????光聽到“現金流”這個詞就足以讓初創企業的首席執行官心驚膽戰。企業家們常常會聽到這方面的訓誡，即在企業成長期做好現金流管理非常重要。熱門公司如果資金短缺，無法滿足公司擴張的需要，就會因壓力過大而崩潰。

????然而，在企業創始人為實現夢想而打拼、歷盡千辛萬苦建立起來的公司終于開始起飛的時候，如何管理“人才流”也非常重要，而且同樣具有挑戰性。要找到合適的、有技術專長且愿意在初創企業工作的人才，是一件相當費時的事情，而且爭奪非常激烈。公司未來是成功上市，還是淪為一家普通企業？人才管理方面的做法對此將產生直接的影響。

????利亞?布斯克是跑腿網站TaskRabbit公司創始人。這家位于舊金山的公司旨在幫助業務繁忙人士與愿意代替他人處理瑣事和其他服務來獲取收入的人實現對接。他說：“發布招聘啟事，然后坐等接收簡歷，這是不夠的。我們的做法是讓應聘者與公司團隊相處一段時間，并進行若干輪由團隊成員參與的面試。我們要找的不僅僅有技術能力的人。是否能夠融入公司才是最重要的。”

????布斯克說，跟大公司比起來，小型公司的招聘可以說是雙向選擇。求職者要向公司高管證明自己的能力，公司同樣需要向心儀的應聘者證明公司的實力。對迫切需要找到新員工的公司來說，招聘任務顯得尤為艱巨，部分原因是現有員工的工作負荷已經到達極限。

????TaskRabbit公司現有35名員工。這一類的公司沒有足夠資源來保有全職的人力資源職員，所以為了發展壯大，公司不得不采用創新途徑來招兵買馬。

????布斯克利用舊金山灣區的編程員和工程師社交網絡來招聘工程師和設計師。TaskRabbit公司還制作了宣傳視頻來展現公司最具價值的賣點之一，那就是公司的辦公室文化。

????該視頻用搖鏡頭拍攝了公司的辦公場所，畫面包括人們三五成群聚在休息室里吃午餐，狗狗們無憂無慮地臥在桌子旁邊。視頻內容還包括員工探討如何平衡工作與生活的關系（一位工程師身著運動服正在進行馬拉松訓練，告訴人們，員工擁有工間外出鍛煉的自由度）、公司面臨的挑戰以及同事間的氛圍。

????布斯克說，“這段視頻確實能幫助應聘者了解公司的環境。在就業市場上有很多優質的工作機會。我們期望找到杰出的人才，而應聘者同樣也期望尋找出色的工作機會。”

????很多小公司因為收到的簡歷太少而煩惱，但也有很多小公司擔心收到的簡歷過多。因為從這些從紙面上看起來大同小異的應聘者之中進行篩選，也是一樁令人泄氣的煩心事。

????Just hearing the words "cash flow" can send a startup CEO into a panic, and for good reason. Entrepreneurs are frequently lectured on the importance of managing cash as their businesses grow, and hot companies can implode when they run out of money to support their expansion.

????But "talent flow" can be just as important -- and as challenging -- to manage when a founder's wildest dreams come true and the company she has risked everything to build is finally taking off. Finding the right people, the ones who have the technical skills and the desire to work at a startup, is both time-consuming and competitive. How a company approaches this task can mean the difference between an IPO and a plain old P.U.

????"It's less about putting up a job posting and waiting for resumes to start flowing in," says Leah Busque, founder of TaskRabbit, a San Francisco-based company that puts busy people in touch with others willing to do chores and a variety of other services for a fee. "Bringing people in to spend time with the team, doing rounds of interviews with team members is what we do. We're not just looking for technical competencies. Fit is the most important thing."

????Perhaps more than in the corporate world, recruiting at smaller companies is a two-way street, Busque says. Companies need to prove themselves to potential employees as much as job seekers need to prove themselves to executives. This can be particularly daunting when a company has an immediate need for new workers, in part because the current staff is already being pushed to their limit.

????Companies like TaskRabbit, which now has 35 employees, don't have the resources to bring on a full-time human resources staffer, so they need to get creative when they want to grow.

????Busque has used Bay Area programmer and engineer social networks to recruit engineers and designers. TaskRabbit also created a video showing off one of its most valuable selling points, its office culture.

????With panning shots of the company's offices, featuring a game room, groups of people eating lunch together, and seemingly happy dogs sitting next to desks, the video includes interviews with employees discussing work-life balance (an engineer training for a marathon and dressed in running clothes mentions the freedom to go for a run during work), the challenges the company faces, and the collegial atmosphere.

????"It really provides context for people who are applying," Busque says. "There are so many great jobs out there. We're looking for someone who is unique, and those candidates are looking for something unique as well."

????While many small companies fret about getting too few resumes, many also fear getting far too many. Wading through dozens of candidates who all look similar on paper can be a disheartening exercise.