Sometimes you have to get a bit creative with how you source! Mark Howland dropped some heat here for you to steal. FinTech and Web3 founders and leaders, give this a shot!
Software Engineering Recruiter | Senior Associate @ Nace Partners | Full-Stack, Front-End, and Mobile Search for Early-Stage & High Growth-Companies 🤖
Hiring Top Talent for FinTech and Web3 Startups is damn hard. So I’m sharing a simple, free method that I use to find A-players—no LinkedIn Recruiter subscription needed. This is a method I’ve used to connect with some of the BEST talent out there who are now part of my network. Sometimes I'll use Sales Navigator or LinkedIn’s basic search, but honestly, both are clunky. Instead, I do this: go straight to competitors’ LinkedIn pages. Or, if not direct competitors, I check out other companies FinTech or Web3 that are known for hiring top tech talent. ____ Let’s take Stripe as an example (don't hate me Stripe team, take it as a compliment 😉). They're renowned for hiring top Engineers—a key to their ongoing success. Here’s the 1-2-3 punch. Step 1: Go to their LinkedIn page Step 2: Click on the "People" tab Step 3: Use filters and the search bar to find candidates that fit my clients' needs (I only use the "Where they live" and "Where they studied" filters) Let's see it in action in a search for Software Engineers: Where they live: New York City Metro Area Where they studied: Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard Search bar: Software Engineer Result? "42 associated members." That's 42 potential candidates from a reputable FinTech company known for hiring elite Engineers. Then I take a closer look at their profiles, and if they fit my criteria, I reach out! (As an agency recruiter, I'm actually reaching out to as many as I can to establish relationships with). ____ Struggling to think of target companies for talent sourcing? Here are three options: Paid Option 1: Crunchbase lists (filter by industry, location, etc.) Paid Option 2: LinkedIn Sales Navigator lists (filter by industry, location, etc.) Free Option: Google "FinTech 500" for a list from sources like Growjo ____ Now, this approach doesn't spit out granular search results like a LI Recruiter search would. It's more manual. But there's a good chance you can find the right skillset and experience from a competitor or another organization in the FinTech/Web3 space. And finding the right people is only half the battle. Engaging them and getting them through interviews? That’s a story for another post. Until then, happy hunting!