Episode 29: Chris Ruder, Founder and CEO of Spikeball
Chris founded Spikeball in 2008 and worked late nights for a five years before hiring an employee. Now one of the fastest growing companies in America, Spikeball has been featured on Shark Tank, Forbes, CNN, ESPN2 and more. Chris is featured on this episode of The Best Team Wins podcast sharing his experience building his team at Spikeball.
Want to learn more about Chris and the story behind Spikeball? Click here.
Listen to this episode on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Show notes:
1:44 – What is Spikeball?
2:38- Adam played Spikeball in the Hireology office, this is what happened
3:43 – On hiring Spikeball’s first employee
5:42 – Are you lucky or are you that good at recruiting?
6:16 – How did you know you found your key executive?
7:03 – The importance of autonomy for employees
8:15 – What inform’s Chris’ hiring decisions and the pitfalls of focusing on Ivy Leagues and past employers
9:44 – Favorite interview question
11:10- Conversational interviews vs. “How many ping pong balls can you fit on a 747?”
12:10 – The craziest interview of all-time
13:44 – A bunch of great interview questions
14:41 – Belief vs. Technical Skill
16:55 – The most important quality for a manager to have
19:20 – Culture by intent or by default?
20:33 – Firing for core value violations
21:39 – Trust until you shouldn’t
23:04 – Bringing a remote team together
24:16 – The team huddle and all its challenges
27:22 – Chris recommends Competing Against Luck and explains the “jobs to be done” theory
30:33 – The biggest challenge for Spikeball in the next year
