Maybe you've heard: The companies and entrepreneurs behind D.C.'s rising tech scene are in the midst of an arms race, each competing—with companies inside and outside the District—to recruit the top young professionals that can take their companies to the next level.
Fortunately, according to 2013 census data gathered by DC Inno and used in our new Innovation Index, the talent pool for potential hires is growing. Between 2009 and 2013 there was an 11 percent increase in the number of local 18 to 24 year olds that were enrolled in college or graduate school in D.C., according to the data.
Ximena Hartsock, the co-founder of campaign engagement software platform, Phone2Action, told DC Inno, that because her startup is based in the District it means they have to compete with companies across the U.S. to fill jobs with top talent. “We know that our ability to recruit, develop and retain [that] talent will make the difference in the trajectory of our company," she said.
Beyond the classroom, the District’s 25-34 year old population with at least a bachelor's degree is also on the rise, with a 20-percent increase from 2009 to 2013. The Innovation Index reveals that D.C. ranks No. 8 among the 50 cities we examined. In addition, more than half of D.C.'s 25-34 year old population has at least a bachelor's degree.
The nation's capital is home to a premier "free-agency" class for companies to recruit from and make a splash with. But for those vying to become the next Uber or Google, it's still a battle to claim the next generation of innovators.
Regardless of the growth stage of a company, competing in this ecosystem can be a challenge and finding creative ways to capitalize is critical.
The Fight
LivingSocial is not quite a startup. The technology company and developer of an e-commerce marketplace for events and activities employs well over 1,000 professionals and is hiring new sales, marketing and engineering professionals all the time.
In an email interview with DC Inno, LivingSocial CEO Gautam Thakar said that at this stage, the company is focusing on hiring top talent for its mobile, data and analytics technology divisions. Recently, the company "welcomed several new executives with those skill sets,” per Thakar. For instance, in March, LivingSocial brought on president of eBay Marketplaces Lorrie Norrington to be a senior advisor.
Though LivingSocial burst onto the scene in 2007 — becoming a pillar of the D.C. tech scene — they’ve had a turbulent past, having weighed the option of IPO’ing before significantly downsizing in recent years. In August 2014, Thakar, the former eBay Vice President of Advertising, was brought on by the board as CEO to right the ship.
We previously reported that the e-commerce company was shifting toward a "merchant-based model with longer times for special deals and more personalized offers created by the stores and companies advertising on its website."
One aspect of particular importance in this comeback involves hiring D.C.’s best young talent. And LivingSocial knows that being active in the community is important.
“Of course there are challenges in hiring, as top talent is always in demand," Thakar said. "We work with many local groups to attract young talent including Rails Girls DC and Women Who Code DC. Additionally, we actively seek sponsorships at conferences such as Modev MVP, Ruby Nation, and Grace Hopper, a group that promotes computing careers for women."
If you happen to see LivingSocial recruiting at a D.C. tech community event, however, there’s a good chance you’ll see several other tech companies doing the same. Like Aquicore’s Anna Buglaeva and Marketing Lead Caroline Lane.
The pair told DC Inno that, “Tech startups are attractive to ambitious candidates who are tremendously skilled and insanely competitive, so in order to snag the best talent, your startup also has to be competitive"
Aquicore's "talent management personnel" commonly attend local recruiting events, like those at General Assembly Meet, Hire and at university job fairs.
Buglaeva added that, if we’re interested, "we also don't hesitate to bring people in for a day and have them discover the company from the inside. We have a great company culture and part of recruiting the right people is being able to share this with them.”
Melissa Springer, Social Driver’s vice president of client strategy, similarly believes that tapping directly into D.C.’s vibrant startup community and event series is key to hiring the best talent for their business.
Springer told DC Inno, “our driver’s [employees] are deeply involved in the DC tech scene and community. This allows us to meet great talent where they are – participating and contributing to the digital work and community that inspires us all."
Social Driver is a company that’s been both hiring and expanding quickly, as it’s been able to bring on top talent like Technical Project Manager Paige Howarth. In a previous interview with DC Inno, Howarth, an American University Alum, spoke about the impact of her work at Social Driver and how the company first brought her on.
For SmarterSocket founder and CEO Emmanuel Azih and Riide co-founder Amber Wason, the process of attracting talent like Howarth is vastly different though. SmarterSocket and Riide are early stage companies that are strapped for cash.
Riide, a recipient of last year’s Digital DC Tech Fund and makers of high quality electric bicycles, is an early stage company with just four full-time employees. Though the startup is just beginning it says that major decisions, like where to locate its new facility, have been influenced by being close to D.C.’s substantial talent pool.
“The Washington area has a plethora of talent, but as a startup we are competing with larger organizations that can afford to pay higher salaries and offer more attractive benefit packages," Wason told DC Inno. "We accepted paying higher rents so we can locate downtown, because that’s where our current team wants to be, and because we believe it will help us attract and retain the best talent.”
Azih also finds himself in a similar situation to Wason but added that the nature of his company’s product, a Web-connected smart electrical socket, has made guerrilla-style recruiting on college campuses the best method to hire bright employees.
He explained, "We're piloting our technology platform first on university campuses to attract young talent. For this reason, deploying first in universities exposes smart students to our technology platform and enables them to envision and create applications using real-time indoor data."
During these campus-based presentations, Azih will use the sanctioned university event as a marketing tool to directly reach candidates who already possess an interest in the technology. "A major benefit of this strategy is that we also get the opportunity to attract top talent," he said.
Hiring directly from college campuses can certainly come with its own opportunities. Anyone who works in D.C. knows the city grows in size during the summer because of the valuable summer internships that local organizations offer.
These interns come from around the country and as a result, for a few precious months, companies are afforded an opportunity to evaluate not only D.C.'s talent but a large, young pool that hails from outside its bounds.
"Our ability to recruit, develop and retain talent will make the difference in the trajectory of our company."
D.C.-based Phone2Action says that hiring bright interns from this revolving stock can be especially advantageous. Hartsock said the company has also attracted "great interns" from GWU and NOVA High Schools.
Phone2Action’s co-founder added that at times, getting face time with top candidates could mean paying for a specialized service. One avenue to reach candidates remains straight digital advertising. Hartsock mentioned two ad tech platforms specifically, DICE and StackOverflow, that the company had used in the past. Another option is to deal with a professional recruiting agency.
"We invest on professional services to get access to a qualified pool of candidates. This includes working with a professional recruitment service (Talener) with a proven track record who specializes in our area of work," she said.
Talener, the national tech sector recruiting agency with a location in Arlington, Va., is one of these boutique services. Talener has worked with a number of local companies but due to confidentially it does not list the names of these companies via its job listings. A quick review of clients who use Talener shows that the average income per open position is roughly $110,000.
