Alexandra Di Nella, the Founder of YZ Talents, a tech recruitment agency, is an ex-BCG Project Lead and had been working within the technology and digital space for the past 10+ years. Prior to joining BCG, she was building companies for VCs in Berlin and other European capitals. To date, Alexandra is coaching teams in Founders Institute, University of Miami, in VCs competitions on a variety of subjects from idea origination to geographical expansion. Her focus is on operational excellence and technology/product offer.

What inspired you to start your business?

Making a perfect match between the person and the role is an art in itself, so many things are involved! What I find extremely inspirational is the fact that we help our candidates to find the next great opportunity for them and with that, help them achieve their professional goals, all whilst making sure that the candidate is also a right fit for the company- creating a win-win.

Where is your business based?

We are based in London, United Kingdom, and are operating globally.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

I always knew I wanted to have my own business and after 6 years in the industry, I started to make some definitive steps towards that goal. Switching from tech consulting to tech recruitment took a while, I started to source and recruit myself first to get familiar with all the details of the process, interactions, and details in order to then train my own consultants in my own team.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

We are in the business of relationships – referrals are valuable to us both when it comes to the candidates and clients.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Business development had not been easy in 2020. Faced with no human interaction we had to go back to less personal ways of communication (such as Zoom, email, etc).

How do you stay focused?

Plan ahead and set clear targets in advance! I am a big fan of setting goals and KPIs and would advise anyone to adopt this practice. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

Deep technology knowledge: we make sure that all consultants are properly trained via our Academy (based on which we published a course this year called “The Good recruiter & Co”), which covers everything from communication standards to the technicalities of each role.

Individual approach: we prefer to focus on the area of our expertise and remain boutique and very close to the client, which allows us to respond with speed and agility to challenges our clients face. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

We issue a monthly newsletter to the candidates in our database providing helpful tips on how to get the role they want. Often, we get referrals from our candidates, which we value very much as it shows the trust in our team. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Not every client is your ideal client. It is alright to say “no” and that is ok.

Evaluate what industries, client size, growth rate works for you and your business and assemble the criteria to follow when searching for the client base. 

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Calendly & Zoom – I have lots of calls and it reduced the admin by quite a bit! 

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

The recruitment business cannot live without ATS, we use the same ATS at the Netflix team and it is amazing.

Who is your business role model? Why?

Entrepreneurs go through very individualized journeys, so I would only like to compare myself with myself in 10 years and with the goals I set.

How do you balance work and life?

Planning –I have a to-do list for each week which is prioritized, and I tackle the tasks day by day. Planning and scheduling the calls and longer tasks makes sure that I have a breathing space when I need to focus and that I am not late with any urgent tasks. 

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Yoga and meditation!

What do you have planned for the next six months?

The goal for the first half of 2021 is to grow our international presence in emerging tech hubs such as Brazil and Canada. We expect for many roles to be remote, which opens the doors for the global talent market, I aspire to seize the opportunity.

How can our readers connect with you?

Feel free to email me: adinella@yztalents.com