⚡ Siddharth Gopi

I’m building TopHire.co. On this blog, I write about things that interest me - company building, hiring, productivity, communication, useful resources & more.

Articles

What is one thing I can do to make this better? 7 July 2024 Take any piece of work that you are about to submit: 1. could be a spreadsheet/doc you are about to share with your team 2. could be a feature you are coding out 3. could even be a response to a question your CEO asked you Right before you
The bare minimum to pass an interview 30 May 2024 Most of the stuff I've put here are bare minimum to make a good impression. Beyond that, it's your substance and calibre that will land you the job. Before interview starts 1. Research the panelists well. Go through their linkedin in detail, understand their org hierarchy and where they fit
Show proof if you don't sound believable 23 December 2023 When you say something, reflect on whether it sounds non-believable. A TopHire engineer rescheduled their interview with our client, minutes before their scheduled time due to "unforeseen circumstances". When asked by the client to elaborate, the engineer claimed their sibling fell from the bicycle, sustained minor injuries and needed to
List of open source alternatives to popular products 26 September 2023 Came across this tweet. I'm using it as the starting point and adding to it. https://www.rowy.io/ - airtable https://n8n.io/ - zapier https://github.com/baptisteArno/typebot.io - chat based typeform https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot - zendesk + intercom + front https://posthog.com - hotjar/
Be shameless 21 September 2023 This was an article written by my co-founder Sameer Parwani on a blog that has since been taken offline. Figured I'll share it on my blog instead given that his article is just as relevant 10 years later. By Sameer Parwani, Apr 24, 2013 As an entrepreneur, you have nothing
Don’t be afraid to imitate 21 September 2023 This was an article written by my co-founder Sameer Parwani on a blog that has since been taken offline. Figured I'll share it on my blog instead given that his article is just as relevant 10 years later. By Sameer Parwani, Mar 17, 2013 Not all of us are good
State of India Tech Hiring July 2023 7 August 2023 Posted it on twitter instead of my blog. Click on this tweet below (it takes 5 seconds to load fully) to open the full thread on twitter.com. Lately, tech twitters been depressing. - bad job market - layoffs - engineers applying & not hearing back - talk of things improving
The ripple effects of ZIRP 13 July 2023 I made some notes for myself to trace the effects of the Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) adopted by the US Federal Reserve in Mar 2020. There's also a tweet thread here that covers ZIRP's effects on India Tech hiring. ZIRP as a response to the Covid outbreak The Covid
Constraints teach you to do more with less 26 June 2023 How Money Constraints Help When we were just starting up in late 2018, I remember spending an absurd amount of time if it meant I could save some money for the company or myself. The uncertainty of not knowing whether our startup will generate any revenue was anxiety-inducing. And the
20 lessons from hiring 18 June 2023 As of Dec 2024, TopHire's onboarded close to 600 teammates over the lifetime of our company. This number includes people that have already left. I estimate that I've personally interviewed 1300+ candidates over the last 6 years or so. Sameer Parwani my co-founder has probably interviewed 4-7 times more candidates
What our hiring rubric looks like 15 June 2023 The rest of this article is the reproduction of an internal document we share with hiring managers to help standardise the way in which candidates are assessed at TopHire. Feel free to steal it and incorporate into your company's interview process. How to score candidates Right after you are done
The invisible questions behind the literal question 2 June 2023 If I ask a colleague "How is this project going?", it's generally (but not always) rooted in me wondering why it's taking longer than expected. In the array of responses I've received, "yeah its going fine." is the worst. It's a bad, evasive response that shows that the responder is
Why you should do trials with candidates 28 May 2023 The Trial Week is arguably the most important part of the hiring process at TopHire. It gives us unparalleled insight into whether a candidate will do well with us. What is a Trial? At TopHire, we have candidates do a trial with us in order to give both them and
Becoming immune to manipulation 27 May 2023 On a weekly basis, each of us is likely getting manipulated multiple times in some way or the other. They aren't scam per se, but these companies and individuals employ tactics to influence our purchasing behaviour. The examples in this post aren't meant to highlight how we are victims. Rather
The 2nd order effects of your actions 22 May 2023 What we colloquially refer to as an "immature" person is someone who doesn't think through things before saying or doing something. Not thinking through things refers to not thinking through the 2nd order effects of your own actions. I've seen 23 year olds who are good at thinking through 2nd
Traits of mediocrity 21 May 2023 Inspired by Carl Pei's chat with Kunal Shah but I'm adding my own pointers. Freshers: * No eagerness * Requires followup * Whining (or lack of agency) * Inability to get into the details * Doesnt know how to impress manager * Doesn't have corporate common sense * Lack of obsession when it comes to anything * They
Make it hard for someone to lie to you 12 April 2023 Be tactful in the way you get information out of someone. Let's say a dealbreaker for you when it comes to dating is someone who does hard drugs like Cocaine. Now on your first call with a Bumble prospect, if you phrased your question as "Please tell me you don't
How my co-founder and I handle disagreements around important decisions 17 January 2023 At the underlying level, the both of us know we'd always do what we believe is in the best interests of the company. The incentives are fully aligned. We'd also always do what's right for the long term even if it may mean pain in the short term - this
21 ways to develop your Corporate Common Sense 17 January 2023 I'm making a separate list for how to do well in your job and get promoted. But in the meanwhile, here's a list of the bare minimum you should do. 1. If your manager is asking you a question, anticipate all the follow up questions and answer them also. If
Don't be a "5 star rating" manager 1 January 2023 The idea behind "5 star rating manager" was something I've read online some time ago. But can't recall where exactly. Email me if you know the original source. In the meanwhile, I've shared my own interpretation of it. A "5-star manager" is someone who is too lenient with their subordinates
It's okay to not know the answer to a question 1 January 2023 Let's say I'm on a sales call and I don't know the answer to a question that I'm asked, I'd default to responding with one of the following: "I'm not sure, but let me find out and tell you". And then follow through. "I believe the answer to your question
28 travel tips 15 December 2022 I like planning, organizing and optimizing my travel and vacations. This doesn't mean I'm rigid about how things pan out during the vacation itself. If anything, being well prepared and pre-addressing the possible snags takes care of the basics, so that the finer details like I what do on the
49 gym and workout tips 18 November 2022 Back in 2016, my weight went up to ~89kgs. It was the heaviest I’ve been. Through workouts & dieting, I reduced it to ~75kgs within 2 months. And I’ve been oscillating between 77-85kgs over the last several years. As of Oct ‘22 though, my weight is ~76kgs. I can
Ultimate guide to doing reference checks 2 October 2020 Introduction Reference checks are amongst the highest leverage activities when it comes to making an informed decision about whether to hire a candidate. It’s been a year or so since we at TopHire came across a podcast by Tarun Davda, an MD at Matrix Partners. That served a solid
How to deal with differences in opinion 26 February 2018 Being able to maneuver differences in opinion is key to building strong relationships in your work or personal life. It’s uncomfortable but inevitable if you want to mean something in an organization. Mindset Leave your egos out of the discussion. Two ways to do this: 1) Assume you are
Learning how to code 1 December 2016 Background At some point after starting my first job, I'd made up my mind that I wanted to eventually become an internet entrepreneur. And to do that, I realized I needed to develop a variety of skills such as Marketing, Product Management, Software Development, Sales, etc. And I found my
How to apply for startup jobs 11 November 2016 Whether you’re a recent graduate, looking to switch jobs or took a break and want to get back into the scene, these tips might make your employer prospecting phase easier. Step 1 Spend a week and make a list of companies you want to be a part of. The