I’m a VC, and I hired my first staff after he offered to set up payroll for free. He showed me just how far people are willing to go for a VC job.

• Nichole Wischoff screened over 500 applications before making her first hire for her VC fund.
• Wischoff ended up hiring Neal Mintz, a 26-year-old who impressed her with his enthusiasm and drive.
• During the interviews, Mintz offered to set up the firm’s payroll for free.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nichole Wischoff, 34, founder of Wischoff Ventures. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider previously published an essay about her first recruit at Wischoff Ventures, Neal Mintz, and his hiring experience.

Venture capital is a hard industry to get a job in.

If you don’t have rich parents or people that come from the industry to refer you, it’s very hard for you to find an in.

I didn’t come from the industry. I spent most of my career working at startups and had to brute-force my way to starting Wischoff Ventures from scratch.

My path into venture capital has colored my approach toward recruiting. I wanted to find hires like myself — those who might not have gone to Stanford or had some flashy names on their CVs but are willing to outwork any of those people.

Screening through 500 applications to find the perfect hire

I started recruiting for my fund’s first full-time hire earlier this year. I posted the position on LinkedIn and X and got over 500 applications.

Although it seemed a lot, it wasn’t difficult to filter down the numbers. For one, 30% of the applications were rejected because I needed someone based in San Francisco or New York. Those applicants were either not living there or didn’t intend to move there.

Another 30% of the applications mainly came from people working in investment banking.

While those candidates did have a deep background in finance, they weren’t quite what I was looking for. Understanding ventures, especially early-stage ones, is very different from what they did in banking.

Another 20% of applicants were dropped because their documents contained spelling mistakes.

Some candidates even spelled my name wrongly, which bothered me. If your job is to source deals and you can’t even get your prospect’s name right, you won’t hear back from them.

I ended up taking calls with about 25 candidates at the end.

One candidate that struck out to me, who I would later end up hiring, was Neal Mintz.

Neal was just so determined to get this job.

Neal pretty much hired himself

I interviewed Neal over three weeks. We had three calls before meeting in person. In addition to walking him through the job, I also brought him along to a founder pitch and got him to share his assessment with me after the meeting.

What impressed me about Neal was how well-prepared he was. During our calls, I learned that Neal already knew a lot about my portfolio, whether it be the companies I’ve invested in or the areas I was excited about. He had detailed questions about specific companies.

At one point, I mentioned that I would have to set up a payroll system since I’d been operating the fund solo. Neal offered to help do it for free, showing just how much of a hustler he was.

You could say that Neal pretty much hired himself because he was really aggressive, in a good way, about landing the job.

I’m looking for people who are willing to run through walls

If you want to pursue a career in venture capital, you’ve got to be determined. Don’t quit, and don’t take no for an answer.

Whether it be applying for a job or sourcing for a deal, you have to come in over-prepared for your meetings if you even want to stand a chance.

I want to look for people who are willing to run through walls every day on the job.

Of course, I won’t ever ask you to clean a bathroom, but I need to know that you’d be willing to do it if I asked.

I don’t care if you’re joining as my chief of staff or as a general partner, you have to be okay to roll up your sleeves and get things done. I want to hire people who won’t quit, won’t give up, and are determined to get things done, no matter what.