Back in August 2021, we started Stomio. After a year, I would like to tell you about how we achieved our first success: building our initial team.
We did not have defined a hiring process. So, we based our process on having good references from people we trusted, common sense, empathy, and our values defined before we start hiring. From the personal side, I had helped hire teammates in other companies, but it is not the same when you build your own team, it is like choosing your own family. You will have to trust your judgment.
We started with a frontend engineer. To be honest, it was easy: Jaime, one of my best friends wanted to join after knowing we were finally creating Stomio :) I knew he was a good engineer, with a lot of experience working with products from scratch, and good judgment. Now, I also know first-hand, he is one of the most talented frontend engineers I know.
Then, we started to look for a product designer. I was talking to a lot of UX and product designers for some days without success. Also, being an engineer this is not easy and the doubt of being able to value these profiles properly was there… until I met Angela. After 5 minutes of conversation, I was sure she was the one for the role: passionate, direct, clever, knows what she wants even being so early in her career, … And I think she thought the same, after some other conversations, she was on the team. When I was meeting with Angela, who told me the UI part is not her preference, Ibrahim was talking with Cintia: an amazing UI designer with an incredible portfolio, great potential, and a strong desire to grow. Again, it was a super easy decision. After days of making interviews, finally, the pieces fit together.
Some months later, we were lucky to add Dani to our team. Previously, Dani and I were teammates, he was even leading my team at CARTO. I knew he is the perfect person to create, maintain and scale the foundations of our platform and it was an amazing pleasure to know he wanted to join us :)
So, what I have learned from the process is trust your network, talk to as many people as you can, trust your own judgment, insist, and eventually you will find the person you really want to work with.
Thank you team for being part of this adventure. The best is yet to come, let’s enjoy the journey and learn together.