As CEO Joe does everything in his power to steer interviewIA’s vision and purpose toward a common goal. He is driven to help organizations grow and scale to meet their full potential through the use of technology and he is a thought leader on the future of work and talent who is passionate about changing the way companies attract, hire, retain and develop their employees, particularly in this new normal.
In business where one color dominates, Joe stands above the baseline to prove otherwise. And he does so by focusing on helping other people matter, starting with his team. And then together, with Joe at the helm, they help others find what matters to them.
What is interviewIA all about?
interviewIA is committed to systematically building an Inclusive Future of Work in a world where organizations can be objective and inclusive in hiring to create thriving, diverse, engaged cultures of high-performing employees. interviewIA is redefining the actual practice of interviewing by creating the first solution to bring human calibration, structure, and data-driven interview outcomes into one, fully integrated, easy-to-use cloud application. interviewIA uses deep learning Intelligence Amplification (IA) technology and human-centered design to redefine the method of interviewing.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I’ve been in the talent industry for almost 20 years. Five years ago we launched a Talent Strategy Firm called Jobber Group and have been living in the trenches and working on the front lines of innovative talent strategies. Three years ago we built the first version of our interview platform and began to iterate on the value that this could bring to the market.
Last year we launched our training operations under the Breaking the Bias brand, to help teach organizations how to build inclusion, reliability, and scale into their hiring. We believe that we are uniquely situated to address two key areas where the world is currently experiencing rapid change: COVID has created a new way of working, a new way of hiring, a new focus on remote capability, and many challenges around reskilling and hiring overall.
Second, the conversation around social inequality, unconscious bias, Black Lives Matter, and a need for systemic change has truly created an opportunity for real action. We find ourselves in a unique point in history with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to emerge stronger and better as people, as organizations, as a country, and as a global community.
Our passion is helping all people find work that is meaningful to them, and work is the cornerstone of our society and our economy. We are not only building technology to facilitate change, we are creating a solution and an ecosystem to support systemic change so that we all learn to hire inclusively and create opportunity for all.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
The biggest problem we faced was transitioning from a consulting services firm to a true SaaS technology company. To overcome this rather challenging obstacle, we worked as a team to lay out our strategy for every single person on the team (most of us have worked together for 5 years now) and clearly define their role in the new organization. We dismantled our previous processes in order to only bring forward what was necessary to build a technology company. And each of us faced our uncomfortableness by growing and learning to be in these new roles.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
As a two-time founder, there are many lessons that I’ve learned. One mistake is underestimating the time and resources that it takes to achieve something. Being optimistic and believing in your business goes without saying, so you have to counterbalance that with extreme realism. You have to be able to stare reality in the face, model both best case and worst case scenarios, and realize that you will most likely land somewhere in the middle.
As a first-time founder, you can be overwhelmed with early success (if you are lucky) and you don’t always build the underlying mechanics that will help you build a sustainable and growing business. The bottom line is don’t underestimate the time, money, and resources that it will take to for you to achieve your goals.
Another mistake was growing too fast. It is easy to believe that you need to be bigger than actually necessary. Some founders get really excited when they talk about how “big” their companies are. But 20 employees is not always better than 12 employees. Pace yourself, hire smart, and don’t get caught up in the story of growth or perception that you may want to create. The smaller you are, the more agile you will be, maintain your lean business model as long as you can, as long as it is not impeding growth.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
I am a big believer in mentorship. I have multiple mentors that I meet with every week to continue my education and growth. I believe in something that I call the 10% rule. 10% of your time should be focused on personal development every week. You have to make time for it. So if you are working 80 hours per week, 8 full hours should be committed to reading, mentorship or studying every week. I choose reading and mentors, with mentors I maintain this with structure – standing meeting times, same day, same time, every week.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
- Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work (Inquiry Institute Library – Marilee Adams
- Traction by Gino Wickman
- Relationomics: Business Powered by Relationships – Ross, Dr. Randy, Blanchard, Ken
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
Share early and often! Sometimes entrepreneurs feel the need to keep things a secret. They don’t want someone to steal their idea. Sometimes that concern is real, but most times it is not. Action is the difference between a business and a person with a great idea. Someone has probably thought of what you are doing before, but they have not executed on that idea. As a broad statement (take this with a grain of salt) share your vision, your ideas, and get meaningful feedback along the way, don’t build in a vacuum, it may not land into the market as good and you anticipate if you don’t relentlessly pursue customer feedback early and often.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Honestly, the thought leadership that we have on this team gives us content that we can share in the form of articles and podcasts that we host, indefinitely. This thought leadership and expertise that we have developed over the past 5 years makes it easy to connect with people in our networks because they truly believe that we can bring them value.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
The product, whatever that product is. I would put every penny into a proof of concept or model. You have to take the first step of getting your vision out of your head and into the real world. It doesn’t have to be amazing, but it needs to be real. There are a lot of people who have great ideas that never become reality. It may seem small but $1000 dollars can bring your idea out of your head and into the world of reality. From there you can convince people to work with you, invest in you, believe in you.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur is great but it can also be portrayed as always glamorous. It is both the most challenging and most rewarding adventure in life. Emphasis on Challenge, the Challenge is guaranteed, the reward is not. You must become extremely comfortable with failure, that is the only road that leads to success.
What is your favorite quote?
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
― Howard Thurman
- We are using LinkedIn first and foremost to connect with our audience.
- We use ZoomInfo to ensure we have accurate data about our key audiences.
- We are focused on developing partnerships with key Applicant Tracking System (ATS) organizations.
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way to connect with us is through our website after you’ve had time to browse and see if there is an authentic way that we can help you. You can easily request a demo of our interview platform. If you’d like to connect with me, the best is through LinkedIn Thank you!
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