'Crea tu Startup Día 37' Plan de personas

Business summary

The session combines an interview with Jorge Anduis of InProfit, a marketing and digital-transformation agency, and a lesson by Lorena on building a startup people plan.

Startup strategy and operations

• Find a market gap where the founders have an advantage. InProfit’s founders saw an opportunity to combine marketing with technology—an approach now commonly associated with MarTech—at a time when relatively few agencies in Spain offered it.
• Balance founder passion with market viability. Jorge argued that entrepreneurship is difficult and starts from zero, so founders need both commitment to the idea and evidence that a market exists.
• Scale in stages, using realistic goals. InProfit focused first on surviving three years, then five. At six years, its next milestone was reaching ten. Jorge cautioned against “zero to €1 million in a year” promises, especially for bootstrapped startups.
• Use research to test the opportunity. The founders combined Google Trends, competitor benchmarking, and SEO/SEM tools such as SEMrush and SE Ranking. They also studied US industry sources to anticipate trends they expected might later reach Spain.
• Choose partnerships based on overlap and incentives. Jorge advised against partnering with direct competitors in his highly competitive agency market. Instead, InProfit worked with complementary providers—such as business-management software implementers—to offer clients a broader service. He noted that collaboration with competitors may make sense in other sectors, such as retail sellers with different products serving similar customers.
• Treat the business plan and MVP as early-stage proof. For a startup without operating history, Jorge said investors look for a credible business plan, a minimum viable product or project, and financial assumptions that support profitability, scalability, and a plausible return on investment. His agency itself was funded by the partners, not outside investors.

Customer acquisition and sales playbook

InProfit began without clients and tested multiple routes to market:

• Start with direct outreach and digital demand generation. The founders used cold calls and in-person visits while testing which channels worked. They later stopped visiting prospects without first doing some form of digital outreach.
• Build a conversion-focused website. The site included sales funnels and lead-capture landing pages with forms for contact details.
• Combine long- and short-term channels. SEO was a longer-term investment, so the company paired it with paid campaigns while waiting for organic results.
• Prioritize channels by economics. For B2B leads, InProfit used Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads. Jorge said Google Ads produced better profitability and more manageable conversion costs; LinkedIn could reach a professional audience but was very expensive.
• Add channels as the business develops. Once it had its own contact database, the agency added email marketing. It also used digital press for brand awareness, trade fairs and industry events for reputation, and television appearances to strengthen brand image rather than generate direct revenue.
• Adjust pricing to the market. Jorge said price was more decisive for domestic Spanish customers than for some European clients, so the agency adjusted prices and promotions according to the customer segment and offer.

People plan: framework and operating process

Lorena defined the people plan as a living roadmap for attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining a team, aligned with company goals and culture. It should be documented even when a startup has only one or two people, then updated as the business grows.

Organization and roles

• Document the organizational chart, reporting lines, responsibilities, and expected contributions.
• Clarify who makes decisions and who reports to whom to reduce duplicated work, gaps, delays, and internal conflict.
• Revisit the structure as the company scales; a functional setup may need to become matrix-based when the business takes on multiple projects.

Capabilities and contributions

• Specify role-specific technical skills—for example, programming, data analytics, UX, or agile methods such as Scrum.
• Identify soft skills such as teamwork, adaptability, conflict resolution, proactivity, and continuous learning.
• Include strategic capabilities, such as aligning work with company goals, serving customers, and focusing on results.
• Define contributions beyond task execution: business growth, workplace culture, innovation, and brand reputation. Front-line employees may have useful customer insights, so listen to their improvement suggestions.

Recruitment and selection

• Name specific recruiting channels, such as LinkedIn and relevant university or institute career services.
• Define selection criteria and make the process match the role: interviews for soft skills, technical tests for specialist roles, and work samples or campaign examples for marketing candidates.
• Document each step—screening, evaluation, and decision-making—so the process is consistent when responsibilities change.
• AI tools can help screen CVs using relevant keywords, but candidates should also demonstrate the skills and experience required.
• Aim for a strong role fit to shorten ramp-up time and reduce the costs of poor hiring and turnover.

Employment, compensation, and development

• Choose contract types based on the role, duration, and local rules; Lorena recommended written contracts and advice from a labor-law expert.
• Set a clear compensation policy that is fair, competitive, and aligned with company objectives.
• Plan periodic performance reviews, internal or external training, and support for professional growth.
• Use feedback to identify strengths, development needs, training opportunities, and potential promotions.

Motivation and retention

• Support a respectful, healthy work environment and recognize achievements.
• Consider incentives such as commissions, bonuses, flexible compensation, or time off, where appropriate.
• Offer career paths, transparent communication, and a sense of belonging to the company’s actual—not just stated—culture.
• In sales, avoid relying only on pressure: review whether targets are realistic and whether employees have the resources and support to meet them.

Performance management and cross-functional accountability

The discussion emphasized setting goals at both the department and company level. Sales may be measured on sales targets, while logistics can be measured on delivery times or service quality. Management should then connect those operational indicators to the overall customer experience.

For example, a salesperson may close a deal, but a late shipment can still damage the customer relationship. Managers should identify where the customer journey broke down, investigate the cause, support the responsible team, and check whether the fix worked. Before dismissing an underperforming employee, the speakers recommended setting expectations, reviewing performance, giving feedback, and providing guidance.

Google case study: test and improve people practices

A video presented Google as an example of experimentation in talent management. It described the company’s efforts to create an attractive workplace, then its response to turnover among first-time managers. The account said Google reframed managers as leaders responsible for listening, supporting professional growth, and communicating effectively.

The video also contrasted Google’s unusual puzzle-style interview questions with structured behavioral interviews based on candidates’ past examples. According to the case study, Google found the latter more useful for identifying candidates. The broader lesson was to measure the impact of workplace initiatives, keep what works, and change what does not.

Metrics, figures, and timelines mentioned

• InProfit: Founded six years before the interview; Jorge said it was approaching its seventh year.
• Milestones: Survive the first three years, then five; the next stated goal was ten years.
• Revenue volatility: Jorge illustrated that startup billing can vary sharply, with hypothetical monthly examples ranging from €500 or €1,000 to €10,000 or €50,000. These were examples, not reported InProfit results.
• Startup revenue consistency: Jorge estimated that around 80% of startups do not have consistent revenue. This was his general estimate, not a cited industry statistic.
• Performance reviews: Commonly semiannual or annual; a new employee’s first review may occur after three months. Sales reviews may be monthly or weekly depending on the business and target-setting cadence.
• Investor returns: Jorge said investors may expect to recover an initial investment over a timeframe ranging from two to ten years, depending on the case.
• Google case video: Cited 6,000 CVs per day and a workforce of nearly 150,000. It also described the management-turnover issue as being identified in 2009 and a new HR leader joining in 2010. These figures were presented in the video, not independently verified in the session.

Actionable recommendations

• Validate the market with trend data, competitor analysis, and customer evidence before committing to a growth plan.
• Set achievable milestones and protect cash flow; avoid committing to recurring payroll or office costs before revenue is dependable.
• Test acquisition channels, compare their conversion economics, and expand the mix only as the business builds data and budget.
• Make partner fit, role clarity, and legal structure explicit early; seek specialist advice on contracts, taxes, and ownership arrangements.
• Write down the people plan, including role requirements, recruiting steps, performance indicators, compensation, training, and retention practices.
• Align targets with actual capacity—people, equipment, and operations—and evaluate the full customer journey rather than just individual departmental results.
• Treat workplace programs and hiring methods as experiments: gather feedback and data, retain effective approaches, and revise the rest.

Presenters and sources

• Jorge Anduis, introduced as responsible for business development at InProfit.
• Lorena, instructor leading the people-plan lesson.
• Google workplace-culture case-study video, embedded and discussed during the lesson; no specific producer was identified in the subtitles.