Scaling Startups & Spotting Great Hires

Great hiring is a team sport. And at Attio, Don Fogarty has turned it into a company-wide obsession.

As Head of Talent, Don has helped scale Attio from just 8 to over 100 people—without compromising on quality. In a market full of hiring shortcuts, he’s taken the long way round: thoughtful sourcing, hands-on calibration, and a relentless focus on fit.

In this episode of the DexFactor podcast, Don joins Paddy to share what it takes to build a world-class team in one of Europe’s fastest-growing SaaS startups, why negative maintenance is his golden rule for great hires, and how hiring managers can make or break the whole process.

From Startups to Search to Scaling Attio

Don’s path into talent didn’t follow a straight line. It started with a stroke of luck—and a seat at the table.

He landed his first job at a startup consultancy led by Dave Allen, who had helped build WPP into a global powerhouse. One minute Don was fresh out of university; the next, he was sitting in boardrooms at Ernst & Young, absorbing lessons from decades of strategy.

That experience gave him the confidence to co-found his own company, a careers network for graduates. It didn’t work out—but it did lead to the next step: executive search.

Working with Nicola Mann, Don learned the fundamentals of high-stakes hiring—how to map markets, manage stakeholders, and run tight processes. It changed the way he thought about talent.

After COVID shut down the firm, he moved into in-house roles, joining a series of early-stage startups as their first recruiter. That eventually led to Attio—a product he already loved, and a founder who shared his belief: hiring should be a company-wide priority, not something outsourced to one team.

The Hire That Took 18 Months—and Was Worth Every Second

For Don, the best hires don’t come from a job board. They come from a shared obsession.

Take one of Attio’s founding engineers. He discovered a developer on Twitter whose open-source projects blew him away. Rather than send a cold email and hope for the best, the team crafted a long game. They followed. They DMed. They waited.

Eventually, the timing was right—and they hired them.

“It felt like the whole company was behind it,” Don says. “That’s what great hiring feels like. It’s not just process—it’s intent.”

What Makes a Great Hire? One Word: Maintenance

Don’s favourite metric for hiring success isn’t in a spreadsheet. It’s a feeling.

“The best hires,” he says, “are the ones you wish you’d made sooner. They reduce friction. They unblock people. They create momentum. We call it ‘negative maintenance.’”

And it’s not a vibe—there’s a logic behind it. When someone joins and instantly makes the lives of their team easier, you know you’ve struck gold.

The key isn’t just raw ability—it’s mindset. It’s about finding people who fit the pace and ambiguity of startup life, and who thrive in the chaos without needing a playbook.

The Hardest Role to Hire? The One That Should Be Easy

You’d think someone like Don—who lives and breathes recruitment—would find hiring recruiters a breeze. Not so.

“It’s one of the hardest roles to hire for,” he admits.

Why? Because the best recruiters are often already Heads of Talent at companies with 200+ employees. Asking them to roll up their sleeves and grind pipeline again is a tough sell.

And ironically, recruiters tend to interview really well. That means the usual signals don’t work. Instead, Don leans on backchannel references, deeper calibration with hiring managers, and a laser focus on whether they want to do the work—not just talk about it.

The Signal You Should Never Ignore

Titles can lie. Resumés can mislead. But there’s one pattern Don always looks out for: the wave rider.

These are candidates who’ve been at high-profile companies during periods of success—but weren’t necessarily part of what made those companies successful.

“We get distracted by brand names,” he says. “But what really matters is the stage at which they joined and the challenges they faced.”

He also watches out for another early red flag: candidates who lead with questions about work-life balance or benefits before understanding the role. “Startups aren’t for everyone,” he says. “And that’s okay. But it’s better to find that out early.”

Hiring Managers: Your Role Starts Before the First Interview

If there’s one thing Don wishes every hiring manager understood, it’s this: you’re not outsourcing the process. You’re owning it.

The biggest unlock? Spending time at the very start.

Before launching a role, Don encourages managers to spend two weeks fully engaged in calibration—identifying five strong profiles, writing a clear brief, and aligning with their execs. Only then should the recruitment team kick into gear.

“The talent team can find the fifty profiles you need,” he says, “but only if you know what you’re looking for.”

The Traits of a World-Class Recruiter

Don believes the best recruiters don’t just follow process—they sniff out signal.

“They’ve got a good nose,” he says. “They can see a pile of CVs and tell you which one’s going to get hired.”

That instinct doesn’t come from tooling or templates. It comes from curiosity. From time spent in the wild. From an ability to spot patterns in people—and a deep empathy for what makes someone thrive in a particular team.

“Some of it’s abstract,” he admits. “But you can often trace it back to experience—people who’ve moved through different communities, different environments. It shapes their lens.”

Why Some Great Candidates Don’t Work Out

Even strong profiles can lead to weak hires. Don’s seen it first-hand—and he’s built a framework to avoid it.

Attio uses archetypes: internal shorthand for both ideal and problematic personas. One common anti-pattern? The “wave rider” we mentioned earlier. Another: job hoppers without compelling narratives. And then there are the candidates who go through the motions but never take ownership of the process.

“If you’re in our funnel,” Don says, “you’re already in the top 1%. But we still want to feel like we’re partnering with you. That means being proactive, honest, and engaged from day one.”

Startups Aren’t for Everyone—and That’s Okay

There’s been a push in recent years to make startups more inclusive. But Don draws a line between accessibility and suitability.

“It’s not about hours or presenteeism,” he says. “It’s the mental load. The ambiguity. The constant problem-solving. That’s not for everyone.”

Don’s a parent—he puts his kids to bed and takes them to school. But he’s also clear: startup life demands flexibility, resilience, and a willingness to operate without guardrails.

That’s not elitist—it’s realistic. And the sooner candidates and companies embrace that truth, the better the matches will be.

How to Apply for a Startup Role and Actually Stand Out

Don’s advice to jobseekers is simple: take your time.

“The best applications come in over the weekend,” he says. “They’re thoughtful. They show intent. And they don’t feel like part of a shotgun blast.”

While he’s excited about the future of AI-driven career agents, Don’s not convinced the current tools are helping anyone. Volume doesn’t equal signal. And a generic application—no matter how well-written—won’t cut through.

“It needs to feel like you,” he says. “That’s the only thing that stands out.”

Received an Offer? Talk to the People Who Know You Best

Too many candidates get an offer and go silent. Don understands—big decisions are hard. But he encourages people to lean in, not out.

“Most people go external,” he says. “They ask friends and family. But those people don’t have the context.”

Instead, Don suggests speaking to the people who’ve already interviewed you. The founder. The hiring manager. The future teammate. “They want you to make a great decision,” he says. “Even if that decision isn’t us.”

When it comes to negotiating, Don’s clear: asking for more cash and less equity is often a signal you haven’t grasped the scale of the opportunity. And if you have concerns—about structure, visas, setup—flag them early. “Let us help you get the offer that works for everyone,” he says.

One Final Thought: Be the Negative Maintenance

Whether you’re a recruiter, a hiring manager, or a candidate, Don’s mantra applies: make life easier for the people around you.

That doesn’t mean working longer hours. It means bringing clarity. It means reducing friction. It means being the person everyone wishes they’d hired sooner.

At a time when hiring feels broken and noisy, that kind of signal is rare. And it’s what makes the difference between filling seats—and building teams.

Big Takeaways

• Negative maintenance = high impact. The best hires make life easier.
• Calibration beats chaos. Hiring managers must invest up front.
• Recruitment is a partnership. Candidates need to meet recruiters halfway.
• Startups aren’t for everyone—and that’s okay. Be honest about the fit.
• Take your time. Personal applications still win in a noisy market.
• Speak to people in the business before accepting an offer.

Listen to the full episode on the DexFactor Podcast.

Shape a career you love. Shape a team that lasts.