I spend much of my working life trying to identify new talent to hire, or take on as partners. Inevitably this means lots of personal interviews of one sort or another. Yet I am ashamed to say my techniques are not exactly very scientific. I should be more rigorous and systematic in my questioning and recording of answers — especially since the price of getting an interview wrong goes up all the time.
In my defence, many of the most important cross-examinations I conduct are not job interviews. They are discussions with entrepreneurs that might eventually lead to a business partnership. So they are much more of a mutual screening process than a conventional recruitment exercise. Typically, these are self-made founders who do not want to work for anyone else: instead they are looking for a financial backer who can add value.
When the world is awash with capital, exceptional companies can pick and choose whose investment cash to take — hence it is often, in effect, me being interviewed. I rather enjoy the challenge of convincing someone to want to work with us, as long as I genuinely believe there is chemistry. If the deal seems like a lost cause, I can be poor at going through the motions.