VC hired its first employees after offering to set up payroll for free

• Nichole Wischoff reviewed over 500 applications before making her first hire for her VC fund.
• Wischoff eventually hired Neal Mintz, a 26-year-old who impressed her with his enthusiasm and drive.
• During interviews, Mintz offered to do the company’s payroll for free.

This essay is based on a conversation with Nichole Wischoff34, founder of Wischoff Ventures. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider previously published an essay about their first recruit at Wischoff Ventures. Neal Mintz, and his hiring experience.

Venture capital is an industry where it is difficult to find a job.

If you don’t have rich parents or people in the industry to recommend you, it will be very difficult for you to find someone.

I don’t come from the industry. I’ve worked at startups most of my career and had to brute force my way into starting Wischoff Ventures from scratch.

My journey into venture capital has shaped my approach to recruiting. I wanted to find employees like me – those who maybe didn’t go to Stanford or had some flashy names on their resumes, but were willing to surpass one of those people.

Search 500 applications to find the perfect employee

I began recruiting for my fund’s first full-time position earlier this year. I posted the job on LinkedIn and X and received over 500 applications.

Although it seemed like a lot, it wasn’t difficult to distill the numbers. For one, 30% of applications were rejected because I needed someone based in San Francisco or New York. These applicants either did not live there or had no intention of moving there.

Another 30% of applications came primarily from people working in investment banking.

While these candidates had strong financial knowledge, they weren’t quite what I was looking for. Understanding ventures, especially those in the early stages, is very different from what one does in banking.

Another 20% of applicants were rejected because their documents contained spelling errors.

Some candidates even spelled my name wrong, which bothered me. If your job is to acquire business and you don’t even get your prospect’s name right, you won’t get a response from them.

I ended up taking calls with about 25 candidates.

One candidate who caught my eye and later hired me was Neal Mintz.

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Neal was just so determined to get this job.

Neal basically hired himself

I interviewed Neal for three weeks. We had three calls before meeting in person. Not only did I guide him through the work, I also took him to a founder pitch and got him to give me his opinion after the meeting.

What impressed me about Neal was how well prepared he was. During our conversations, I learned that Neal already knew a lot about my portfolio, be it the companies I invested in or the areas I was excited about. He had detailed questions about specific companies.

At one point I mentioned that I would need to set up a payroll system since I had been running the fund alone. Neal offered to help with this for free, showing what a hustler he was.

You could say that Neal practically hired himself because he was very aggressive, in a good way, when it came to getting the job.

I’m looking for people who are willing to run through walls

If you want a career in venture capital, you need to be determined. Don’t give up and don’t take no for an answer.

Whether it’s applying for a job or looking for a deal, if you want to have any chance at all, you need to be overly prepared for your meetings.

I want to look for people who are willing to walk through walls every day at work.

Of course, I will never ask you to clean a bathroom, but I need to know that you would be willing to do it if I asked.

I don’t care if you come in as my chief of staff or as a general partner, you have to be ready to roll up your sleeves and get things done. I want to hire people who don’t give up, don’t give up, and are determined to get things done no matter what.