Meet Fadi Smaidi | CEO and Founder

Skillstrader is my 13th business but on average I probably have 50 ideas a year for new concepts. We always hear that everyone has good ideas but its execution that matters. Where I am now with my process on starting a businesses is very different at business number 14 than it was at business number one. The first question I tell myself is, “What is my exit strategy for this concept or business idea?” By knowing the end goal, it helps me build the roadmap for the opportunity. The next step is to reverse engineer the whole thing by actually trying to kill the idea. I try to find all the possible ways that things can go sideways, for example competition, money, time, etc, and then I try to find a reasonable solution for every challenge. If I can honestly tell myself that I can overcome the challenges, then I continue with the idea, if not, it’s over. Typically that process can take anywhere from a couple days to a year. Skillstrader took me a year before I decided to move forward with it.

Skillstrader is a professional network for the people in the Skilled Trades. During my time in the Automotive space, I realized that there needed to be a better way to attract, retain, and find talent for my organization. Skillstrader has a different method when it comes to looking at a candidate. We don’t use a traditional resume, we have what we call the “Skillstrader Score!” The score is assigned to you based on your training, experience, and education in a field.

I’m a type A personality on steroids. Which means that I need to be in control and need to do everything myself if I want it done right. Not being a software engineer, you can see that would be a problem when trying to build a tech company. One of the biggest skills I developed over the last couple years is trusting the teammates we have on the team and being able to delegate.

They say that imitation is the biggest form of flattery and over the last five years there have been many similar concepts enter the market. Our culture at Skillstrader is that we are building a business for a reason not for a season. We are actually trying to create value for our users, by providing tools that can help them get engaged in the new and changing workforce, so that they can be productive citizens in the world.