Hooked on FRIQ: the Full-Stack Talent Hustle (Part 4 of 6) - Issue 50
“Always Be Hustlin’”
Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of Uber
We know a founder who epitomizes the sales hustle. Always on. Always hustling. But not in a sketchy, snake-oil way. This person is in constant business development mode, seeing every interaction as an opportunity to sell, sell, sell!
Then there’s another founder we know who’s mastered the recruiting hustle. They treat everyone as a potential hire. They have a massive Airtable with all their near-, mid-, and long-term dream hires with reminders and nurturing campaigns in place. They are a recruiting machine, the poster child for #AlwaysBeRecruiting.
But here’s the kicker: neither of these founders is hitting full stride. Why? They’re siloing their hustle. “I’m recruiting.” “I’m pitching a customer.” “I’m pitching an investor.”
What if they blended the script and hustled every angle all the time — leveraging every interaction to unlock compounding value?
What’s Going On?
The best founders do the full-stack hustle — up, down, and across every interaction. Every conversation holds multiple opportunities:
Investor? Maybe!
Candidate? Maybe!
Customer? Maybe!
Design partner? Maybe!
Podcast guest? Maybe!
Blind date for your best friend? Only kidding!
Hustling isn’t just a mindset — it’s a strategy. It’s about unlocking leverage. Every interaction is an opportunity to build, sell, recruit, fundraise, market, and refine your approach — true growth mindset in action.
Since this is a recruiting blog, let’s hone in on how founders can integrate recruiting into every interaction — without compartmentalizing it into a narrow bucket.
Why does it matter?
Leverage compounds. Don’t leave it on the table.
Candidates are customers.
Customers are investors.
Investors are sources of candidates.
Lather, rinse, compound, repeat. ♻️
What do we think?
We think two-fer.
Hustle isn’t just about working harder; it’s about working smarter — and working every angle. The best founders use all their connections, referrals, and openness to build a strong talent brand. This brand attracts top talent before they even look. When people see you as someone worth working for, recruiting stops being a chore and starts being a flywheel.
What do others think?
"I think there's a way to 'always-be-selling' while both enjoying it and coming across as authentic. At Yoodli, we do this by being vulnerable - acknowledging upfront if we're asking someone for help, apologizing if we overstep, and being equally quick to reply if they ask for a favor. And most importantly, we try to prioritize the longer term relationship over a near term transaction".
—Varun Puri, Co-Founder/CEO at Yoodli"Even if you’re an introvert and haven’t got hustle in you, you better get a co-founder who does. And if you don’t have enough hustle to find that co-founder, it’s going to be tough. You’ve got to have a little hustle in you."
—Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of Uber (again, this is truth)
What do YOU think?
Are you leaving recruiting leverage on the table?
What’s stopping you from treating every interaction as an opportunity?
TAKE ACTION
Hustle is a habit. Build it. Here’s how:
Spot leverage in every interaction. Assess every person’s potential value to you — and your value to them — across three vectors (talent, sales, fundraising). See the matrix above.
Turn talent into allies. Have you met a smart person you’d love to hire someday? Get their feedback on your product, tech stack, or business plan. Keep them posted on progress. Invite them and three of their favorite work friends to your office for a product demo. Investing them in your journey increases the likelihood of converting them into hires when the timing aligns. One of our founders, Linda Lian, ran this play to land her co-founder/CTO, Viraj Mody.
Make investors your recruiters. Investors have the best networks. Make every meeting yield three intros to top talent by asking, “Who are the three smartest people you met this week?” Then get those intros.
Customers can be connectors. When customers share great feedback about your product, use that as an opportunity to deepen engagement. Ask them: “Who else should I bring on board to keep delivering at this level?” Then get that intro.
Resources
Hooked on Recruiting Readiness — Always be recruiting. Plant seeds by introducing yourself (now) to people you’d love to recruit in a year.
Hooked on Founder-Led Recruiting — As a founder, you’ve got to be a phenomenal recruiter. If not you, then who?
Hooked on Happy, Listening, Looking — The more connective fibers you build now, the higher the probability of reaching talent before they are on the move.
Hooked on Getting Lucky — Create luck with a prepared mind and a strategic approach to acquiring talent.
The Four Hour Work Week — Timothy Ferris — While this book initially advocates working less, it focuses on maximizing efficiency and results. Ferriss introduces the concept of “smart hustle,” where you prioritize tasks that have the most impact, eliminate unnecessary work, and use automation or delegation to create more time for meaningful pursuits.
This post is the fourth of six in our Hooked on FRIQ'n Awesome series. Next time, we’ll discuss how to Build a Recruiting Machine.
About Madrona
Madrona is a venture capital firm that helps entrepreneurs build companies of consequence. Hooked, by Madrona is a series about startup talent, careers, and founder stories, interpreted by a curious and skeptical VC + playbooks, tools, and templates to help company builders thrive.
Who creates Hooked?
The Talent Team @ Madrona Venture Group:
Shannon Anderson, Talent Scout, Director
Audra Aulabaugh, Talent Scout, Partner
Matt Witt, Talent Scout, Partner
Lily, thanks for your note! As an investor instigate hundreds of introductions every year for founding teams that lead them to hires, customers, investors, mentors/mentees, etc. Our most successful portoflio companies are dense with leadership talent that seems to always be leveraging us in all these ways. #AlwaysBeHustling!
Love this take on the full-stack hustle. love the point about candidates being customers and vice versa. Some of the best hires come from people who already believe in what you're building. Has anyone here landed a key hire through an unexpected connection like a customer or investor intro?