Interview with Nikolay Manolov, co-founder of XOR. Be great together powered by Tekwill Section.
This interview is not the first about XOR, it’sabout changes in XOR. Because when a company raises 8 million investments from US venture capital funds and investors in six months, it inevitably adjusts its strategy. At least, given the very fact that investment is the fuel that enables planning what previously seemed impossible.
Nikolay, I get confused from time to time, but I want to be precise. You didn’t raise 8 million, but a little more...
Eight million and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
What will the investments be directed to? As some people hear the word “million” and immediately imagine the founders of BMW or Porsche…
You know that I walk throughout Chisinau (and San Francisco) or use taxi. Our time with Aida (Nikolay’s partner) to drive supercars will come later, after a couple more rounds of investments. Although I'm not sure that this is interesting to us. And the investments will be used for the technical and organizational development of XOR. First of all, to strengthen the sales team. When you have a successful product, you should particularly focus on sales.
About a year has passed since you started sales from the Chisinau office. Are you satisfied with the results? Is the vector for the next year maintained or adjusted?
We are definitely satisfied with the results. The attracted investments are a reaction of investors precisely to the results shown by XOR. As for the organization of sales in the US market, we’ll make a number of adjustments to our business processes.
The experience of the past year showed that the Chisinau office copes very well with the task of lead generation. Beginning of negotiations, beginning of transaction - this part of the business process has proven its effectiveness. As for closing transactions, especially when it comes to large companies, and, therefore, a whole series of rounds of negotiations, compliance with the culture of concluding transactions in large corporations, with tens and hundreds of thousands of employees, should be strengthened.
How do you do this?
Specialization. Aida has now remained in San Francisco and is completing the establishment of the American sales team. At the beginning, there will be five professionals with experience in sales in our field. As for the Chisinau office, we’ll strengthen the “leadgen”. Recruiting people who will work based on already established technologies and beginning negotiations, which, then, will be transferred to complete transactions in the United States.
Who do you need, draw a portrait of the “ideal” employee for lead generation...
English. Knowledge of English are required. The age is, probably, 20-25. That is, we don’t have any age restrictions, but it seems to me that this is the ideal age to start a career in an international company.
So, career or lead generation?
We shall begin with lead generation. We’ll send the most successful ones to the American office to build new skills. The career can then be built both in sales and in the Customer Success Department.
Did you mean the Customer Support Department?
Definition is very important. Just support is already outdated. Our products are understandable enough so that the customer does not have many questions during their use. Now the goal is the customer’s success. Renewing contracts is much simpler when the customer clearly understands what progress our decisions brought in the development of their business.
Let’s go back to the requirements for the new staff ...
Work from 16 to 24 hours five days a week. Last year it became clear that this is a very comfortable schedule. Our employees have time to sleep enough and do a lot of personal business in the first half of the day. And two days off are enough for personal life when building a future career. You understand that an intelligent person in XOR will not only see his/her work area. I think that just diving into the “kitchen” of an international start-up is already a unique experience in order to start your project in 3-5 years.
What will the new employees specifically do?
There is already an established practice. It’s working with LinkedIn and email databases. Communication, correspondence and establishing the first contact when the manager, on the other hand, is interested in presenting the XOR product. Further, the American office will work with the customer. The work is not difficult if you have communication skills. For five days, our employees prepare newcomers and they can be sent to “the battle”. Perhaps we’ll implement mentoring programs of work. We think about it...
Salary?
Achieving the goals related to the leads that we set already in the first month can provide you with a salary about $ 700. A good “leadgen” can earn one and a half thousand a month. Well, further career depends only on your skills. There is much to grow in XOR.
Let’s talk a little about it. About growth. What's new in the company? We’ve not met for a couple of months, I’m sure that there are news …
Firstly, the growth rate. Based on the company’s assessment, the second investment, and it was made in many respects by the same players as the first one, was three times higher than the investment made in spring. Not a bad date, isn’t it? Increasing its own value three times over the summer? XOR today is one of the fastest growing companies in the world in its segment.
Secondly, we found the real G point in the business requests for our services. Now we, in fact, provide artificial intelligence services to solve the staff gap problem...
Give more detail...
We started with recruiting automation, removed the routine work that recruiters hate so much. Thus, we can say that we’ve solved a part of the tasks of reducing the “staff gap” - the influx of new job applicants. But there is one more problem. Resignations. This is the second side of the “staff gap” coin. Now we are automating this part of the work. We carry out surveys that regularly “fly away” to the employees of the company. The AI analyzes the results, identifies the “risk zone” of those employees who may plan to leave due to dissatisfaction with any problems in the company, and informs the HR Department about this. An interview conducted on time and the problem resolved can in many cases prevent a resignation, which means narrowing the staff gap.
And in a world where staff becomes increasingly valuable, the staff gap is for sure a lost profit.
By the way, will the Moldovan market get anything from your products? Or will one of your start-up’s homelands remain “without shoes”?
We’ve seriously thought about it. Of course, we do not expect any mega returns. But we’ll soon provide some of the solutions to the Moldovan market as well.
OK. Let’s finish, as in the past, with a link to the chatbot so that job applicants willing to work in XOR can pass an interview, agree?
Agree.
Wait, I haven’t talked about the month of HR conferences ...
Talk.
All started with a large-scale HR TECH conference in Las Vegas. It was a “fire,” plus desert, plus still 28 degrees. From there I fly to Moscow, to two conferences where I was supposed to speak, I leave the plane, and it’s minus one outside.
Nevertheless you spoke, didn’t you?
I spoke, but I had to go from the airport to get a jacket, Moscow by its climate is definitely not Vegas and not Chisinau, by the way, where I always feel warmer ...
Everyone already knows about your love for Chisinau, better tell us what your speeches were about?
I spoke to HR directors, mainly. The hottest topic was artificial intelligence in HR. No one belittles the human factor, but the AI begins to cope increasingly better with large amounts of information and requests. And also during this time in Moscow I “captured” an excellent sales specialist for XOR. With contacts and experience.
Did you act as an artificial intelligence and a recruiter at the same time?
No, the AI was XOR. This job applicant also came to us via chatbot…
Then I repeat the link for the Moldovan job applicants so that they do not scroll up …
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