Julia Kimmel

“Don’t buy into all the hype” Logan Marsh head of talent acquisition at Calendly breaks down why we need to be careful in how we think and talk about AI. Yes, there will be shifts and evolutions in jobs but completely replacing people, he’s not sold yet. We discussed how to be more human in TA, how to upskill with AI, and whether tech is still a good industry to be in and so much more in the latest episode of Recruiting Is No Joke. (link in the comments) If you’re an internal talent leader and want to be on the show, reach out!

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𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. That’s how we see it—both as former operators and through the lens of our recruiting work. It’s not just about scoping features, setting timelines, or gathering user feedback. 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗠𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱. They understand how the product drives acquisition, retention, and expansion. They’re involved in go-to-market strategy—sales calls, pricing discussions, messaging alignment. And frankly, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽) 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣&𝗟. So if you’re a PM candidate prepping for interviews, ask yourself: 👉 Can you clearly speak to the impact you’ve had on revenue, margins, or retention? 👉 Do you understand how your product decisions shaped business outcomes? If all you can talk about is how “cool” the features were or how many users “liked” it, you’ll be seen as someone who builds interesting things—not someone who builds products that 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

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GustoHQ is acquiring Guideline401k This makes a lot of sense: 1. HRtech and Fintech are converging.... it's ultimately back office tech to serve employees 2. Employees want their comp to go far 2. Both are focused on SMB 3. Gusto needs more to upsell/cross sell

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🔍 Why Searching Directly on Job Boards Finds Better Candidates Than Using Aggregated API Searches In today’s fast-paced recruiting landscape, automation is essential—but not all automation delivers the same value. If your recruiting team is relying on aggregated API searches provided by job boards, you might be leaving high-quality candidates on the table. Here’s why searching directly within a job board’s native platform yields more relevant candidates than consolidated or API-based searches. 🧠 1. Native Search Algorithms Are Smarter (and Evolving Faster) Each job board (like Dice, Monster, CareerBuilder, or Indeed) invests heavily in fine-tuning its internal search engine. These platforms continuously optimize results using proprietary algorithms that factor in: Search behavior patterns - Resume freshness and engagement metrics - Keyword-context matching - Real-time profile activity When using a job board’s own UI, you benefit from all of this. But when accessing resumes via an API, you get a watered-down, generalized dataset—often lacking these contextual layers. 🔍 2. APIs Are Limited by Design While APIs are convenient, they’re built for interoperability, not discovery. APIs usually provide only a subset of candidate data due to privacy and performance constraints. Resume parsing and keyword matching are simplified—meaning relevance scores and rank ordering are often lost. Real-time results can lag or get cached, showing outdated or less-engaged candidates. In contrast, direct search taps into the most current and complete candidate pool—with richer filtering and sorting options. 🎯 3. Better Boolean, Filters, and Relevance Controls When your recruiters use the job board interface directly, they can: Customize Boolean strings with more precision - Use advanced filters (by skills, titles, locations, work authorization, etc.) - Dynamically adjust queries based on instant feedback from results APIs may expose some filters—but rarely all. That missing granularity leads to broader, less useful results. 💬 4. You Miss Platform-Specific “Signals” Certain platforms reward interaction: - Viewed profiles bubble to the top - Recent activity signals higher intent Premium filters help surface passive but highly qualified candidates These nuanced cues rarely get exposed through an API—and they make all the difference in fast-paced recruiting. ✅ The Bottom Line If your recruiting workflow relies solely on aggregated search APIs, you’re likely getting quantity over quality. For strategic roles or urgent openings, direct platform search consistently delivers more targeted, up-to-date, and actionable results.

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A huge thanks to Barry Winata and Metagrove Ventures for featuring some thoughts of mine on Talent. Specifically, the asymmetric equation of the best talent often being hidden and needing to be 'got'. (Insert - shameless plug on Perpetuate's Hidden Market Talent Motion) Certainly a fair degree of imposter syndrome, given Barry's history of getting (actual) world-class experts to contribute to his 'Tactical Field Guides - for Scaleups, Emerging Companies and Founders' - definitely worth checking out, featuring hands-on advice from Founders with $400M+ exits, high pedigree Global Leadership Coaches, the co-founder of Strava ... and me. (TFG link in comments) TL;DR summary for busy people: • Signal Mismatch → want an A-grade hire? Emit A-grade signals (team, comp, proof points). • Market-Clearing Reality → candidates with real optionality won’t take below market offers. There is irrefutable evidence that many start-ups/emerging companies do pay exceptionally well (despite common belief that small doesn't pay as well as big) • Proof-of-Pedigree Loop → pedigree attracts pedigree. Without it, the bar stays aspirational versus achievable I hope this helps many insomniacs out there!

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we’re seeing an influx of Recruiting teams and agencies wanting to build their custom recruiting stack in-house. not because the existing commercial platforms are bad - modern recruiting platforms are genuinely incredible, 10x better than what existed a few years ago. But great recruiting teams are like great investors. They have a thesis, they believe they have an edge, and they want to exploit that edge. Out-of-the-box tools give you a lot, but also limited. examples: -Predefined filters -Fixed ranking logic -A fixed definition of what "seniority" or "best candidate" That works great until your team's definition of best doesn't match the platform's. So we're seeing in-house teams and agencies start to think about owning their own system rather than renting one. Every serious recruiting team starts wanting to: -"Weigh recency differently by role type" -"Build a custom likelihood-to-respond model" -“Resolve identity + dedupe reliably across email, GitHub, and multiple data sources” In a closed system, those become: "We'll add it to the roadmap." With the right infrastructure, those become: "Ship it this week." you can't build that if the brain is a black box. But with structured, API-first data, you define the intelligence. Your own scoring. Your own signals. Your own feedback loops from hires, replies, and pass reasons that compound over time. That's the shift in 2026. The teams pulling ahead aren't just using better tools, they're owning the intelligence layer. If you’re building in recruiting, we power recruiting tools with live updated people data and their company data via APIs.

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Biggest mistake I've seen in company culture: being generic. At Gainsight, we were pretty well known for our quirky culture. And that was why it worked. I've watched so many founders define their company culture based on what other hot companies (SpaceX, Palantir, Stripe, etc.) have. I'm sure some asked ChatGPT to do it for them... Here's an alternate recipe: * Why: To me, the best cultures start with a founder defining why the culture is personally important to them. Cultures are intimately tied in the early days to the people who created them. Why did you want to create a company? For me, this showed up in the idea that I always wanted to be in an environment where people treated each other as humans above anything else. This turned into our mission statement "human-first business." * Who: Who are the early people that you think represent what's unique about your company? What drives them? What do they value? Who didn't succeed and what was different about them? This might help you capture the essence. As an example, one of our early teammates, Dan Steinman, was always there for others with no expectation of anything in return. * What: What words capture the essence of your cultural vision in a way that they would make no sense in any other company? What terms are so special and unique to what you do? The weirder the better. Our values - including "Childlike Joy" (bring the kid in you to work every day) and "Stay Thirsty, My Friends" (find your inner drive - also clearly a copyright violation off of the Dos Equis commercial!) were strange selections that only fit Gainsight. * When: My personal opinion is canonizing these should be done early, but not too early. We captured most of this 1-3 years in. You need enough reps of hiring people that you have some patterns. Repeat founders might have more of a sense in the beginning, though. * How: For our final 2 of 5 values, we brought our tiny team together and had folks brainstorm words to capture the spirit of our culture. I ultimately made the calls (including overruling on one item), but sometimes the ideas help. Ben Horowitz said it well - "Culture is not a set of beliefs. It's a set of actions." Generic beliefs are the enemy of a culture of action.

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What if compliance was a sales differentiator for staffing firms instead of a hidden cost center? Right now, compliance feels like being an Olympian forced to run with a ball and chain. You can still compete. But you're dragging weight every step of the way. Now imagine what happens when that weight comes off. You move faster. You win more. Here's what changes when compliance shifts from burden to advantage: ✅ You onboard new clients faster — candidates get compliant quickly, and you've got a ready pool of workers who can start now. ✅ Your team stops chasing paperwork and starts solving real problems — the time saved goes to what actually moves the needle. ✅ Workers choose you over competitors — because you made getting ready to work effortless instead of painful. ✅ You see your entire funnel — finding gaps, improving constantly, and helping clients understand their own bottlenecks. And those dollars? They can be reinvested into your team, new accounts, or products that set you apart with clients. At the heart of it, compliance stops being paperwork. It becomes part of the product experience. Clients and candidates both get curated, seamless journeys. Data drives everything. And compliance just flows in the background. That's the vision. Compliance as an enabler — automated, data-driven, frictionless. The firms that get there first? They'll be the ones unshackled. Moving faster. Outpacing competitors. Winning in this fast-moving economy.

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Want to attract top GTM talent? ⭐ Get crystal clear on the role. 🤓 Great candidates don’t walk away because of comp or perks. They walk away because the role feels murky. If you’re hiring GTM talent, here’s a simple checklist to sharpen role clarity: ✅ Define success clearly → What does a great 30, 60, 90 days look like? → What outcomes will this person own? ✅ Explain the “why” behind the role → Why does this role matter right now? → How does it connect to company priorities? ✅ Clarify scope and resources → What’s in their control vs. what’s not? → Who are their key cross-functional partners? ✅ Outline growth and development → What does the potential career path look like? → How will you support their learning? ✅ Align internally first → Make sure the hiring manager, team, and founders are aligned on all of the above before you post the role. What’s one thing you always look for in a great job description? I’d love to hear your non-negotiables. #HiringTips #StartupHiring #GTM #Talent #SalesHiring #CareerGrowth

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Founders: You hired great engineers and strong marketers. But what about your people strategy? The most overlooked growth risk we see at Hazan Consulting? 🚩 Scaling without strategic HR in place. That’s where Fractional HR makes all the difference: ✅ Scalable org charts and job bands ✅ Compensation strategies that retain top talent ✅ Culture that won’t crack under pressure We partner with Series A, B & C companies—especially founder-led, PE-backed, or high-growth—to build the HR systems that drive execution and EBITDA. 💡 Early HR isn’t overhead. It’s an accelerator. #FractionalHR #HRConsulting #PeopleStrategy #StartupGrowth #PEbacked #FounderSupport

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