Theresa L.

Check out three M13 portfolio companies currently hiring - Bento (gobento.com) & Lifeforce are making strides in the future of health, while the team at Rho is building the future of fintech. Scroll through to learn more about each and how you can fuel their missions 🚀 #hiring #brightertogether #m13 #bento #lifeforce

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Inspired by what we’re building at Build Momentum. We realized tech recruiting is broken—non-technical recruiters struggle to find and attract the best talent. That’s why we’ve flipped the script and developed a community-based recruiting approach: a trusted network of elite engineers, embedded within Latam’s top tech communities. The best engineers know the best engineers, and we tap into these deep, authentic connections to deliver top talent faster and with better fit. Want to see how we’re doing it differently? Check out our post

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Building a strong tech hiring strategy can be tough, especially in today’s competitive market. But Betts' free tool, Comp Engine, can help refine your strategy by providing real-time compensation insights to make data-driven decisions for hiring top GTM talent. In our latest blog, we explore key trends in tech compensation, including how to attract unicorn sellers and optimize your offers in a tight market. Discover how you can leverage Comp Engine to stay ahead and build a hiring process that aligns with your budget and goals. Check it out here! #Hiring #TechTalent #Compensation

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Navigating equity compensation for early employees can be challenging for startup founders. After unsuccessfully searching for an approach we felt comfortable sharing with founders, we decided to create one ourselves. Today, we're excited to share a new framework to make sizing equity grants easy and transparent for founders. In this post, we cover: -🔍 Key questions to ask when creating early equity grants -📊 Important definitions and concepts -💡 Guidelines for equity allocation, including multipliers, premiums, and discounts -📈 Tips for managing equity as your company grows -🧮 An easy-to-use equity calculator to perform this exercise on your own Whether you're a Pre-Seed, Seed, or Series A founder, this guide will provide you with the information needed to confidently make informed decisions about equity grants for your team. https://lnkd.in/gji_pU6s

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Forerunner Ventures' $500M Fund and the Growing Opportunity in Consumer Tech Kirsten Green’s Forerunner Ventures, known for its early investments in Warby Parker, Away, and Glossier, has closed its latest $500 million fund, signaling strong confidence in the consumer tech sector despite the challenges of the past two years. With a focus on seed to Series A investments, the firm will write checks between $1 million and $20 million, raising its total assets under management to nearly $3 billion. Despite a tough market, Green remains bullish, stating that AI’s rise is driving consumer expectations for more personalized, high-quality products and services. Recent investments include AI-driven startups like Daydream and MindTrip, indicating Forerunner’s commitment to evolving with emerging tech trends. Implications for Hiring: As consumer tech heats back up, law firms need to start strategically hiring emerging companies associates and partners. With the return of investor confidence in this sector, especially in AI-enabled startups, firms need talent that can navigate early-stage investments, growth, and complex IP issues. Being ahead of the curve in these areas can position your firm as a key player in the evolving landscape. The Implication of Doing Nothing: Failing to act now means missing out on the next wave of high-growth consumer tech companies. As the market warms up, firms that aren't proactive in securing top talent could fall behind, missing valuable opportunities to work with the startups and investors leading the charge in this space. https://lnkd.in/ejDJuhUY

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Compensation indexing continues to be an asymmetric game. Companies continue to have access to voluminous amounts of data across multiple benchmark sets (Pave, Carta) as well as private VC benchmarks. Candidates, meanwhile, have access to some of the benchmark sets -- but are often in the dark about how to use it correctly. The biggest challenge? The benchmarks sometimes aren't reflective of what Tier 1 compensation looks like for companies, even when filtered for Tier 1 markets. Case in point: for product marketing, in SF, for companies valued between $25-$100M (most Series A cos) -- Pave doesn't even have enough data to confirm what a typical variable compensation looks like. And the quoted median base at the P3 level (Sr. PMM, Product Marketing Lead)? $126,437 (🧐!) with a "very high confidence" grade next to it. Jumbled leveling charts, unclear titling, and numbers like this create confusion in the market, whether it's for IC or leadership roles. This is where search firms come in. In any given Sr. PMM search we're probably talking to more than 50+ candidates, getting real time compensation data and compensation expectations. Our own private benchmarks show that Sr. PMMs in SF command much, much more. No wonder candidates are confused --- even companies have trouble getting it right when the underlying data requires an interpretation lens! So the best approach is often the simplest approach: just go out into the field and get the data, real time.

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Transform Your Hiring Strategy with Fractional Recruiting Experts from FosterThomas! In today’s fast-paced business world, the need for top-tier talent is more critical than ever. But what if your company isn’t ready for the commitment of a full-time recruiting team? That’s where fractional recruiting comes in! At FosterThomas, we understand the challenges companies face in finding the right talent quickly and efficiently. Our team of recruiting experts offers the perfect solution. Here’s how we can help: Flexibility: Scale your recruiting efforts up or down based on your current needs. Whether you’re looking to fill one position or an entire department, we’ve got you covered. Expertise: Our recruiters are seasoned professionals with deep industry knowledge. They know where to find the best candidates and how to attract them to your organization. Cost-Effective: Save on the overhead costs of a full-time recruiting team. Our fractional recruiters work as an extension of your HR department, providing high-quality services without the full-time expense. Speed: Accelerate your hiring process. With our extensive network and proven strategies, we can help you fill critical roles faster, ensuring your team stays on track to meet its goals. Partner with FosterThomas and leverage the power of fractional recruiting to achieve your business objectives without compromising on quality or efficiency. Connect with Heather A. Sandell to discuss how we can help your organization thrive with the best talent on board! Visit our website www.FosterThomas.com, email us at [email protected], or message us on LinkedIn for more information! #FosterThomas #FosterThomasSuccess #FractionalRecruiting #HCM

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I was thrilled to welcome Brian Hanly, Co-Founder & CEO of Brightbeam and serial entrepreneur to the Talent Smart Podcast. https://lnkd.in/eg6ayepu Brian has a deep specialisation in the application of modern ways of working, product management and technology to help enterprises compete in the digital age and to help growth companies to gain commercial advantage with the help of AI. In this episode, we explored the commercial advantages to companies from AI. We explored the adoption and deployment rate and what is stopping companies from progressing with their AI agenda.  In addition, Brian gives us some very helpful models and methodologies to follow when assessing the potential of AI for your business.

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Tired of working with traditional recruiting agencies that just don’t get tech? 😤 At Build Momentum, we’ve built a community-driven model led by technical founders who know how to find and evaluate top talent. Here’s the difference: 💼 Traditional Agencies: Generic lists, lack of tech expertise, unqualified résumés ⚡️ Build Momentum: Elite community sourcing, deep evaluations, quality over quantity Curious how we stack up against the old model? 🚀 👉 See the full comparison: https://lnkd.in/ek763XF6

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Today, GTMfund’s is excited to announce to launch of Operator, its first incubated company. Max Altschuler (founder of GTMfund) teamed up with co-founder Adam M. (design engineer and 0-1 builder) and co-founder Mark Kosoglow (Outreach employee #1 and former SVP of Global Sales) to create Operator.ai alongside an insanely talented team Pleasant Middelhof, Jeremy Jonas, Carl Gunderson. We've entered a period called “The Great Ignore”. Spam and irrelevant, poorly-automated outbound campaigns are running rampant.   Operator gives you an easy-to-use Growth Engineer that allows you to build and enrich lists with accurate data, and run experiments and queries using AI to generate highly targeted outreach.    Check out their website to get updates, early access, and see how they are taking the world back to 2 touches meant to attract buyers into conversations that convert, instead of 20 touches meant to make sure you hit your activity number: https://www.operator.ai/

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I work with a recruiting firm that supports founding GTM and EPD hiring for some of the most desirable early-stage startups in SF and NY. One consistent theme we see across nearly every founding GTM search these days? The call for “wildly creative growth hacker types.” I’ve become increasingly intrigued by how this description has evolved across industries with diverse revenue models, especially as shifting titles and scopes blur the lines between sales and marketing, and AI augmentation reshapes growth strategies. To explore the nuances of what it means to be a sought-after "wildly creative growth hacker," I’ve been closely following our searches and also recently had the privilege of connecting with taylor desseyn. Taylor is well-known in tech for his community-focused approach to developer engagement. He generously shared his insights on excelling in a role where creativity and a growth-hacker mindset are not just desirable, but essential. Here are some key takeaways from our conversation that stood out to me: 🌟 Fearless experimentation: He operates without the barrier of fear because he knows some of his approaches will be novel or seen as unconventional. 📊 Data-driven agility: While he’s incredibly data-driven, he prioritizes rapid A/B testing, failing fast, and new learnings over perfect reporting. 💡 Emphasis on providing value: He values deeply valuable content for niche audiences over chasing viral moments. 🤝 Community-first focus: Most importantly, and especially in today’s world, he prioritizes building genuine relationships, supportive communities, and in-person connection over all else. Thank you, Taylor, for sharing your thoughtful perspectives on what it takes to succeed as a growth leader today. You've set the bar high! The last point is a theme I’ve heard echoed time and again. I’m curious — how do others envision the 'creative growth hacker' role evolving, both now and in the months ahead?

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Aon published a study this week showing that a Fortune 500 Lyra Health customer saved more than $3 in health care costs for every $1 they spent on Lyra. This is a staggering return on investment. Lyra can deliver the highest value in mental health care because it delivers the best outcomes in the field, having tirelessly invested time and expertise in creating the best care available. This blog is a follow-up from the one I wrote a couple months ago showing that Lyra can also prove sustained savings over four years. Proud of our team for all that they do to help those in need and proving that what’s best for people can also be best for business’ bottom lines. https://bit.ly/4fopHoX 

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Updated overview of a few of our active searches @ Coastal Recruiting All opportunities are full-time with Seed, Series A, or Series B VC backed companies - looking for those that want to build and scale. NY Ops: - Head of ML - Seed (Raising Series A) - Massive growth $2m arr -> $10m arr this year - 1st ML hire - ton of autonomy - Gen AI - $250k(flex) + strong equity - 3x full-stack - Series A (a16z) - HealthTech - $1m arr -> $4m arr this year - $180k - $220k + strong equity - Incredible founders - meaningful work - BE (Data + MLops) - Seed - "Deploying AI to eliminate the trillion dollar waste in healthcare admin work" - $200k - $250k + strong equity - Early engineer - bootstrapped Prop trading firm - $10m profit year 1 - $400k+ TC - Early Engineer - Seed (OpenAI backed) - $200k + strong equity - AI Infra SF Ops: - AI Eng/ Infra/ Platform / BE / Fullstack - Hiring across the board - Series A (Sequoia) - $200k - $300k + equity - AI for Eng - Incredible team and founders - Sr. FS - Series A - Web3 - $200k + equity - Team/Founders w/ previous exits - Product Lead - Series B ($60m) - Gen AI - $220k+ Strong equity LA Ops: - Sr. FS - Seed (raising series A) - AI - Core team of startup veterans - $200k+ equity - Beautiful office in Venice Beach Remote: - Principal Eng - Series A - AI Security - $250k - $300k + equity - AI BE - Seed/Series A (Open AI backed) - AI Productivity - $200k+ equity If interested in learning more - shoot me a message here or feel free to reach out to anyone you are connected with at Coastal. 🌊

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I recently listened to Zach Perret, founder of Plaid, on the 20VC podcast discussing his evolution in recruiting. His mindset shift resonated with me. Here are three key takeaways: ▶ Be yourself and do it. Cold emails and genuine curiosity unlock unrecruitable people. People love to talk about things they're passionate about. ▶ Embrace the hunt. The best founders love to compete for talent. They understand the value each person can bring and don't like losing. This skill will also translate into founder-led sales. ▶ Hire for "Spike". This is essential when building an early team. I often think of it as the shape of a "T"—someone with deep expertise in one area but is open and curious to learn and contribute in other areas outside their core strength.

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We just posted this week’s venture capital investment summary (10 featured companies!) spanning early & growth-stage US based Environmental Technology & Enterprise Software startups! Check it out and make sure to give these tenacious up and coming startups some love! 🚀

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Check out the first episode of Balderton Capital's new video series, "What's Next," where deep tech entrepreneurs share their experiences developing innovative technologies that have the potential to impact millions of lives. In the debut episode, James Wise interviews Alex Kendall, founder of Wayve, who recently announced their impressive $1bn Series C fundraise. Don't miss this insightful conversation on the future of tech! #BaldertonCapital #WhatsNext #DeepTech #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #TechLeadership

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Ready to scale your recruiting business from $1M to $25M?  In this insightful episode, Tom Kosnik, President of Visus Group, shares proven strategies for navigating today’s competitive market. From building a strong personal brand to embracing AI and automation, learn how to drive substantial growth and stay ahead in the recruitment industry. Tune in for expert advice on: 💼 Personal Branding for Recruiters 📈 Leadership & Innovation 🤖 Leveraging AI & Automation in Recruitment Don't miss this transformative conversation! Tune in now! https://lnkd.in/gZzREH6b #Recruiting #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #AI #Automation

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