Elephants: The Most Important System I Have
How a small group of peers, radical honesty, and 8 years of showing up changed my life.
Mike Overell
Recent content on Mike Overell
Latest posts
Where Should We Ski?
I've spent maybe 30 hours researching ski trips over two years. Last week I spent 5 building a tool so I never have to again.
2025 in Review
What I shipped, what I learned, a new personal mission.
17 Qualities of the Perfect Early Startup Hire
Finding the perfect early startup hire is no easy task. Start with identifying the characteristics you need from this person.
2020 in Review
The year felt like a decade, but I'm grateful for so much. Let's get vaccinated!
Doing Hard Things Right
If you’re a founder or business leader faced with doing hard things in this hot mess, try to do them right.
2018 In Review
2018 was a year of refuelling—financially, physically, emotionally. After burning out in 2017, I made three decisions that changed everything.
A Personal Transition
After 7 years building RecruitLoop, I stepped back from my operating role. What I learned about letting go of something you started.
Prediction: 3 Mega Deals That Will Reshape HR Tech
A year ago I wrote that “ 2016 was a watershed year in recruitment tech ” with a flood of investment, new entrants and mega M&A. I deliberately avoided predictions, but did wonder about potential responses from other big players following Microsoft’s $26B acquisition of LinkedIn. We didn’t have to wait long, as Google has quietly but ominously entered the fray with Google for Jobs and Google Hire…
A Digital Detox
I'm taking a 30-day break from all social networks. Here's why—and what I hope to learn about my own habits.
The History Of Innovation In Recruitment Technology And Services
This post was originally published on Techcrunch . “You have to know the past to understand the present” – Carl Sagan 2016 is a watershed moment for the recruitment industry. LinkedIn and Monster are being acquired, and Careerbuilder is for sale – three of the highest-profile tech companies in the space. Microsoft is making a grand entrance, while cashed-up incumbents watch closely from the…
Going Remote First
Last month RecruitLoop shifted from a remote ‘friendly’ company to ‘Remote First’. This wasn’t a huge shift as we’ve had remote in our DNA from the very beginning. But it was an important change, that pushed us to formalise our thinking and philosophies around remote work. Below is an internal blog post I shared with the team in early September, along with a…
4 Nontraditional Workplaces Practices That Win
This post was originally published at CorpMagazine . Businesses today aren’t just competing to grab the attention of consumers; they’re also fighting to win the best possible talent. Perks, benefits, and practices like parental leave become weapons in the fight. With more young workers freelancing or becoming self-employed — and 60 percent of those who seek in-house positions leaving within three…
10 Platforms Powering the Next Generation of Small Business
This post was first published in The Huffington Post . Small business is the driving force of the economy, contributing 64 percent of all new private-sector jobs . But almost every small business struggles with scarce resources, expertise and technology to efficiently operate and grow. New online platforms are now transforming the way small businesses operate in every industry. Online platforms…
Australian Road Trip; 2006
I found this article on my hard drive today and it made me smile. I wrote it ten years ago, and submitted it to a kitesurfing magazine as a travel feature on Australia. It wasn’t published, so I’m publishing it here. I wrote this as a 22 year old uni student who was deep into kitesurfing. I’d skip class when the wind was up to get time on the water. This was the first of a few big Australian road…
Why you wont see our baby on Facebook
We had a baby last year. Her name is Zuni Dawn and shes the best thing that ever happened to me. But you wouldn’t know it from looking at my social media accounts. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, she doesn’t exist – beyond an obligatory announcement of her birth. It’s not because we don’t care. We love her more than anything in the world and have seen our lives transform into an obsession of firsts,…
The Runs I Love
I identify distinct phases of my life based on running tracks. Bondi to Bronte. The Embarcadero. Each one marks a chapter.
Monoculture Sucks: The case for diversity in startup teams.
Diverse teams are better. A quick case for building startups with people who don't look, think, or work like you.
Open Sourced Feedback as Startup CEO
We just ran my first CEO performance review. I asked our chairman to share the feedback—unfiltered—with the whole team.
The Year End Walk
Every year our founding team closes out with a long walk in nature. It's become our favorite tradition.
3 Things I Learnt At InfluenceHR (NYC 2013)
I was in NYC last week, for the second InfluenceHR Event. I missed the first, in San Francisco earlier this year. Which I now regret. It was a top-quality event. Hyper focused on ‘Tech companies marketing to the HR buyer’, with content tailored exclusively towards that market. No schedule-fillers here. The content was engaging, and highly targeted. This was also reflected in the quality of the…
Startup Funding ≠ Wealth + Success
RecruitLoop just raised a seed round. I'm thrilled—but raising money doesn't mean you've made it. Not even close.
The functional Mac App Stack for a non-tech founder
I recently upgraded to a Macbook 13 Retina. It felt long overdue, having spent +80 hours per week for the past 3 years on my old Macbook Pro. I was initially considering a Macbook Air. They’re so sleek. But one look at the retina screen in 13 inches ruined me. It’s a joy, and there’s no going back. Over the past 3 years I’d collected a frightening stack of applications; a symptom of my willingness…
Life as a Startup Founder-Recruiter: Our First Key Hires
Every startup founder complains about finding the right talent. There's sweet irony in seeing founders of a recruitment startup face similar challenges.
Moving to America
In January we decided to move from Sydney to San Francisco. Four weeks later we were on a plane. Here's why.
Sydney to San Francisco: The First 2 Weeks
An Aussie goes Valley. My first two weeks in San Francisco, originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
How I'm Getting Sh*t Done With Trello
My productivity system after trying GTD, Omnifocus, and Asana. A simple Trello framework for managing tasks and weekly priorities.
How LinkedIn is Eating the Recruitment Industry
My ERE.net article on LinkedIn's disruption of traditional recruiting generated heated debate. The original piece with reader reactions.
The One Thing You Can Do Best Globally
I’ve heard this sentiment expressed in different ways for startups. “ Find your one thing ” “ Focus ” “ The OMTM ” (one metric that matters). At SydStart today (Sydney’s biggest startup event), it was repeated in a way that somehow stuck with me: Find the one thing you can be the best at globally. Make sure everyone on your team fully believes it. Then pursue it at the expense of anything else. –…
Avoiding Startup Bravado
I enjoyed a post from Brad Feld today about ’ having a wake for failed startups ’. He encourages startup founders to celebrate failures as an inevitable part of the journey. More so, it’s a call for others in the community to lead the celebration, because people going through it are very likely swamped by negative emotions. We experienced this recently at the Fishburners community in Sydney. A…
The recruiter moneypot (or, why people don't like recruiters)
When a recruiter justifies poaching staff from non-paying clients, it reveals exactly why people distrust the recruitment industry.
You can't please em all
A memorable piece of live chat feedback that reminded us: when you're making waves, not everyone will be happy about it.
Blackbox Connect: Big Brother meets the Playboy Mansion, for startups
Blackbox Connect . I’ve been back home a week and am still catching up. A 2-week injection of people, ideas and inspiration like an adrenalin shot to the heart. What is it? An intense ‘educational’ program held in a mansion in Atherton (near Palo Alto). A dozen startups from all corners of the globe. A-list speakers and workshops. A hot tub. And some really smart dogs . It’s not an incubator. More…
Sydney Startup Weekend: From the trenches
Field notes from Sydney Startup Weekend 2012: the brutal marketplace for ideas, developer shortage, and lessons from 54 hours of building.
Robert Scoble @ Blackbox Connect
Robert Scoble swung for a night at Blackbox Mansion . RecruitLoop gets some airtime @ 12.30.. ( Source: https://www.youtube.com/ )
Growth hacking your startup with Dan Martell
Week 2 of Blackbox Connect . Off to a blazing start today with Dan Martell , on Social Marketing for Startups. Dan was founder of Flowtown , acquired last year by Demandforce. He’s currently working on another startup , while advising and investing in others. He calls himself a growth hacker. I like that title. It explains what pretty much every startup with lean marketing budget is trying to do.…
The 10 principles of lean user experience
Everything you do is wrong. You just don’t know it yet. It’s Day2 of Blackbox Connect . 12 startups from 10 countries, and an amazing lineup of speakers and sessions over 2 weeks. The team is live blogging here (w/ photos). Today saw the first of 3 sessions with Janice Fraser . She’s cofounder of LUXr (The Lean UX Company), after selling a previous company (Adaptive Path) to Google. Oh, and she…
Bay Area adventure: Day 1
I’ve just landed in San Francisco, after a long flight ex-Sydney. I’ll be in the Bay Area for a bit over 3 weeks, splitting time between StartupHouse and the ’ Blackbox Mansion ’ (more on both of those soon). It’s primarily a trip for learning and connecting. Learning about the environment for startups, launching, recruitment technology, and fundraising. Connecting with people across all those…
Post Office Generation (or, how Microsoft lost)
Why Microsoft Office is losing relevance—and the app stack that replaced it. Google Docs, Dropbox, and Evernote changed how I work.
Statistics and damn lies in employment: Online job ads
Job ad data is a leading employment indicator—except the data isn't reliable. Examining funny business in online job advertising.
Labor Efficiency: The Next Great Internet Disruption
The internet is just beginning to disrupt how we work. Flexible workforces and free-agent careers are coming for everyone.
Small employers, regulation and a declining middle class?
Are small employers shifting jobs offshore to escape regulation? Exploring the link between compliance costs and middle-class decline.
2011: The tech bubble, where Australian venture capital went missing?
2011 was an up and down year, with 2-speed economies across the globe. In Australia, most of the talk has been of a ‘resource’ bubble (with sprinkles of ‘housing’). Elsewhere, froth was brewing from the ‘tech bubble 2.0’. The US (or specifically, Silicon Valley) was the source of most concern. Valuations for early stage companies were ‘crazy’, ‘out of control’ and ‘way too frothy’. It was a topic…
About
Australian in California. Dad of three. I build AI learning products for 45 million kids by day, and figure out how to help my own girls thrive at home.
Contact
Get in touch with Mike Overell.
Music
Music has always been a big part of my life. These are albums I’ve discovered and loved — I add to the list as I find things. I’m also learning piano . 2025 Laini Tani // Laini Tani Priori // This but More James K // Friend Feeo // Goodness Carrier // Rhythm Immortal Burial // Imaginary Festival Oneohtrix Point Never // Tranquilizer ML Buch // Suntub Oklou // choke enough Kelly Moran…
Piano
I started learning piano the year I turned 40. I’d played guitar as a teenager, but hadn’t really improved in years—and never learned systematically. I wanted to try something completely new, with beginner’s mind. To see how I learn best. And to build a deeply human skill I can practice for decades (after the robots take over). This is a personal logbook of that journey. Each of these recordings…
Projects
Research, side projects, and experiments—some that shipped, most that didn't. Currently obsessed with AI and kids.
Reading
A few books that have shaped how I think. Favorites Biographies & Business Titan — Ron Chernow Shoe Dog — Phil Knight Creativity, Inc. — Ed Catmull The Hard Thing About Hard Things — Ben Horowitz Thinking & Decision-Making Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger — Peter Bevelin Antifragile — Nassim Taleb The Most Important Thing — Howard Marks Philosophy & Life Meditations — Marcus Aurelius Letters…
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