Ten-X Talent
Helping tech company founders and leaders design, align, and motivate their teams
The default approach to building tech startups
The Chicken Bus Strategy
A chicken bus is a common form of transportation in developing countries. It involves stacking people, their livestock, and other random items inside and on top of a barely serviceable truck. Repairs to the truck are improvised and often made while the vehicle is in motion. Passenger comfort, let alone safety, is not a priority.Startups often follow a similar approach when it comes to building their teams. In the early days, it works - getting the company from zero to one doesn't need to be pretty.But things start to go sideways when it's time to scale. And, like the Chicken Bus, the results can be disastrous. Hiring mistakes pile up, poison culture, and derail progress. People Ops infrastructure strains and breaks. Growth stalls.
About Ten-X Talent
Talent strategy by Design, not by default
Ten-X Talent helps tech company founders and leaders design, align, and motivate their teams. Engagements begin with a deep-dive Talent Audit, understanding overall company strategic objectives (the company you want to become), mapping these to current talent and people ops capabilities (the company you are today), and recommending a plan of action to bring the two into alignment.Post-Audit work includes implementing stage-appropriate recruiting and people ops capabilities; delivering executive training programs; filling critical roles through thoughtfully curated talent introductions, and; leadership coaching.
Build the Right Bus for Your Team
It's been said that success is all about putting the right people on the bus. This is definitely true. But achieving scalable, repeatable success also requires company leaders to design and build, with intention, the bus itself.
Meet Robert Hatta
Over the past 15 years, I have worked with hundreds of early and growth stage tech startups as a partner within VC funds, guiding founders to understand and implement strategies that grow their teams with intention and, ultimately, build more successful companies.I spent my early career building and launching new products for tech companies that include Apple, Netflix, and Virgin Mobile (as well as a bunch of failed startups you likely never heard of). Throughout, I learned the anatomy of world-class teams, how to build them, and how to align them through culture and communication.I am also an avid world traveler, visiting over 50 countries so far. I've spent my fair share of time on the Chicken Bus, both figuratively and literally.