Ben Paton

I help start-ups grow... Director @wearetalentful, @unibirmingham alum. When not at work you can find me on the golf course...

[Ankur Nagpal @ankurnagpal]

I've hired hundreds of people at startups I've founded in the last decade

Here is my guide for any ambitious young person applying for a job at a tech startup:

Follow this playbook to differentiate yourself from 99% of candidates

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@RugbyInsideLine Think carpenter should be given a shot!

[Amy Wu Martin @amywumartin]

Heard yesterday from a founder: it costs $200k in salary for an experienced ML eng based in London what it would cost $800k to hire in the Bay

[Giorgos Verdi @giorgosverdi]

1/ Europe doesn't have a tech industry. But why is that the case? The short answer: it's not because of regulation.

🧵A thread:

[VeryBritishProblems @SoVeryBritish]

Sauce rules:

Bacon sandwich: red
Sausage sandwich: brown

Discuss.

[Min Choi @minchoi]

Microsoft just dropped VASA-1.

This AI can make single image sing and talk from audio reference expressively. Similar to EMO from Alibaba

10 wild examples:

1. Mona Lisa rapping Paparazzi

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@jaredwright17 Faf De Klerk got to be up there. His luscious locks are like Marmite

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@HungLee IMO it’s equally focused on retention as well as hiring. It’s more holistic than A player hiring

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

If the TMO calls the late tackle, he should have seen Green 5 yards offside too?! Ref siding with the home team for every 50-50 #HARvGLA

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@JSpagboli Could start with 3 lanes each way on the m8 😂

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

I’ve heard founders say “compared to recruiting, fundraising was easy” - they’re both competitive, both take time and preparation and selling, and getting it wrong can slow you down or kill your startup. Recruitment, historically, just hasn’t got the attention it deserves.

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

Team quality is the single best predictor of success IMO. If you hire great people then everything else becomes easier. Too many founders put all their effort into pitch decks and funding (which is important), and make it up as they go along with interviewing / hiring.

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

How reliable is Glassdoor? Seems way too easy for companies to manipulate their ratings ... similar to TripAdvisor that tells me the best restaurant in my area is the Kebab shop 🤔

[Harry Stebbings @HarryStebbings]

True A* hires do two priceless things for your company.

1. They bring other A* players. True A* always knows other A* players.

2. They become a benchmark for quality and organ reject all talent that does not meet the bar they set.

🔥

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@RugbyInsideLine @Oval_Insights Do you think Gus Warr will be in Borthwick’s plans this year? Perhaps he suits his style more than Mitchell/Quirke

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@jamierkennedy 11th @ Muirfield has to be up there - the view from the top of the hill 😍

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@RugbyInsideLine roebuck - hell be a guaranteed England starter in the next 18 months

[Alex Cohen @anothercohen]

I don’t think people without kids understand just how much free time they have

[Ben Paton @benpaton100]

@itsalfredw @florian_jue Get to work with industry experts with years of experience hiring these roles + a free week trial to see what you think. Can massively reduce cost vs referrals/agencies and means you’re targeting a wider group of candidates. Happy to organise an intro with @chrisabbass