A Founder’s Playbook for Hiring Through Your Network
What every founder should do before calling a recruiter.
When I was running Blueboard and we had just raised our $9M Series A, my board looked at our growth goals and said, “Love the ambition here! It’s time to hire a VP of Sales.”
Naturally, the conversation turned to recruiters. Around the table, board members started sharing names of firms and partners they’d worked with before, people we “had to talk to.” As a diligent first-time CEO, I wrote everything down and spent the next week getting introductions and taking meetings.
What followed was a parade of polished conversations with partners at well-known recruiting firms. Everyone had impressive titles. Everyone name-dropped recognizable companies and investors. And then the quotes started coming in: $90,000. $120,000. $150,000!
Having been exceedingly scrappy during the six years leading up to our Series A and specifically priding ourselves on being super capital-efficient, I remember thinking to myself there is no way I should be spending this kind of money right now. I went back to the board and said, “I talked to everyone you recommended, and decided that I’m going to find our first VP of Sales through my network.”
At the time, that didn’t feel naive. We had built much of our early team through our network:
Our first employee came through the 500 Startups network (thanks Mat!)
Our CTO was introduced through a friend from UC Berkeley (thanks Curtis!)
Our head of Customer Success did the same internship as me in college (thanks College Works!)
One of our first AEs came through my cofounder’s college network (thanks UC Davis!)
Our eventual VP Engineering came through our coworking space (thanks Alan!)
You get the point. We had a strong track record of hiring high-caliber people through relationships, and I assumed that approach would continue to scale.
What I underestimated was how different the VP of Sales role was. For the first time, there simply weren’t enough qualified people in my immediate network. I worked the board, friends and extended connections for about two and a half months before finally accepting that I’d hit the ceiling of what my network could produce. At that point, I engaged a recruiting firm, and they ultimately helped us find a strong leader.
That experience fundamentally shaped how I advise founders today.
Hiring through your network isn’t some magical shortcut - it’s a learnable skill. When done well, it can surface people who are not only strong professional fits, but also better cultural and values fits because they come through trusted relationships. People who refer you understand how you operate and what you’re building.
That said, networks are not infinite. You should absolutely maximize your network first, but you should also recognize when you’ve truly exhausted it.
This post exists because I see too many founders skip the first part and go straight to spending $125,000–$150,000 on a recruiter without ever running a disciplined network search. What follows is a practical playbook for how to do that well - before you ever pick up the phone and call someone like me
1. Core Principles
How to Think About Network Hiring
Reaching out to people in our network can be nerve-racking, and it can be even more nerve-racking to reach out to people whom we truly admire and respect. Before you start reaching out to anyone, it helps to internalize a few truths about how people actually behave.
Most people in your network genuinely want to help you.
If help doesn’t materialize, it’s rarely because they don’t respect you or don’t care.People are busy and need direction.
Vague asks don’t get traction. Clear asks do.People need reminders.
If someone forgets to follow up, it’s not a signal about your relationship - it’s a signal about their calendar.Following up is part of the job.
Managing the process is on you. Treat this like any other important workstream - track your progress, the last time you talked to someone, next steps, etc.
2. Preparation
Do This Before You Ask Anyone for Help
Network hiring only works if you’ve done the prep work and are ready to move quickly.
Have these prepared in advance:
A job description you’re comfortable sharing
A clear articulation of:
Who this person is
What their experience looks like
Why this role matters to the business
Compensation expectations
A simple, explicit ask you can repeat consistently
If someone is willing to help you, you should be able to send everything they need immediately after a conversation. Momentum matters.
3. Map Your Networks
Be Strategic, Not Reactive
Most founders underestimate how many networks they actually belong to.
Take ten minutes to physically write them down:
College and alumni networks
Internship cohorts
Previous employers (e.g., consulting firms, startups, large companies)
Co-working spaces or communities you’ve worked from
Boards and investors
Current employees (this is another art and a whole different process likely worthy of a different playbook altogether)
Past managers, peers, and direct reports
Friends & family friends (this works better in the Bay Area, New York and other talent-dense geographies, but is worth mentioning)
This short, 10-minute exercise is a critical part of the strategy. It turns “asking around” into an intentional motion.
4. Identify the Highest-Leverage People in Each Network
Not all contacts give you the same reach. Within each network, ask yourself:
Who is highly respected?
Who is well-connected professionally?
Who has seen a lot of talent over time?
For example:
In a college network, don’t ask random classmates — ask successful, well-networked alumni you respect.
In a co-working space, don’t ask the office manager — ask the person who owns or runs the space.
As you go through this exercise, write down target names for each network that you're a part of. I've found that, generally, you should go after the most prominent people, and it is surprising how willing they are to help out if they're able. Our goal when driving referral candidates is maximum reach per conversation, and approaching the most-connected people help us achieve that goal.
5. Run the Outreach Play
Why 10-Minute Calls Matter
Email and text are useful, but they’re rarely sufficient on their own. I'm a huge proponent of hopping on the phone and talking to people live. I've found that it's far more effective, probably along the lines of 10x more effective in terms of referral introductions made.
Here’s what I’ve found works best:
First, reach out via email or text
Ask for 10 minutes on the phone to see if they have anyone in their network that could be a fit for an open role at my company
Frame the conversation as something that is better on the phone, so you can share additional context
Example ask:
“Hey _____, I was thinking of people that might know the right person for a leadership role we have open, and you came to mind because of _____! Do you have 10 minutes? I’d love to talk it through so you understand what we’re trying to build.”
Those ten minutes on the phone matter. People who spend time with you:
Understand the role better
Feel more invested in you and the company
Are more likely to actually think about their network and follow through
6. Manage Referrals Like a Pipeline
Following Up *Is* the Work
After the call:
Send the job description and clear ask immediately
Set a follow-up reminder for yourself for one week down the road
A week later, check back in:
“Great chatting with you - I wanted to see if anyone came to mind. Even if they’re not actively looking, I’m just trying to meet interesting people.”
Two important nuances:
Encourage intros even if the person may be too senior (however, I wouldn’t spend time with people that are too junior)
Treat these conversations as learning, not just sourcing
Meeting experienced operators who aren’t right today helps you build a stronger mental model of the ideal leader for the role - and can often lead to the right hire later. I actually met our eventual CFO two years beforehand through our Board - he had stepped in to help us assess some Director of Finance candidates we were considering and much later on, he ended up joining the company.
7. Maintain Hiring Integrity
Referrals Are Not Free Passes
One of the hardest parts of network hiring is remembering this:
A referral does not entitle someone to the job.
You still need to:
Apply a critical eye
Evaluate fit honestly
Say no when the fit isn’t right
This will feel uncomfortable - especially when referrals come from friends, investors, or board members. But part of being a good leader is having the confidence and integrity to prioritize the business over convenience.
If you do this well, you’ll say no far more often than yes. Over time, people will respect you more for it.
8. When the Well Runs Dry
Knowing When It’s Time to Use a Recruiter
Network hiring is powerful — but it’s not infinite. Like the time I was humbled after 2.5 months of an unsuccessful search for my VP of Sales, eventually, using a recruiter can be the right choice.
You’ll know it’s time to expand the search when:
You’ve exhausted connections after working through your networks intentionally
You’re seeing the same profiles repeatedly
The role requires reach outside your personal orbit
Speed or specialization becomes critical
At that point, a recruiter isn’t a replacement for your network - they’ll help you leverage the clarity and learning you’ve already built to help you find the right talent (likely someone passive at a larger company that isn’t actively looking for a new job).
Closing Thoughts
When expanding the search becomes the right move
Hiring through your network should always be your first move. It’s high-signal, capital-efficient and often surfaces people who are strong cultural and values fits. But there comes a point where expanding beyond your immediate network becomes not just helpful, but rational.
Over the years, I found that one of the real advantages of working with a strong recruiter is market visibility. A recruiter who is doing their job well is having conversations with passive candidates - people who would never apply through your website or raise their hand publicly. Those conversations give you a broader view of what “great” actually looks like in the market, not just who happens to be one or two degrees away from you.
My favorite part of working with Recruiters is that they allow you to compress time. We all know how hiring works in venture companies - we needed the right hire *yesterday*. Speed matters, especially for senior hires. While any CEO could spend hours sourcing on LinkedIn, writing outbound messages, and running dozens of early conversations, that doesn’t mean it’s the best use of their time. As a company grows, there are often higher-leverage decisions competing for attention. A good recruiter lets you move faster without sacrificing quality by running that workstream on your behalf.
At their best, recruiters are also thought partners. The right recruiter isn’t just forwarding resumes - they are a sounding board. Someone who has seen these roles before, understands tradeoffs, and can pressure-test your thinking. Hiring senior leaders is hard, and perspective matters. That kind of judgment typically comes from having sat close to the seat, if not directly in it.
Finally, there’s the human side of the role. Senior candidates are rarely “looking.” They’re in stable, well-paid jobs. A great recruiter knows how to tell the story - not in a hype-driven way, but in a grounded, credible way that helps someone envision why leaving comfort for uncertainty might actually be the right move. When done well, that pitch can carry nearly as much weight as the CEO’s.
At the end of the day, the real question isn’t whether to use a recruiter. It’s whether you’ve done the groundwork to make the most use out of one.
Founders who get the most value from recruiters are the ones who have already pressure-tested their thinking through their network, clarified what great looks like and learned where their own reach ends. At that point, a recruiter isn’t a waste of resources - they’re adding leverage and expertise to a mission-critical hiring process. And they’re helping you get the result you want - faster.
Used too early, recruiters feel expensive and unsatisfying. Using the right recruiter at the right moment feels like an extension of your judgment and execution ability, and enables you to move quickly.
That distinction matters more than most people realize.
As someone who believes that finding the right talent is the most important thing a young company can do to optimize its chances of growth and success, I genuinely hope that this guide helps you maximize the network you’ve built thus far in your career.
I have no doubt that your network is deeper and richer than you realize and that the right person could be just a connection or two away. Good luck and happy hunting!!
Taylor Smith
General Partner & Cofounder of Altia Partners