“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the

face.” – Mike T

CULTURE IS THE STRATEGY

business is building better people

January 23, 2013

tom@nextjump.com@Thom_Fuller

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HUMAN CAPITAL ECONOMY your enterprise needs to make people better

AGRICULTURE ECONOMY MANUFACTURING ECONOMYPeople are another form of machine

Capital & infrastructure focus

HUMAN CAPITAL ECONOMYPeople focus

CONFORMITYAll people to be the sameTreat people like machines

DIVERSITYDiversity of thought

In knowledge biz, conformity is death

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WHAT WE STAND FOR

To do the LITTLE THINGS that allow others to do the GREAT THINGS they are MEANT TO DO

BETTERme + you = us

+ = BETTER me BETTER you BETTER us

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EVERYTHING STARTS WITH YOUR CULTURE human capital engineering (HCE)

Hiring Environment 1 2 3 Firing

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OUR STORYTODAY20061994 20021997

NxJ Founded: College Coupon Books

Corporate + Internet

2008 2011

Survived Dot Com Bust: 4 NxJumpers

HIRING ENGINEERSNxJ becomes top destination for engineers

FIRING2010 Turnover skyrockets to 40% as recruiters poach…Engineers are offered 2-3x salary increase within 1 yr of employment at NxJ

ENVIRONMENT2012 Turnover drops to 0% in weeksRevenue Growth Accelerates…5 years 25% CAGR to 60% YoY

ENVIRONMENTHow do we grow even faster:Help people stop making the same mistakes[Character Imbalance]

+ =

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HIRING1. College Recruiting2. Lateral Hiring

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HIRING ENGINEERS: NxJ Tech Recruiting Stats

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COLLEGE RECRUITING many candidates at once, relevant at a later stage

Boston Super Saturday Event ScheduleTime Full-Time Engineer Schedule Intern Engineer Schedule

9:45 – 10:00 am Check-In / Breakfast (Reception & Fenway)

10:00 – 10:25 am Super Saturday Kick Off (Fenway)

10:25 – 11:10 am Engineering Skills Test (Assigned Candidate Areas)

11:15 – 12:15 pm Speaker Series 1 – Work Hard (Fenway)

12:25 – 1:25 pm Code Exercise (Assigned Candidate Areas)

1:25 – 2:10 pm Career Fair + Lunch (Reception Area)

2:15 – 2:45 pm Interview 1 (Assigned Candidate Areas) Speaker Series 2 – Play Hard (Fenway)

2:45- 3:15 pm Interview 2 (Assigned Candidate Areas) Break (Fenway)

3:15 – 3:45 pm Speaker Series 2 – Play Hard (Fenway) Interview 1 (Assigned Candidate Areas)

3:45 – 4:15 pm Break (Fenway) Interview 2 (Assigned Candidate Areas)

4:15 – 5:30 pm Team Challenge Kickoff & Exercise (Fenway, Assigned Areas)

5:30 – 6:00 pm Team Presentations (Assigned Areas)

6:00 – 6:30 pm Break (Fenway)

6:30 - 7:00 pm CEO Reception (Fenway)

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HIRING: BIGGEST MISTAKE, TOP LESSON LEARNED

LEAN = SUCCESS, FAT = FAILURE Startups w/ no resources achieve amazing things Then w/ capital + lots of resources almost always fails

LATERAL HIRING IS LIKE DATING Same person interviews date 1, date 2, date 3 (advance only if) Trust is most important: buy used car, leave your family with? Human beings are the best judge of trust

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FIRING

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FIRING many mistakes made…leading to scathing criticism

Toxic, toxic environment. Backstabbing individuals that are not doing their

own jobs.

Worst place to work. Should be called next Lie.

Wouldn’t wish this place on my worst enemy.

If you want to grow & learn, go elsewhere.

Save yourself, DO NOT be the Next to Jump

Extremely long hours – the reason Next Jump has

trainer & food on premises is because they

don’t expect you to go home.

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FIRING: BIGGEST MISTAKE, TOP LESSON LEARNED

EX-EMPLOYEE = #1 ADVERTISEMENT Existing employees are biased Anyone else doesn’t really know the company The ex-employee has been on the inside How you fire is a representation of how you treat people

TIMING: <3 MTHS, 3-6 MTHS People leaving within 3 months = min disruption in the org However biggest problems in people show up at 3-6 months Any decision after 6 months = significant pain firing + lingering pain

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ENVIRONMENT

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ENVIRONMENT: 2 influencers helped us…

Jim Loehr (Coach to world-class tennis, golf, NFL, NBA, Olympic athletes, top CEOs, FBI SWAT, any elite performer)

Growth mindset: People can endlessly upgrade themselves. Requires deliberate practice.

Simon Sinek (all-time top TEDTalk, author of best seller, keynote speaker)

Humans exist to service other humans – the “universal why”

BETTER me

BETTER you

+ =

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“I will want to win. But the result of the race will not motivate me. I can honestly say that I am motivated by improvement, not results. That’s a core principle.” Mikaela Shiffrin

EVERYTHING IS PRACTICE FOR GETTING BETTER BETTER me

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AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE…WHAT IS SUCCESS?

EXTRINSIC MARKERS OF SUCCESSmore stuff

INTRINSIC MARKERS OF SUCCESStrue wealth

R.I.P.[YOUR NAME]

Built billion $ company Made millions personally

Owns 3 houses Owns 6 cars More stuff…

R.I.P.[YOUR NAME]

HELPING OTHERS..

BETTER you

I DO IT FOR MYSELF… I train harderI take feedback differentlyI work hard to be my best self

…So that I can take care of others

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MINDSET THAT WINS & SUSTAINS … BETTER me BETTER you+

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HOW WILL THIS FAIL?

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#1 ISSUE: JUDGMENT (MORE THAN SKILLS)

People need to trust your judgmentThen its no longer about hours

2 hours of your time will be worth more than

40 hours of someone with poor judgment

* We turned the entire company culture into training ground for leadership

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Mentorship: Talking Partners• Start daily• Becomes “co-working”• Best coaches help people find their “blind

spot” (their repeated error)

Situational Workshops• Weekly: problems + what they tried• Train decision making vs “give solutions”• Counters the “bull horn” effect

TWO PROGRAMS THAT WORKED …

❶

❷

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT the next big growth opportunity

Jim Loehr (Coach to world-class tennis, golf, NFL, NBA, Olympic athletes, top CEOs, FBI SWAT, any elite performer)

Character is a muscle.It can be exercised and strengthened.

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OUR RESULTS THUS FAR…

REVENUE25% CAGR over last 5 years to 103% YoY

Still accelerating…

LEADERSHIP AWARD2013 Winner

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WHERE WE’RE EXPERIMENTING

DO THE JOB BEFORE YOU START

ANYONE CAN BECOME A MARINE

Test during interview process: Growth mindset [better me] - fixed or growth mindset Helping others [better you] - teaching/ giving motivates more learning

No matter who you hire, the environment is designed so anyone can succeed But not everyone will succeed, some will opt-out

NO FIRING POLICY

ALUMNI PROGRAMS

Except for moral, ethical and criminal Security - removed fear of failure Development took off: Tough Love Programs

Boomerang - open-ended job offer to return anytime Benefits and perks for having been part of our family

HIRING

FIRING

INVEST IN YOUR TEAM AS MUCH AS IN YOUR PRODUCT FROM DAY 1

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• It’s a shared dream• It’s about the journey: concentrate on the steps to success

CLOSING THOUGHT

@Thom_FullerContact me:

I will gladly do what I can, to help you achieve the GREAT things you were meant to do