Affordable Hiring For Bootstrapped Teams Who Need Quality Without Agency Premiums
Chemistry First hiring for teams of 2 to 15 people growing without VC funding – because you deserve the same quality hiring as Series A companies, just at bootstrapped-friendly pricing.
Built For Teams Growing Lean
This is for you if
- You're bootstrapped or angel-funded (not venture-backed)
- You're at 2-15 people and hiring for growth
- You need quality hires but can't afford £20K+ agency fees
- You're hiring your first revenue, marketing, technical, or operations person - new headcount needn't be scary
- You want Chemistry First hiring, not just 'here's 5 CVs'
Not for you if
- You're pre-revenue and can't pay for hiring services yet
- You need 10+ hires in the next 3 months (we focus on quality, not volume)
- You just want cheap recruiting (we're affordable, not cheap)
How We Help Bootstrapped Teams
Traditional agencies charge 20-30% of first-year salary (£15K-£30K per hire). We charge flat fees because we believe bootstrapped teams deserve the same quality hiring as VC-backed companies.
SERVICE 1: FIRST REVENUE HIRE
Who This Is
What We Do
- Find candidates who understand early-stage selling (not corporate sales)
- Test for self-starter mentality and chemistry with founders
- Support through offer negotiation and onboarding
Best For
SERVICE 2: FIRST MARKETING HIRE
Who This Is
Your first growth marketer, lead gen, SEO, product manager, content lead, or demand gen specialist
What We Do
- Find candidates who can wear multiple hats (not single-channel specialists)
- Test for scrappiness and creative problem-solving
- Focus on 'do more with less' mindset
Best For
SERVICE 3: TECHNICAL HIRES
Who This Is
Software engineers, technical product managers, or technical leads
What We Do
- Find candidates comfortable in early-stage ambiguity (no detailed specs)
- Test for technical skills AND product thinking
- Assess chemistry with existing technical team
Best For
Post-MVP startups building out their first in-house engineering team (1- to 5 engineers)
SERVICE 4: OPERATIONS/FINANCE HIRE
Who This Is
What We Do
- Find candidates who can build processes from scratch (not just maintain them)
- Test for organisational skills and founder rapport
- Focus on 'systems thinker' mentality
Best For
Bootstrapped companies at 5 to 10 people who need someone to ‘make things run smoothly’. You need systemisation, not just more clients and customers!
SERVICE 5: MULTI-ROLE TEAM BUILDING
Who This Is
Building out your first team of 5 to 10 people (multiple roles)
What We Do
- Strategic hiring roadmap (who to hire in what order)
- Multiple placements with volume discount
- 6-month support to ensure team chemistry
Best For
Bootstrapped startups scaling from 3 to 15 people and need a systematic hiring and post-hiring approach
What You'll Learn
STEP 1: FOUNDATION (90-Minute Strategy Call)
What Happens
- Who do you actually need? (not just job title, but skills + chemistry fit)
- What stage is your company at, and what personality fits that stage?
- What's your timeline and budget?
- What does success look like in 30/60/90 days for this hire?
STEP 2: SEARCH (2-4 Weeks)
What Happens
- Active job seekers on LinkedIn (yes, we look there too)
- Passive candidates in niche communities (Slack, GitHub, industry forums)
- Referrals from our network (20+ years of founder relationships)
- People who've shown interest in your space (newsletter subscribers, event attendees)
STEP 3: CHEMISTRY (1-2 Weeks)
What Happens
- Initial screening calls (we handle this)
- Trial projects or tasks (we design these with you)
- Founder interviews (we prep you with the right questions)
- Team fit assessment (if you have an existing team)
Our Difference: We test for fit, not just a flashy CV and qualifications!
STEP 4: INTEGRATION (First 90 Days)
What Happens
- Offer negotiation (salary, equity, benefits)
- Onboarding planning (first 30/60/90 days)
- Check-ins at 30/60/90 days (is it working? any issues?)
- Course-correcting if needed (communication breakdowns, misaligned expectations)
Our Industry-Leading Guarantee: If the hire doesn’t work out in the first 12 months, we’ll redo the search at no additional cost to you.
Why Flat Fees Instead Of Percentages?
- For a £50k hire, that's £10k to £15k.
- For a £70k hire, that's £14k to £21k.
Traditional recruiter fees are broken. And part of the problem with our industry.
Transparency
You know the cost upfront. No surprises. Staged payments which make it easier for your cashflow.
Fairness
You're paying for our work and expertise, not a percentage of someone's salary.
Alignment
We focus on finding the right person, not the highest-paid person (to push up our invoice, which is what many traditional recruiters do!)
- £5k to £8k for most roles (sales, marketing, ops)
- £8k to £12k for technical roles (engineering, product)
- £15k to £25k for multiple hires or senior roles
What Clients Say
Common Questions
What's the typical timeline?
4 to 8 weeks from kickoff to offer accepted (sometimes faster, rarely longer than 10-12 weeks).
Do you work with fully remote teams?
Yes! We’ve helped bootstrapped teams hire remotely across the UK, EU, and globally. Many of our clients are US-based or growing from the UK into new territories such as the USA or Europe.
What if we can't afford £5k to £8k right now?
We get it. Consider downloading our free hiring resources first, or reach out when you have the budget. We’re not going anywhere.
Do you offer payment plans?
Yes. There’s a non-refundable engagement fee, a second invoice when your interviews start, and a final invoice once your new team member starts.
We can also discuss milestone-based payments for multi-role engagements.
What industries do you work with?
We work with founders who care about getting hiring right – regardless of industry.
Most of our clients are in B2B SaaS, fintech, marketplace platforms, and tech-enabled services. But we’ve also helped:
- An organic skincare D2C brand (bootstrapped)
- IT managed service providers across the UK and US East Coast
- A robotics startup in London
- A new accountancy practice in Somerset
- An HR professional services scale-up in England
What they all have in common:
They’re building small, high-performing teams (5-100 people) where every hire matters. They want a talent partner who understands the realities of growing a business without unlimited resources – and who won’t treat them like just another corporate client.
If you’re a founder or business owner who needs to get your next leadership hire right, we can probably help.
How is this different from a traditional recruiter?
We don’t just match CVs to job descriptions. We test for chemistry before you commit.
Most recruiters optimise for speed. They send you 10 candidates in 2 weeks and move on.
We optimise for fit. Because hiring someone impressive who doesn’t match your working style costs you 12-18 months and £100K+ when it falls apart.
Here’s what makes us different:
Traditional Recruiters:
- CV screening (experience + qualifications)
- Fast turnaround (fill the role quickly)
- Transactional (place candidate, collect fee, move on)
- Volume-focused (more placements = more revenue)
- Work with companies of all sizes
HFBAC (Chemistry First Hiring):
- Chemistry screening (working style + values + team fit)
- Right-fit focus (better to take 8 weeks than hire the wrong person in 4)
- Advisory relationship (we help you avoid costly mistakes)
- Quality-focused (we care far more about 12-month+ retention, not 3-month placement)
- Only work with growing companies (5 to 50 people where every hire matters)
What this means in practice:
Before we introduce you to anyone, we’ve already tested for:
- How they make decisions under pressure
- How they handle ambiguity and rapid change
- Whether they’re builders or optimisers (very different skill sets)
- How they communicate when things go wrong
- Whether their leadership style matches your team culture
We also tell you when NOT to hire.
If you’re rushing into a senior hire because you’re overwhelmed, we’ll tell you to pause. If your existing team isn’t ready for new leadership, we’ll tell you that too.
Traditional recruiters don’t say this. It costs them placements.
We say it because bad hires cost you more than our fees ever could.
Think of us as the talent partner who tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
If that sounds like the approach you need, let’s talk.
Ready To Hire For Growth?
No pressure. No sales pitch. Just a conversation about building your team the right way.