A New Search Model for Startups: Aligning Incentives, Avoiding Hiring Traps

Early-stage startups face significant challenges in executive hiring, with many founders making costly missteps such as overhiring or rushing to fill roles before they are necessary. Founders Search Advisors (FSA), a startup-focused executive search firm, has emerged to address these issues by offering an alternative model that aligns incentives through fixed fees and equity-based compensation [1]. The firm was founded by Andrew Cronin, Matthew Toner, and Garri Zmudze, leveraging their backgrounds in executive search, investment banking, and pharmaceuticals to serve the fintech, crypto, energy, and life sciences sectors [1].

Cronin, the founder and managing director of FSA, emphasizes the importance of strategic hiring, particularly in the early stages of a startup. He notes that hiring a full executive team within the first 12 months is often unnecessary and can lead to excessive wage bills before the business is ready [1]. Instead, he advises founders to consider interim or part-time roles for positions like a chief business officer (CBO), particularly when the primary need is access to relationships rather than full-time operational support. Additionally, Cronin highlights the overlooked importance of assembling a strong board of directors, suggesting that interim or more actively involved board members may be more beneficial in the startup's early phase [1].

To avoid hiring missteps, FSA recommends that founders create detailed success profiles for roles rather than generic job descriptions. This allows for more targeted hiring, with deliberate assessments of skills, values, and adaptability during the interview process. FSA also encourages founders to consult diverse sounding boards and to invest heavily in the onboarding process, ensuring that new hires integrate into the company culture and ramp up quickly [1].

FSA’s cross-industry approach—spanning fintech, crypto, energy, and life sciences—enables it to identify candidates with transferable skills across sectors. Cronin attributes this approach to a broader understanding of how industries intersect and operate, particularly in fast-evolving fields such as crypto and artificial intelligence [1]. The firm also benefits from partnerships like its collaboration with LongeVC, a venture capital firm, which provides access to market insights and accelerates the search process [1]. Additionally, FSA has established an internal investment vehicle to help startups cover compensation costs for high-level executives, further reducing friction in securing top talent [1].

One unique aspect of FSA’s model is its flexibility in accepting payments in cryptocurrency, which aligns with the preferences of many Web3 and fintech founders [1]. Cronin also highlights the use of equity-based compensation for early-stage clients, creating a sense of shared investment in the success of the startup [1]. This venture-style incentive model contrasts with traditional executive search firms, which are often criticized for prioritizing transactional relationships over long-term alignment with the client’s goals.

Looking ahead, Cronin envisions a future where executive search will focus more on leaders who can bridge technical expertise with commercial execution, especially in frontier industries like AI, space, and deeptech [1]. He also anticipates growing importance of adaptability in financial leadership as regulatory environments in fintech and crypto evolve rapidly [1]. For biotech, which has seen prolonged challenges since the end of the pandemic, FSA expects to see a continued emphasis on cost efficiency and strategic hiring of part-time or interim executives [1].

Source:

[1] The art of the startup hire in a broken recruiting market – Interview with Founders Search Advisors (https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-art-of-the-startup-hire-in-a-broken-recruiting-market-interview-with-founders-search-advisors)