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What We Do

Pure advisory.
No placements.
No conflicts.

Because we don't place candidates, we have no incentive to recommend any particular path except the one that's right for you. Our only interest is your recruiting capability.

“We made a deliberate choice: stop recruiting and start advising. The moment you remove the placement fee from the equation, the advice gets dramatically more honest.”

— Alan Cooper, Head of Advisory, Woodrow
01

Hiring Strategy & Roadmap

We map your growth plans to realistic hiring timelines, costs, and role priorities. You get a written strategy — not slides — that you can actually execute against.

Strategy
02

AI Tool Evaluation

We've tested the landscape firsthand. We assess which tools fit your stage, budget, and team capability — cutting through vendor hype with clear, unbiased guidance.

Technology
03

Recruiter Management Coaching

How to brief a recruiter, set SLAs, evaluate quality of submissions, and negotiate fees. We make you a sophisticated client — not an easy mark.

Operations
04

Self-Sufficiency Toolkit Build

ATS selection, Job Description templates, sourcing playbooks, interview guides, and scoring rubrics. The complete infrastructure to hire independently — built alongside your team.

Infrastructure
05

VC Portfolio Advisory

One engagement that creates a repeatable hiring playbook across your entire portfolio. Shared frameworks, tools, and benchmarks that compound in value across investments.

Portfolio
06

Fractional Talent Advisor

Ongoing access to senior recruiting counsel — in hiring reviews, offer negotiations, or org design discussions. Senior judgment, without a full-time seat.

Ongoing
Navigating AI

What actually works.
What doesn't.
We've lived it.

We saw applications for our clients spike from 20–50 per day to over 1,000 virtually overnight. Nearly 95% looked qualified on paper — every resume had been AI-optimized to match the job post. We built our own frameworks to restore signal. Here's what we found.

Works
  • Passive candidate sourcing via AI
  • Job Descriptions that attract your target audience
  • Efficient interview techniques
  • ATS workflow automation
Doesn't
  • AI resume screening — easily gamed
  • Automated applicant ranking
  • Mass AI outreach (kills response)
  • Black-box candidate scoring
  • "Replace the recruiter" promises

“There's an open secret in recruiting — AI is making it worse. Candidates use AI to engineer resumes; companies use AI to screen them. The result is a system where everyone gets through and everyone's inboxes blow up with noise.”

Alan Cooper — Woodrow Consulting

Our principle on AI

AI should compress administrative work, not replace human judgment. Every tool we recommend passes one test: does it create more time for the conversations that actually predict fit?

What we help you build

A coherent AI stack for your stage — not the most tools, but the right ones. Combined with the human processes that AI genuinely can't replace: deep discovery, technical evaluation, and relationship-based sourcing.

How fast this changes

The landscape shifts quarterly. Part of our value is staying current so you don't have to — and updating your strategy as the tools evolve.

The Self-Sufficiency Toolkit

Everything you need to hire
without us next time.

Most startups are missing basic recruiting infrastructure. We help you build or select each component — calibrated to your stage, not a Fortune 500 template. The goal is always to leave you more capable than when we arrived.

01

ATS Selection & Configuration

Choosing the right applicant tracking system for your headcount and hiring volume — from lightweight free tools to scalable platforms — and configuring it to work the way your team actually operates.

02

Job Description Frameworks

Role-specific Job Description templates that attract the right candidates without triggering AI optimization gaming. Written to communicate culture and expectation, not just a keyword list.

03

Sourcing Strategy & Outreach Scripts

Where to find passive candidates, how to approach them, and what to say. Message templates with tested response rates — built for humans, not automated blasting.

04

Candidate Evaluation Rubrics

Structured scoring frameworks that remove guesswork from resume review and calibrate your team around a shared definition of "great." Tailored to your technical and cultural requirements.

05

Interview Process Design

Stage-by-stage interview structures, question banks by role type, and calibration sessions so your team makes consistent, defensible decisions — without relying on gut feel.

06

Hiring Metrics & Reporting

Simple tracking for the metrics that actually matter: source quality, pipeline conversion, time-to-close, and offer acceptance. Know what's working before you scale it.

Engagement Models

Short-term. Defined scope.
No long-term lock-in.

Every engagement is structured to deliver clear value on a defined timeline — and to leave you more capable when it ends.

💡

Note on fees:We work on a clear hourly advisory rate — not percentage-based fees, not contracts padded with overhead. You know exactly what you're paying for.

Starter

Strategy Sprint

2-week engagement
  • Current-state hiring audit
  • Written strategy roadmap
  • AI tool shortlist for your stage
  • Priority role sequencing
  • 2 × structured working sessions
Get Started
Most Requested
Core

Full Advisory Build

4–6 week engagement
  • Everything in Strategy Sprint
  • ATS selection & configuration
  • Complete toolkit implementation
  • Sourcing playbooks & scripts
  • Interview process design
  • Team training & knowledge transfer
  • 30-day post-engagement support
Book a Call
Portfolio

VC Advisory

Custom scope
  • Portfolio-wide hiring playbook
  • Shared frameworks & templates
  • Per-company implementation support
  • Quarterly recruiting landscape updates
  • Fractional advisor access on retainer
Let's Talk

Not sure which engagement fits?

Tell us your situation. We'll tell you what we'd recommend — honestly.

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