Micha Kaufman, the visionary founder and CEO of the freelancer marketplace Fiverr, emphasizes the importance of three key traits in job candidates that he believes are crucial for building a successful team. As of Tuesday morning, Fiverr boasts a market capitalization of $931 million, reflecting its solid position in the freelance industry. Kaufman's journey in entrepreneurship includes founding or co-founding four companies, with Fiverr being his fourth venture. With an extensive experience of interviewing hundreds of job candidates, Kaufman has honed in on what he considers essential characteristics for employees: killer instinct, agility, and curiosity.
Kaufman defines a "killer instinct" as having a deep understanding of the company's mission and a drive to accomplish it. This attribute is vital for those involved in substantial projects like Fiverr Go—a platform featuring AI tools designed to help creators expand their businesses. Agility is another important quality that Kaufman seeks, as it enables individuals to adapt to new situations and challenges effectively. He believes that agility allows employees to remain flexible and responsive in dynamic environments.
Curiosity completes the trio of traits Kaufman values most. He sees it as indicative of a person's willingness to learn and grow. Kaufman appreciates when candidates demonstrate curiosity through their past experiences, particularly by exploring why people behave in certain ways.
"They're curious about why people behave in a certain way." – Micha Kaufman
During interviews, Kaufman delves into candidates' prior successes and failures to gauge these attributes. He believes that understanding how a candidate has navigated past experiences can reveal their agility and curiosity.
"Their curiosity, their agility, all of them are encapsulated with these stories." – Micha Kaufman
Fiverr Go, launched under Kaufman's leadership, demands team members who possess these non-rigid mindsets to thrive. His approach highlights that a rigid mindset is unsuitable for projects requiring innovation and adaptability.
"These are, I think, the types of attributes that you need to have if you want to create a winning team." – Micha Kaufman
With his extensive experience as both a founder and CEO, Kaufman possesses a unique perspective on what constitutes a successful employee. He firmly believes that with a team embodying these traits—killer instinct, agility, and curiosity—anything is possible.
"You can build anything with a team like that." – Micha Kaufman