Surfing the Chaos: How Index Ventures' Latest Tools Are Changing the Startup Game

This week's Amplify Talent Briefing includes Index Ventures' Scaling Through Chaos, startup hiring guide, talent density, the future of DEI and ESG, AI's recruiting bias, 4-day work week revisited, CHRO compensation climbing, and why more HR pros should move to VC roles.

Author

Lars Schmidt
March 18, 2024

Hello, friends.

We’re back after a one-week hiatus with some exciting news and resources. Let’s dig in.

❶ One Big Thing

In the whirlwind adventure of scaling a startup, Index Ventures just dropped a lifeline for founders navigating the tumultuous waves of growth. Their latest offerings, "Scaling Through Chaos: The Founder’s Guide to Building and Leading Teams from 0 to 1,000" and the TeamPlan App, are akin to a seasoned surfer guiding you through a rogue wave. 🏄‍♂️

These tools, fueled by an exhaustive analysis of 200,000 career profiles from behemoths like Airbnb and Stripe, promise a departure from the age-old reliance on gut feeling towards a more data-driven approach to scaling. The guide and app collectively serve as a map, illuminating the path to rapid and intelligent team scaling and strategic organizational design.

I was given early access to the book and app - both are 🤯.

Scaling Through Chaos is not just another business book; it's a manifesto for modern startup growth, offering a blend of actionable insights, compelling stories, and a sprinkle of case studies.

Meanwhile, the TeamPlan app emerges as a game-changing tool for workforce planning, empowering founders with data-driven confidence to sculpt their organizations with precision. Together, they address the founder's dilemma of topics like when to hire a CFO or how to expand their tech team, based on successful models from industry giants.

As Martin Mignot of Index Ventures aptly puts it, these resources equip founders to endure and thrive amidst the chaos, harnessing it as a catalyst for transformative progress.

On Friday, Index Ventures’ Martin Mignot and Sandra Schwarzer will join me for an episode of Redefining Work to discuss key lessons and takeaways from their data set.

For startup leaders, Index Ventures' latest innovations promise a guide through the storm, offering clarity, direction, benchmarking, and frameworks.

Best of all? It’s open-source. Download for free below.

📍This Week’s Top Stories

  • Involved in early-stage hiring? You might want to bookmark this. [read]

  • Coinbase doubles down on talent density. [read]

  • Also, how Lattice drives high performance and talent density [read]

  • How to tackle the biggest threat to your team’s growth [read]

  • A measured view on the future of DEI [read]

  • Can a strong ESG record help companies recruit talent? [read]

🤖 AI in the World of Work

  • The future of work isn’t powered by AI. It’s powered by humans enable by AI. [read]

  • ChatGPT is great at many things, including inheriting bias in recruiting [read]

  • The real key to your AI strategy: humans [read]

  • How not to use AI in your job search. [read]

  • AI as fuel for the 4-day workweek? [read]

Ready to level up your people team?

Learn more about Amplify Talent’s HR Executive Search services, leadership development community, LinkedIn Presents: Redefining Work Podcast, Redefining HR book, or book Lars to speak at your next event.

👀 Eye Candy

A visual on increasing Chief Human Resources Officer compensation from Nick Bloom’s recent analysis.

🎧 Ear Candy

Katelin Holloway shares why more HR people should work in VC. We’ll expand on this topic on Monday’s LinkedIn Presents: Redefining Work podcast.

The Amplify Talent Briefing is brought to you by Amplify Talent, a modern talent agency that connects, develops, and empowers the next generation of transformative people leaders.

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