Hiring feels hard. We chase culture fit. We obsess over “value alignment.” And yes, they matter. But if I’m honest, I’d bet that 95% of failed hires come down to one boring thing: bad, or nonexistent, job descriptions especially in small companies.
I’ve seen it in my own businesses, and I’ve seen it when friends ask me why their new hire isn’t working out. If the role itself isn’t clear, no amount of culture magic will fix it.
Over the years, here’s what I’ve learned makes a job description actually work:
1️⃣ Purpose – why the role exists at all
2️⃣ Reporting – who they answer to
3️⃣ Company intro – why someone should be excited to join
4️⃣ Objectives – the real outcomes you expect
5️⃣ Day-to-day duties – what they’ll actually be doing
It sounds simple, but most job descriptions I see are either vague (“we just need a VA”) or contradictory (“do our marketing and fix IT”). No wonder the hires don’t stick.
So before you go looking for “the perfect cultural fit,” ask yourself: would a smart, motivated person even know how to succeed in this role? That clarity is where good hiring really starts.
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They Cut Us Out. And Here’s What They Lost.
And no, I’m not mad. But I do want to tell you what they gave up.
Here’s what happened.
Two months after we placed a fantastic team member with a client, the client ended the contract. They went direct, cutting us out — even though it was against the agreement.
It’s a common assumption. They saw a great hire and figured they could just go direct and keep the magic going. From the outside, it looked like we added a markup and then disappeared.
But here’s what many business owners forget when they think like that.
We didn’t just plug in a person and walk away.
We listened when they told us what they needed.
We politely disagreed and recalibrated the role so it made more sense.
We filtered over a thousand candidates across three time zones.
We onboarded, aligned, and coached through the first thirty days.
We ran reviews, check-ins, and gave her a roadmap to thrive.
We stayed in the background to solve problems before they turned into churn.What they saw was a great hire.
What they missed was the system behind her success.Great hires aren’t just people. They’re the product of systems, coaching, and care.
If you’re not hiring every week, you don’t have hiring systems. You don’t have a ready pipeline or a backup plan. You don’t have time to coach, review, and replace.
And that’s the invisible value a good agency brings. It acts like a fractional HR department, always there to step in.
So yes, they saved money on paper. But with the next hire, they’ll be starting from scratch — without the systems that made this one thrive.
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I Met a Billionaire. Here’s What Really Changed.
Founders think meeting a billionaire will chance their business. I met one. What did it change?” Last week, I spent a few days on Necker Island with Richard Branson as part of an Entrepreneurs’ Organization event. Beautiful setting, incredible hospitality, unforgettable activities. I expected some great insights and learnings from the conversations with Richard himself, an entrepreneur who’s achieved what we all can only dream about. Here’s what I didn’t expect: The most valuable conversations didn’t happen with Sir R, they happened with the other entrepreneurs in the room. People solving problems in businesses with real constraints. People asking the same questions I’m asking. What stayed with me wasn’t a quote from the stage or a moment of brilliance from Sir R. It was the honesty in late-night conversations. The feeling of being seen and understood among peers. The shared challenges and the practical ideas. The feeling of, “Oh, you’re dealing with that, too?” For me, inspiration doesn’t come from proximity to icons, it comes from relatable peers. People who understand my world because they’re living in it. And that’s the reason I keep coming back to EO over and over again, for the peer-to-peer learning that actually changes how I lead. The trip was unforgettable, the setting was surreal, but the real value? → The people sitting next to me, not the one standing on the pedestal. Renie Cavallari Santiago Roa Rebecca Massicotte Jane Bianchini
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Surf Pursuit
The Big Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question.
