Graham Duncan, longtime investor and author of a legendary essay on reference checking, discusses the importance of being aware of biases during interviews and reference checks. He emphasizes the need for stamina and curiosity in obtaining truthful information through reference checks. The podcast also explores the concept of self-deception in high talent individuals and the risks of hiring from established companies for startups.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Mindful Interviewing
Be mindful of your mood and mindset during interviews.
Approach interviews with an open mind and a lightly held point of view.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
References Are the Whole Thing
Treat reference checks as the primary evaluation tool, not just confirmation.
Most people get references wrong by lacking stamina and not understanding incentives.
question_answer ANECDOTE
The Last Question
Graham Duncan spent 35 minutes on a reference call, seemingly positive, until a final question revealed hidden concerns.
This taught him the importance of persistence.
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Graham Duncan (@GrahamDuncanNYC) is a longtime investor and author of a legendary essay on reference checking: https://grahamduncan.blog/whats-going-on-here/ He was interviewed by Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha (@bencasnocha) during a special masterclass for Village Global founders and friends of the firm.
Takeaways:
- Be aware of how your own mindset and mood affects your analysis of a candidate as well as how it impacts how the candidate shows up in the interview. For example, you might be anxious and stressed yourself and that makes the candidate nervous — you may end up experiencing them as nervous, but in fact you are the one that has created that dynamic in the interview.
- Ask the candidate: “If you were hiring someone to fill this role, what criteria would you use?” When someone is particularly good, they are skilled at capturing the essence of what makes someone good at it. This also lets you see how they respond without initial priming and framing.
- The ideal reference check call should take longer than you might think (e.g. 45+ mins). You sometimes need to wear them down over a long period of time before they open up about their real concerns. - If you aren’t aware of or can’t imagine the downside of working with this person, you haven’t done enough reference checking.
- Ask: “How strong is your endorsement of Jane on a scale of 1-10? (If they answer 7, say actually sorry 7s are not allowed, 6 or 8? If the answer is an 8, ‘What is in that two points?’)”
- When someone comes from a prestigious company, we often fail to control for the weight that the reputation of the company carries when we form our impression of them.
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