---
title: "The Entrepreneur Screen: Free Leadership Guide | Velocity"
description: A recruiting framework for financial services and commission-based teams, built on honesty about how hard the work really is.
image: https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/Podcast%20Episodes/Podcast%20Assets%20%28Social%29/Guides/Velocity_AG_The_Entrepreneur_Screen_Social.png
---

[![Velocity Advisory Group](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/00%20Brand%20Assets/Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide.png?width=169&height=44&name=Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide.png)Velocity Advisory Group](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com)

Free guide · Activating Greatness

# Hire entrepreneurs, not salespeople.

A recruiting framework for financial services and commission-based teams, built on honesty about how hard the work really is.

- Why telling candidates the truth does the screening for you
- A three-question screen for entrepreneurship, not sales skill
- Three recruiting actions for this week and a quick-reference page

## Get the free guide

The Entrepreneur Screen · 8 pages · PDF

Trusted by **800+ organizations** across **25+ industries** since 2009

Rarely trueAlmost always true

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Hire entrepreneurs, not salespeople.

The Entrepreneur Screen

THE ENTREPRENEUR SCREEN

GROUP A

**1**

**2**

**3**

GROUP B

**4**

**5**

**6**

GROUP C

**7**

## What's inside

### Hiring entrepreneurs

Why Foster tells candidates upfront that this career is not for most, and what he means by the invoice.

### The habits behind it

How an honest pitch self-selects for builders, and why advisors living the model help carry the message.

### The entrepreneur screen

Three questions to ask yourself about every candidate, plus how managers grown from within become your best gatekeepers.

### This week

The Superman complex to stop, the thermostat mindset to adopt, and three actions to test in your next interview.

[Get the guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/entrepreneur-screen#get-it)

## Results and feedback from Velocity's leadership work

**30% to 8%**employee turnover in one yearBiopharmaceutical company

**+126%**strategic alignment liftBiopharmaceutical company

**95%**retention rate in a construction leadership programVelocity client

> “Now associates understand themselves better, and leaders have new tools to support their teams.”

Chief People and Culture Officer, healthcare products distributor

> “Velocity challenged our team and brought us together in ways that have paid immediate dividends.”

Managing Partner, accounting and advisory firm

## Why commission hires don't last

The usual recruiting pitch attracts the wrong people and leaves out the part that matters most.

### The Oversold Pitch

Flexibility and income potential are real, but leaving out how hard the work is attracts people chasing a lifestyle.

### The Hidden Invoice

Candidates rarely hear about the 6 a.m. phone call and the 9 p.m. interruption until they're already in the role.

### Screening for Sales Skill

Sales ability matters less than whether the candidate actually wants to build a business.

## From pitch to screen

An honest recruiting process does the screening work most interviews fail to do.

1

### TELL

Describe how hard the work really is, upfront, and let candidates who want a base salary opt out.

2

### SCREEN

Ask whether each candidate wants to build something, then let advisors and managers living the model carry the standard.

3

### DEVELOP

Velocity Advisory Group helps leadership teams build the coaching and leadership development that grow managers from within.

**In Chad Foster's words:** "Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur until they see the invoice." The invoice, he explains, is the 6 a.m. phone call and the 9 p.m. interruption.

### Who this is for

- Financial services agency leaders
- Commission-based and entrepreneurial sales teams
- Recruiters tired of short-tenure hires
- Leaders who rush in to fix every problem

## Recruit people who want to build

Download the guide, then talk with us about the recruiting and coaching practices that keep the right people.

[Get the guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/entrepreneur-screen#get-it)

**800+**organizations led through change

**25+**industries

**2009**building momentum since

© 2026 Velocity Advisory Group.velocityadvisorygroup.com

[Get the guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/entrepreneur-screen#get-it)