Adrienne Howlett

These two founders of a FinTech start up were struggling to hire their final software developer.... This was a critical hire to help the development team execute on their road map for the coming months. But no success, and time was ticking. We were invited in after their current chosen agency had shared 8 (!!) candidate profiles, none of which had been successful. The result? 🏆 1 CV sent in total. ⏰ A 26 day turnaround from CV sent to offer (holidays and 4 stage process contributed to this) Here's how we saved them time and effort, but not necessarily money... → Understood how important it was to find the right culture fit. Someone who was ambitious, self motivated and proactive in problem solving. but could also hit the ground running. → Advised that whilst 4-5 years experience was, in their opinion, essential, someone with the right attitude at 2-3 years experience could also work (the developer hired had 2.5 years experience) → This wasn't going to be a financial move for a developer, so we took time to understand their vision, their mission and the culture they were trying to create, so we could sell this back to potential candidates. It's no surprise that we were more expensive than all the other agencies in the mix. But wouldn't you rather have full trust in agent for the sake of a few extra ££. Having faith that you will make that business critical hire so productivity can be increased where it matters - actually coding and building your product - is priceless. Here's what the software engineer had to say about working with me? 👇 Place.

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The best start-up advice is often the simplest: - Do things which don't scale - Solve your own problems - Speak to users more What else would you add? Let me know in the comments 👇 -- 🎬 Clip from podcast with Avin Rabheru MBE 🔔 Follow Alfie Whattam for more like this

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What Balderton Capital's raise could mean for the tech space... ICYMI: Balderton Capital just raised nearly €1.2 billion to fuel Europe’s next wave of tech innovation. (Link to article in comments.) With this fresh capital, early and growth-stage SaaS startups can now push harder and scale faster. After 2 years of tech layoffs and pushing for efficiency gains to increase the revenue-per-head ratios, it seems like the tide may well be turning back to growth and scale. What do you think? Is growth back on the agenda? It looks like it just might be... LP ✌️ Pack GTM | SaaS Sales Recruitment in Germany #hiring #careers #startups #recruitment #venturecapital

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In the last week, I've booked more demo's for my SaaS than the last month, and with a massive reduction in the work required. How? Personalisation and warm intro's, at scale. My industry ( which is golf ⛳ ) requires a personal touch to outbound messages. This will probably be the case for many B2B companies with medium to high ACV's. In the last few weeks, I've used the following approaches to help contact more golf clubs and provide more help to these people: - Using LinkedIn filter's to find connections to the people I'm already connected with, and using that as a warm introduction in my first email - Creating an excel doc with all potential warm introductions that I've found on Linkedin - Uploading these to lemlist, and build out a multichannel approach to contact them. I will add personal touches to each message. My day to day has now become following the tasks on Lemlist which tell's me when the right time is to ring someone. The amount of mental friction it has reduced has been brilliant. Early days yet but gonna continue to send this one! Full YT Vid explaining below 👇 #outbound #outreach #saas

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What's in a name? 🤔 Since finishing my last engagement I've been focusing all my efforts on generating new opportunities for The Small Consultancy. I've looked at lists on lists of potential startups and scaleups that might need our help, I've been talking with founders, investors and business owners about their plans. I've plumbed the deepest corners of LinkedIn Sales Navigator… And something struck me - there are some utterly delightful, weird and wonderful company names out there. I am always fascinated by how people arrive at their company names. Some picked as placeholders that just stuck… some the result of careful SEO and branding… some trying to subvert industry norms? I named The Small Consultancy for a number of reasons; Firstly, we specialise in supporting small companies to achieve their big plans - be that a start up, scaleup or across a portfolio of investments. who are starting from Small beginnings. We are also a small business ourselves and while we look to grow we want to maintain our heritage and ethos as a small business making impacts well above our size. Finally, I am 5"2 and have been called Caroline 'Small' for most of my life! 😁 What was the inspiration behind choosing your company name? #CompanyName #Inspiration #SmallBusiness #BigPlans

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Alex Her's TEAM methodology > Unlocking Employer Brand success in 4 steps 🎙 I had a great catch up with Alex Her recently (Head of Global Employer Brand at GoDaddy / Co-Founder of The EB Space) on the Employer Bland podcast. Our chat was centred around Alex's TEAM methodology. He first discussed this at RecFest last year and has also since created articles on the TEAM formula. Alex came up with the formula when considering the critical need for a 'we' focused approach to employer branding. The irony for many is that they may be working solo in an employer brand role, feeling isolated on their own island without much help or support to get things done. Alex goes on to explain, regardless of the make-up of your role and the size of your EB team and resources, you should never feel alone. You have a TEAM to find both physically and strategically, and that's what he elaborates on with the TEAM, breaking down the individual pillars: -Time -Empathy -Advocacy -Magnetize Alex discusses each pillar in detail, one seamlessly following the next. It felt like a detailed blueprint for creating and executing an EB from scratch was being explained as the conversation progressed, and I think that's the real power of TEAM. It can re-centre you if you're feeling a little lost in any part of your EB journey. Alex isn't in this to be the hero of these plans or stories. He's a master facilitator, director, and strategist. He seems to know how to shine a light on those around him, making people feel safe to explore ideas and tell their own stories, which we all know is the heartbeat of any successful employer brand. In the clip below Alex elaborates on 'Magnetise'. Taking all of the hard work and energy from the previous three steps and create as much positive impact and effectiveness as possible in the talent attraction and engagement process. Hope you enjoy! Link to Spotify and Castos to listen in comments. Episodes to follow in the coming two weeks with some awesome guests inc Adam Gordon, Louise Archer & Kirsten Kilby #employerbrand #talentattraction #recruitmentmarketing

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Google’s product growth strategy appears to be flawed: 1. Incessant YT premium sign up ads on YouTube 2. Google Workspace sign up flow doesn’t offer any change in the plan at the checkout. 3. No engagement messages on Waymo service 4. Maps almost doesn’t have any competition and yet I have billboard ads. Engineering driven org needs few business thinker also.

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According to research from ClimbUK #Climb24, building high-performing #teams continues to be on of the top challenges for high-growth businesses. This was also referenced by the recent sessions with ScaleUp Institute as part of Scaleup Britain, where founders see talent as one of the key areas that can hinder growth. Founders at the event also emphasised that with increased financial pressures, they were trying to handle recruitment internally but with very mixed results. Whilst there is a recognition that there are more people "on the market", business leaders were often not getting access to the people who make a real difference. With over 30 years of experience working in and with early-stage and high-growth businesses, I agree that for some roles, managing recruitment internally can be effective. However, one of the reasons why the resourcing industry exists is because recruitment of top-flight people is challenging, time consuming and complex. This is especially the case for growth companies where a wrong hire can significantly impact the business. For this reason, CRSI, has now developed a series of #Talent masterclasses focusing on designing, building and engaging teams, offering founders and leaders the tools to improve recruiting and retention in a challenging market. Like all our workshops and masterclasses, we do not stand at the front with slidedecks and keynotes. We include successful business leaders, founders, and investors who have grown businesses to deliver a truly dynamic and engaging set of sessions. Our masterclasses are designed for businesses from any sector and are typically suited to companies who are between 5 and 250 employees. To register your interest and find out when we are in your region contact CRSI at training@crsi.team #Recruitment #BusinessGrowth #EmployeeEngagement #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentManagement

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Random question but does anyone have recommendations / experience / advice for an early stage SaaS platform and what type of customer support and sales support platforms to build and grow iths? For example, Zendesk, Intercom. I need to advise a client on the best tool. Basically I think a tool that can do customer support but also do live chat bot sales would be perfect. Should be affordable and scalable. Social listening and AI are a bonus. Please no DMs or sales pitches. Just honest advice from people who have used the tools.

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The software market is tough right now. But here's what you can do about it. Jamin Ball offers a clear-eyed view in his analysis of growth software. (I strongly recommend anyone in tech to check out his newsletter, especially execs, founders and revenue leaders. Link in first comment). Main Concern: Software sentiment has dipped to new lows— even lower than during the early days of Covid. With nearly 70% of software companies falling short in Q1 and expecting worse in Q2, morale is... not the best. Even in AI, which has been exciting to say the least, the financial outcomes are still underwhelming. Investing in AI technology and hiring AI talent requires significant upfront costs, which can strain profit margins before revenue starts to flow. Investors are left wondering which AI entities will truly breakthrough. Companies of all sizes are keeping a close eye on spend. What does this mean for founders and revenue leaders? Founders, first recalibrate your growth targets. Acknowledge the market headwinds. Targets that are too ambitious now carry more risks than potential gains. Focus on use cases that wow prospects with cost-savings and/or revenue increase. The market is taking a cautious wait-and-see stance, if you can't show a prospect blatantly obvious ROI with a short time-to-value horizon, you'll be up against it. Play the long game. The market swings, we all know this. Start thinking about how to grow your business profitably over the long haul. How to do that? 🧑‍🧒Be really good at hiring at this stage. You think hiring is expensive? Try hiring the wrong person. Getting the right people in the right role will give you the best chance to win deals and grow revenue. 💹Examine your GTM strategy: beware the trap of activity for activity's sake. Rebuild it all if you have to. But GTM teams should be lean and mean and focusing their efforts strategically on turning over the stones that have the highest likelihood of leading to revenue. 🏷️Pricing: Nail this. You must assertively justify your pricing based on customer value creation. Anything I overlooked? Share your insights in the comments! P.S. Need help hiring GTM talent for Data, AI/ML, Compute, and Cloud Infra? DM me. We've assisted successful early-stage startups (backed by Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, GV, Accel, and more) in finding A+ hires.

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Having issues in your startup is a fantastic sign. An odd statement perhaps but true. But of course it depends on the nature of that issue. Wouldn't you say? Every growing business runs into issues day in day out. With some being "run of the mill" - you know, by-products of any business, challenges that any agency growing & trading in the manner yours is will have. & others being challenges that seemingly come out of nowhere but, we all now, tend to appear as a product of negligence, ignorance or a downright refusal to address an issue/challenge your agency has. Take these three big issues for example; three that all agencies will face at some stage or another: Cash flow 💰 Now of course this is a sweeping statement (& of course there are circumstances where this might not be true) but would it be fair to say that some cash flow issues stem from poor cash flow management. & that that some poor cash flow management stems from a collection of small poor decisions (pinching from your VAT pot, being lax on payment terms with a supplier, being too lenient with a client) that end up having an incremental impact on you & your business. Hiring 🫱🏻‍🫲🏻 This is a drum I know I bang a little too much (or so LinkedIn I assume might suggest!) but we all make poor hires from time to time, it happens. & that's not the issue; the issue is failing to act upon it. The issue is letting your ego or the vanity that comes with "having a team" cause you to make poor decisions for the business that end up costing you, the business & ironically enough the consultants you're trying to retain. Non-paying clients 🤷🏻 A client is only a client if they're paying. A revolutionary piece of advice I know ("wall worthy" I like to think) but it's true. It goes hand in hand with the vanity metrics that some agencies place upon hiring; there's no point saying you work with X number of clients or engage with X numbers of PSLs if you're working with clients on poor & shoddy payment terms where prizing payment out of them is trickier than England putting in a decent performance in Euro 2024. I'm sure payment will come at some point but at what cost? So yes having issues in your startup is great news - it's a sign of growth & a sign of progress. But only if they're the right type of issues. #recruitmentstartup #recruitmentinvestment #recruitmentbusinesssupport #recruitmentbusinesssetup #businesstips #recruitmentstartuptips

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For the latest episode of byProduct Live I talked to Rory Woodbridge Rory is a product marketing expert. His early career was formed at Google and YouTube, and his last in house role was with hypergrowth FinTech Pleo. Rory now works on a freelance basis providing his product marketing expertise to different companies, currently working with Volt.io and Ben We discuss the value product marketing brings and how it is best utilised in product orgs - the relationships between product, product marketing, engineering and the wider business being critical. Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eWCZE5U5 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ePUAwMqv Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ef7JzhSw And available on all major podcast platforms 01:00 Overview of Product Marketing and its Responsibilities 04:40 Building Trust and Relationships in Product Marketing 06:23 The Timing of Hiring the First Product Marketer 09:01 Key Questions for Product Marketing 10:38 The Importance of a Balanced Partnership 12:21 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

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💥Jumping straight out of a long weekend into a multiple new Partnerships In Product. Later this week we will be releasing opportunities with new and existing partners across AI Engineering, Product Marketing, Product Design and Co-founder opportunities. Keep your 👀 peeled on our In Product page as we get started in sharing these opportunities with you later this week. #ai #engineer #productmarketing #productmanagement #productdesign #techforgood #startup

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I'm noticing (anecdotally) a nice spike in new startups and businesses being launched over the past few months After a muted 18 months, it's refreshing to see a lot more entrepreneurs taking the plunge. So, in the spirit of paying it forward, here's some honest, hopefully useful, (and sometimes unsaid) tips for anyone just starting up: 1) Nobody cares! Your first shots on goal most likely will not work. You'll feel despondent, maybe even ashamed that people may see you as a failure. At this point remember that nobody cares So, unabashedly pivot as many times as needed, to maybe even wildly different sectors as needed to find what works 2) Your goal should be to make your first dollar ASAP. People pay for things that make them money > save them money > save them time. 3) Guard your equity zealously. IMO, it is better to own 70% of a 1000 crore co, than to own 7% of a 10000 crore co. You are the owner in the former, and board-appointed management in the latter The world is littered with stories of founders ousted by their boards. Take some inspiration from the old family businesses 4) VC is a fantastic source of capital, but that's all. Their incentives are not aligned with yours & they have a fiduciary duty to themselves and their LPs. Your risk parameters are not the same - you aren't playing the same game. Remember that they've bet on multiple numbers at the roulette table, (and taken further insurance with preferred equity terms). You and your employees have all your chips on 1 number. You have a bigger fiduciary duty to yourself and your common shareholders 5) Everyone and their uncle will offer an opinion. So discount anything from anyone who's not a deep subject matter expert, or hasn't done the job. Remember, you'll frequently run into completely random advice from MBAs-turned-consultants-turned-VCs. You cannot learn how to run a business as a board observer. It'll be like taking batting advice from a color commentator 6) Be very very frugal in your hiring. Your first 20 employees should almost exclusively be ICs, and the only two roles are building or selling. Eliminate anyone who does not directly contribute to this (no chief of staff, EA, sales manager) 7) If you've raised capital, pay yourself a reasonable salary i.e. somewhat below market. If anyone tells you otherwise, screw them. Remember, even first-time GPs take 2% of the fund yearly as fees, with a promise to maybe return something in 10 years 8) Unless you are playing a highly competitive capital-intensive game, prioritize profitability over growth. If you're profitable, you will forever be able to raise capital on your turf, which is a significant shift in the power equation (refer point 2) 9) It is a long, lonely journey. People will often tell you to be a missionary, but it is perfectly okay to have superficial dreams that give you the necessary fuel. Fame, FU money, Freedom - whatever floats your boat #startup #entrepreneurship

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⚠️WE ARE HIRING AT JUMPSTART ⚠️ for an awesome Ops Associate. The role will be working directly with me and the fabulous Rachel Howe. >>> What will you be doing? 🗣️Communicating with a BUNCH of startup founders and our fantastic candidates. 📈Spotting opportunities to improve how we matchmake. >>> What do you need? 💬Exceptional comms 🔎A meticulous attention to detail. 0️⃣ Zero experience. >>>What will you get from it? 🚀An incredible startup network. 🤝Best practice on how to get (and how not to get!) jobs. 🏃‍♂️Learn how to move quickly Sound interesting? See the job description and link to apply in the comments 👇. 

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🤫 Building a tech startup is always a challenge, but doing it in stealth mode? That's a whole different game. Imagine this: no brand, no product publicly revealed, yet the need to assemble a team of specialists who can shape an idea from scratch. I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count. And there’s one role that often becomes the unsung hero in these early stages: Data Engineering. Why? Because these are the people who turn raw data into actionable insights. They don’t just manage data; they architect it, giving life to every byte. With the rise of LLMs and the exponential growth of data, having someone who can see the bigger picture and organize the chaos is a game-changer. Yet, in the early days, it’s often the Data Engineers who set the stage. They are the ones who see the unseen, connect the dots, and create order from the chaos. At CIMA Staffing, we know that bringing in the right people at the right time makes all the difference. It's not just about filling a role; it's about setting the foundation for something extraordinary.

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"I swear half of our employees have not read that we're now using X for delivery" - a disgruntled COO from one of our customers. Don't worry, All Gravy got you. 🙌 Well, from now on you can make SURE that employees see your messages - by using our newest feature: 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 🔔 Think: • New policy that everyone needs to follow • Campaign ending on Thursday • Discount TODAY on a certain item • ... You decide really See how it works in the video below 👇

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I met with the founder of a FinTech scale-up this morning discuss hiring. Here's what he told me: - He works with a small group of recruiters and has great relationships - He values good recruiters and is excited when he's referred a new one - He insists on spending time with recruiters to ensure proper alignment - His team does what they can to make recruiters lives as easy as possible - They like to keep their recruiters informed so they have all the right information - They are quick to provide feedback and move through a process We then had a reasonable chat about costs, discussed what hiring AMP People can and can't help with, and agreed on next steps. After the call, I had to double-check that it wasn't April 1st. Why can't it always be this straightforward?

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Quick market update; Things have definitely picked up over the past 8 weeks and I’m seeing some green shoots in the SAAS & Product space. I think over the next 3-6 months we'll see a very gradual incline and things will continue to look promising. It by no means is crazy busy (being honest) and from chats I’m having, the majority of businesses aren’t signing off huge, new projects that’ll lead to mass hiring of contractors or new perm hires. If someone leaves, drawn-out conversations are still coming from the CEO; ‘Do we really need that person? / Lets not re-hire / Can you do more with less please’ to the senior & staff engineers. Most CTOs I’ve chatted to were given the same Capex budget as last year also (not ideal). Still no signs of any need of junior/mid level software dev roles, for now. Still a number of businesses wasting everyones time with ‘Expressions of interest’ job ads (I wouldnt bother). Weve seen an increase in ‘founding dev roles’ as more startups out of incubator/start-up scene in Sydney have recently cash, anywhere between $1m-$3m, so that’s promising! Here our current live roles in the tekFinder business and myself or the team can give you all the details (note, some are fairly well advanced in the process) - Founding software engineer – Node/React/TS – Funded AI business – circa $170k + super + ESOP – Sydney - Founding Software engineer – Fintech SAAS platform - $175k + super - Founding Software Engineer – Golang / AWS / Python – up to $220k + super Head of Software Engineering – Java – Small SAAS business - $210k + super - Sydney - C++ Engineer – building c++ software for middleware onto imaging/scanning devices - $160k + super – Brisbane - Principal Software Engineer – Hands off – scalability – upskilling overseas teams - $220k + super – Sydney - Senior Product Owner – Insurance – Sydney - $180k + super - Delivery Lead – SAAS business – N.sydney - $175k + super - IT Compliance Manager – 3 days a week/part time – Sydney - Software Engineering Manager – Banking – up to $220k + super – Java/GCP Reach out if you want to chat to me about any of the above; either a role, you need some help or you have questions about the market right. Inbox is pretty busy but i'll do my best to come back to you. Cheers!

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