Founder Resources
Early & Growth Stage Startup Founder Recruiting Insights
Through The Lens of Bearhug’s Executive GTM Search Practice
(June 2025) Anchor your strategy to the latest executive hiring trends reshaping the startup landscape—plus key insights for founders, investors, & anyone wanting to unlock $100M in revenue scale.
June ’25 Update: VC dollars are flowing again, and executive searches are back in motion — but the hiring landscape in 2025 looks nothing like it did just a year ago. This post unpacks what we’re seeing in real time: AI-fueled distortion in the talent market, top operators being poached faster than ever, founders rushing into searches without clear scorecards, and world-class candidates walking when the narrative doesn’t resonate or the process falls apart. Whether you're a startup founder trying to land stage-appropriate executive leaders or an early-stage investor advising on critical exec hires across your portfolio, this is your short, high-signal read on what’s changed — and exactly what to do about it.
How SpaceX’s Competition with Boeing Directly Relates To Your Startup’s Success – PLUS How You Can Avoid Blowing Up Your Next Executive Search While More Easily Hitting Your Stretch Goals.
SpaceX launched it’s fourth Starship test flight this morning. Once again they managed to achieve their pre-set objectives for this mission. However, what you may not realize is Boeing got $4.2 billion to develop their astronaut capsule, while SpaceX only got $2.6 billion. Yet they finished 4 years sooner. A true demonstration of the power and impact you can have by hiring the right GTM leaders for your team. This article provides a snapshot of some key recruiting data points and offers a simple solution for helping you stay focused on more easily hitting your stretch goals while being strategic about how you work with external talent partners.