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Why High-Caliber Candidates Reject Your Job Offer (Before You Even Make It)
You spent six weeks finding the perfect candidate. She nailed every interview. The team loved her. The offer package was ready. Then came the email: “I’ve decided to pursue another opportunity.” It’s easy to blame compensation, timing, or “the market.” But most of the time, candidates aren’t rejecting your offer. They’re rejecting your process. When the Process Sends the Wrong Signal I had coffee recently with Marcus, a VP of Engineering who’d lost three senior hires in a
Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Oct 275 min read
How to Build a Culture of Accountability Without Micromanaging
Google didn’t scale to 190,000 employees by micromanaging. Here’s how you can build the same kind of accountability. When Connor (not his...
Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Sep 287 min read
Growing Exponentially After Product-Market Fit: Who to Hire First, Spend Vs Grow, and How You Lead Before You Scale
You’ve done the hard part: built the MVP, tested it, found signs of product-market fit. Maybe your early customers love it, you’ve got...
Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Sep 218 min read
The First Five Minutes Rule: Why Day One Sets the Tone for Years
Eight years later, she still remembered the message. It was 2016, and I was preparing to welcome a new hire to our team at Google. She...
Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Sep 87 min read
Where to Find Great Talent
(And Why You Might Be Looking in the Wrong Places) Whether you're a founder building from the ground up or a corporate executive scaling...
Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Aug 44 min read
You Don’t Need a CxO — Until You Do
Startups are built on extremes. You’re either scrappy or bloated. You’re doing it all yourself or over-hiring too soon. You’re...
Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Aug 34 min read
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