chance to proof ourself. We are young innovative and professional. We have worked in Professional environments and know how to deal with the things even in tough deadlines. I can provide you samples on Ruby on Rail if there is a chance to get some freelance work. We can work on any terms and conditions with acceptable prices.

My favorite line: “Give us a chance to proof ourself.” Maybe we should hire them for editorial.

Punchbowl Software is looking for a person to lead our marketing communication efforts. If you know anyone who would be the perfect fit, please send this along. Thanks!

Who we are:
• A group of highly-skilled software professionals
• A Venture Capital backed early-stage startup
• A company located in Framingham, MA

Who you are:
• You are bright, articulate, and have excellent writing skills
• You have experience dealing with the press, key influencers, and bloggers
• You have expertise in utilizing email newsletters as a component of a well-rounded marketing strategy
• You have a working knowledge of search engine optimization
• You know how to leverage social networks and Word of Mouth to drive user adoption
• You have enthusiasm and passion with readiness to join an early-stage startup
• You live within a 45 minute drive of Framingham, MA.

To apply for this job:
1) Create a user account at http://www.mypunchbowl.com
2) Send a *one page* resume, impressions of the site, and brief introductory email to jobs at punchbowlsoftware.com.

We *DO NOT* pay recruiter fees. Please: no recruiters, headhunters, offshore development teams, or offshore individuals.

Hiring great people is hard — really hard. Over the years, I’ve learned some techniques that help me identify the best people out of a pool of candidates. I’ve wrote about one of my techniques before: the 24 hour test. In a nutshell, the 24 hour test is designed for me to get a strong idea of who you are as a person and how you think. I ask potential candidates to send me an email that includes something creative: a photo, a writing, random thoughts — whatever they think shows who they are and how they think. (I recommend that you read the original post before continuing).

The more I’ve interviewed people, the more 24 hour test results I’ve seen. Some of them are whimsical (a chair made of stuffed bears), some are serious (thoughts on life and happiness), and some are character revealing (a love-affair with Legos). In my opinion, the best results are the ones that really give me a window into the personality of the candidate.

I’ve been interviewing candidates recently for a marketing role. It’s an important position in the company, and someone that I’ll be working with closely. One particular candidate recently nailed the 24 hour test — and her email was one of the best I’ve ever gotten.

This candidate decided to use MyPunchbowl as part of her 24 hour test results. It’s the first candidate who has ever chosen to do this (I wondered who would be the first). She used MyPunchbowl to throw an imaginary dinner party; inviting me and 10 other people to join us. Not only did I get the MyPunchbowl invitation, but she included the list of guests in the email, with an explanation of why each person was invited. Here’s her list:

• Bono (musician, humanitarian)
  For his ability to harness creative energy, and unwillingness to define success in financial terms.
• Eve Ensler (feminist)
  For redefining the framework of the very basic ideas of feminine identity and voice with humor and strength.
• Kurt Vonnegut (writer, veteran)
  A clarion call in the midst of chaos, for his ability to find humanity in each and every story.
• Francisco Goya (Spanish Painter)
  For creating beauty in darkness, and having the courage to subvert the system.
• Christian Amanpour (CNN war correspondent)
  At once fearless and brilliant.  Taking big risks for the greater reward.
• Alice Waters (owner, Chez Panisse, pioneer the local food movement)
  For simplifying without compromising product quality or sophistication.
• Pablo Neruda (Chilean poet, communist politician)
  A renaissance man of the highest art.  Poetry readings to 100,000 Chileans can’t be wrong.
• Karl Rove (architect, Bush administration)
  Because more than anything, I just want to know, what the fuck?  
• Postsecret’s Frank
  For enabling an honest look at the world, achieving personal success without compromising his vision.
• Jon Stewart
  No one is quicker to the draw, beating everyone else at their own game.

Wow– what a dinner party that would be. She nailed it. I know way more about her than before receiving this email. And most importantly, I now know how she thinks. While this does not make her a shoe-in for the position, it sure does give her a leg up on others.

If I’ve asked you to complete the 24 hour test, use this as your inspiration. Whether you send me a photo, a writing, or something that amuses you, make sure that it tells us who you are and how you think.

Well done Christine. Very well done.

When you’re starting a company, you spend a significant amount of time interviewing candidates. At Punchbowl Software, we hire full-time employees, part-time employees, and independent contractors. Regardless of the position, all of us work together as a close team. So it’s critical that we hire people that fit the culture and vibe at Punchbowl.

I’m fond of saying that “good” people are relatively easy to find: place an ad in Craigslist or Monster and you can find educated, experienced, and talented people within days. But finding truly “great” people is really hard — how do you find people with superb communication skills, excellent personal traits, a strong work ethic, combined with a willingness to join an early-stage startup? And how do you make sure that the skillset and mindset of this new person will add to the team you already have in place? I can tell you from experience: this is a tough challenge. Hiring is hard (but firing is alot harder…)

Over the years, I’ve developed a sequence to my hiring process. My goal is to learn about the person as much as possible before offering a position. I want to know how they think and what makes them tick. One part of my process happens after my first significant conversation with the candidate. It’s a pretty simple test– something I call the “24-hour test.” (Note to self, write more about your hiring process in a future post).

Here’s how the “24-hour test” works:

I ask the candidate to send me an email within the next 24 hours. In the email, I ask for two things:

1) Send me something that shows me how you think. It could be something creative like a writing sample or a poem. Maybe it’s an amusing picture that you’ve seen. Or even just a rant on something that you find interesting. There are no guidelines here– just show me how you think and who you are.

2) Let me know how interested you are in the position. I want to hear about what makes you excited about the opportunity and the company. Given all of the resources available online, you can learn quite a bit about the company. What concerns do you have? What questions can I answer for you?

So, how do I evaluate the 24-hour test?

1) Did you deliver the email within 24 hours? In a startup, it’s critical that we hit deadlines and deliver on-time. Therefore, I want to know that you’ll actually be able to deliver and hit deadlines — even in this small test example. With my 24-hour test, it is simply unacceptable to be late. If something came up and you can’t get back to me within 24 hours, I expect an email letting me know why. Is this harsh? Maybe. But we’re looking for great people– and great people know how to deliver on-time.

2) How do you think? Are you creative or literal? How do you deal with ambiguity? Do you have a sense of humor? It’s amazing what I can learn about a person from the 24-hour test.

3) Are you excited about the opportunity at Punchbowl Software? Why? Have you spent the time to critically evaluate the opportunity? Are you really ready to join a start-up?

Over the years, I’ve seen some pretty cool things as a result of the 24-hour test. I always enjoy getting the emails, and it’s fun to see what people send. I think the best response I ever received was from a young woman who was interviewing for an internship position (yes, I hired her). She had just spent a semester abroad in France, and she told me over the phone how important it was for a web company to consider an international audience when developing marketing and branding. Then she sent me this:

The photo I’ve included is evidence that the French don’t check out the English words they’re using in developing or naming products. It was really hard to decide what kind of photo to send you (a double rainbow I saw? the disastrously messy room of the 3 and 5 year-old daughters of my host mother? fireworks?), but I narrowed it down to this because it made me laugh.

(A Furniture store in France)

And she concluded her email with this:

I’m trying to save my smart and insightful comments about the job for lunch on Monday, and I don’t want to bore you, so I’ll stop writing. I’d like to thank you for your interest in me as a candidate, and tell you that this job would be ridiculously cool for me in so many ways. Although this sounds like it’s been taken right out of an example of “how to write a cover letter,” I feel that I’m perfect for the kind of job you’re offering.

If you’ve read this post because I’ve asked you to do the 24-hour test, I hope this gives you a really good idea of the purpose of your task. I’m trying to answer the question: are you good or are you great for Punchbowl Software? After a few years of using my “24-hour test” I’m convinced it helps me uncover great people to join our team.

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Party Planning and Online Invitations with MyPunchbowl

We’re hiring — and we are excited about finding the right person to fill this new role. If you know anyone who might be a good fit, please pass along this post. Thanks!

Customer Support Specialist

Punchbowl Software is looking for a person to join our growing team. This new role is a hybrid role of customer support and product testing. We’re looking for an energetic person who is ready for a new challenge and is interested in the party planning market.

Check out the job post and application instructions.

———

Party Planning and Online Invitations with MyPunchbowl

After our recent funding announcement, my first order of business is to hire people to fill our newly open positions. As anyone who has started a company will tell you, the people you hire early into the company are *critical* to the long-term success of the business. The first few employees set the tone and vibe for the company. We strive to hire the best people we’ve ever worked with. And we spend alot of time together, so it’s critical that we all get along well.

Over the past several days I’ve done a number of interviews with candidates. One thing I’ve been struck with are the vast differences between those who prepare for an interview and those who don’t. Here’s some advice that I gave a college-age person yesterday (she was interviewing for a college intern position). Before you interview, learn about the person that is going to interview you. With all of the resources of the web, you can find out a lot about me pretty quickly; where I’ve worked, my professional experience etc. But more importantly, you can find out personal things about me. What makes me tick? Do we share the same interests? Do we know anyone or anything in common? These are critical things to learn BEFORE the interview so that you can not only make small talk but you can “get inside my head.”

Let me contrast this to a person that I’m going to interview in the next hour. I’ve never met this person, but already I’m impressed. Not only did she take the time to learn our product (she provided a great summary of things she liked/disliked) but she followed that up with a clarification email a day later. AND…. yesterday she posted a thoughtful and interesting comment to a recent blog post I wrote. I don’t know if she’s done her research on me, but my guess is that she’ll be prepared.

So how do you prepare for a interview? Spend time showing your interest and thoughtfulness. Learn about your interviewer (especially things that make that person tick). And when all else fails, learn the product inside and out.

To the college student who wasn’t prepared: I sincerely hope that you’ll take this advice and use it in the future. There’s simply no substitute for preparation before an interview.

To the person who I’m interviewing at 11am: I look forward to talking with you. You’ve already demonstrated a keen level of thinking that we look for in the people we like to hire. Smart. Very smart.