How EPS helped a VC-backed tech startup transform a founder-led, gut-feel hiring approach into a structured, scalable recruitment function.
Fractional HR | Recruitment | Startup HR | Scaling | Founder Coaching | Hiring Process
Client Context
A technology startup had just secured venture capital funding in the low eight figures. The raise was a major milestone and unlocked the founder’s plans for significant headcount growth. The business had around forty people at the time and needed to hire approximately twenty new roles — a substantial increase relative to its existing size. Despite the ambition and the funding, the company had no formal hiring process, no recruitment system and no structured approach to selection. All hiring decisions were made directly by the founder, largely based on instinct.
The Challenge
The founder cared about hiring well, but the approach in place could not support the scale of recruitment now required. Every candidate had to pass through the founder personally. There were no standardised stages, no assessment criteria beyond gut feel, and no system to track candidates or manage the pipeline. The business was also relying almost entirely on external recruiters to source candidates, which limited both the volume and diversity of the talent pool. With twenty roles to fill and a growing business to run, the founder was becoming the single biggest bottleneck in the hiring process.
Why EPS Was Brought In
The company did not need a permanent Head of Talent or a full recruitment team. It needed someone who could design and implement a hiring framework quickly, introduce the right tools and processes, and help the founder let go of direct control over every hire. EPS was engaged on a fractional basis to build the infrastructure, upskill the team and shift the company from founder-led hiring to a structured, scalable model.
What EPS Did
- Designed a staged selection process: EPS introduced a structured hiring framework with distinct stages covering technical assessment, motivational fit, cultural alignment and practical case study or roleplay exercises. This replaced the informal, unstructured approach and gave the business a consistent, repeatable method for evaluating candidates.
- Sourced and implemented a recruitment system: EPS identified and rolled out an applicant tracking system that matched the company’s size and complexity. The system was simple enough to adopt immediately but capable of scaling as the business grew.
- Opened up new hiring channels: EPS moved the business beyond its reliance on external recruiters by activating employee referral programmes and social media hiring. This broadened the candidate pipeline and reduced dependency on a single, expensive source.
- Trained a panel of interviewers: EPS trained a group of managers and senior team members on the new selection process, equipping them to run interviews independently and assess candidates consistently.
- Coached the CEO on delegation and empowerment: EPS worked directly with the founder to shift from a model where every hiring decision required personal approval to one where trusted leaders were empowered to make hiring decisions within a clear framework.
The Outcome
The business moved from sequential, founder-dependent hiring to parallel recruitment across multiple roles. The CEO bottleneck was removed. The candidate pipeline grew by roughly ten times through the introduction of new sourcing channels. The quality of hires improved as the wider candidate pool reduced the pressure to make rushed or compromise appointments. The company gained a hiring function that could keep pace with its growth plans.
Key Lesson
Securing funding unlocks growth, but growth depends on hiring. If the hiring process cannot scale with the business, the founder becomes the constraint. The companies that grow well after a raise are the ones that invest early in the systems, structure and trust needed to hire at pace without sacrificing quality.
Scaling your team after a funding round? EPS helps startups build hiring processes that move at the speed of growth — without losing control of quality. Get in touch →