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This is a Mac System 7 experience.
Come back with a laptop.
— James Wilson, Vigo.
What I do
I work with startups — mostly Seed through to Series D. A lot of London-based, but European-based startups too. I'm usually working with about six or seven startups at any one time, recruiting multiple roles for each. Generally the profiles are similar but often with some clear differences. I'm happiest when I'm talking to candidates and placing people in awesome new startups.
What I'm looking for
A brief history of how not to recruit
In 2021, a previous version of me discovered LinkedIn Recruiter's "Select All" checkbox. What followed was an afternoon no one should be proud of. 847 InMails. Response rate: 0.4%. One reply was from someone who hadn't updated their profile since 2009. Another asked how I'd obtained their details. A third was from my mum, who is not a software engineer.
I've read every profile since. Apparently this is now a competitive advantage.
The problem
Since I started working with startups and placing engineers, I've had a problem: I actually find this stuff really interesting. So naturally, I got curious and started building my own things to learn about the technology. With the help of AI, it wasn't as hard as it once was.
I started building recruiting tools — mostly using React and TypeScript and whatever database I could get it to work in, usually Vercel. The code quality probably varied enormously, but I actually have no idea. Usually it worked and I was happy with that. It usually had a maximum of one user at any one time. Being me.
Daily tools
| Writing | Wispr Flow |
| Comms | Google Suite, Slack, WhatsApp |
| Sourcing | LinkedIn Recruiter |
| CRM | Atlas (Recruitment CRM) |
| AI | Claude, Gemini |
| Browser | Google Chrome |
| Hardware | MacBook / iPhone |
| Origin | Australian. |
| Current | Vigo, Spain. Fair bit of time in the UK too. |
| Dependants | Two boys — Harry & Charlie. Chaotic. Brilliant. Both. |
| Co-founder | My wife. More organised than me, which is the whole system. |
| Primary market | UK and EMEA startups |
| Former sport | Rowing. Got reasonably good. Now I realise it was just training for getting up early with young kids. |
| Current sport | Padel. Recent convert. Still figuring out how to use the back wall. |
| Local cuisine | Vigo has unreasonably good seafood. But I can't go past a good pizza. |
| ⊠ | Motivational posts about the grind |
| ⊠ | Recruiters who don't read CVs |
| ⊠ | A full-time rowing career |
| ⊠ | Wearing Lycra (the rowing years) |
| ⊠ | Exciting night life |
| ⊠ | Using "Rockstar Developer" in a job description |
| ⊠ | Selecting all in LinkedIn Recruiter and sending a generic message without reading a profile (didn't realise there was a credit limit) |
| ⊠ | Melbourne coffee culture :( |
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