In this episode, we dive deep into startup sales hiring with Anis Bennaceur, a masterful talent scout who's cracked the code on building exceptional early-stage teams. You'll discover why most founders hire wrong, how to spot founder-DNA in candidates, and the brutal interview techniques that filter out B-players before they contaminate your culture.
Anis Bennaceur is the co-founder and CEO of Attention, a startup building AI agents that revolutionize sales conversations. A second-time founder, Attention has raised close to $20 million from Eniac, 645 Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, and Alvin.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
01:25 - The Triangle of Talent: Why 80% of your employees are useless
04:26 - Level 5 superstars can't be trained - they're born that way
05:43 - Your first hires must think like founders or you'll fail
10:25 - Why Anis only hires people obsessed with Paul Graham essays
15:58 - The $100K hiring mistake that saved Attention's culture
18:35 - Two sales candidates talked each other out of joining - here's why
21:40 - Always hire salespeople in pairs to create internal competition
25:34 - The midnight email test that reveals true A-players
27:56 - One interview question that exposes scrappy hackers instantly
31:23 - Using ChatGPT to detect hiring red flags you missed
35:02 - Three biggest life failures: The therapist interview technique
41:42 - Why Brian Chesky's anti-selling method filters out mercenaries
54:54 - The Saturday night Slack test that predicted employee turnover
56:52 - How political extremism kills startup culture
58:25 - "If you had the contract, why wouldn't you sign?"
1:05:15 - Rejecting candidates who negotiate reveals commitment issues
1:12:13 - Stop listening to customers - they'll build you a faster horse
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.