Franklin Bates
Start-ups
Your first engineering hires will shape what comes next_
A founding engineer strikes a fine balance between building your product, setting its technical direction and shaping how the team will work as it grows.
We work closely with founders to understand their priorities, their ambitions and the people they need to move the business forward. Franklin Bates helps start-ups hire founding engineers, early stage hands-on technical leaders and engineering teams.
Finding people who can build with you_
Early technical hires need to solve unfamiliar problems, make decisions with incomplete information and balance today’s product demands with tomorrow’s needs. You also need confidence that you can work well together.
We help founders define the role and find people who can take it on. We explore each candidate’s experience, approach and motivations before making an introduction, so you understand both what they can bring and what they are looking for.
For founders without an internal recruitment team, we bring structure, market knowledge and the time to manage the search properly - leaving you more time to build the business.
Support from the first appointment onwards_
We help you hire a founding engineer or architect, find a technical leader or build an early engineering team with the right mix of skills.
You may know exactly who you need, or want help deciding which skills to prioritise, how much experience the role requires and how to attract people with other strong options.
Whether you need a single hire or ongoing, embedded recruitment support, we make sure candidates understand what they would be joining: the role, the expectations and the realities of an early-stage business.
Who do you need beside you?
Whether you are preparing to hire your first engineer or bringing together the team for your next stage of development, we can help you think through the brief and find the people to take it forward.
Success stories
A first technical hire for a pre-launch fintech_
Two non-technical founders needed to appoint their first Founding Engineer/Architect before launch. With no internal HR or talent function, they needed a recruitment partner who could give the search sustained attention and bring relevant people into the conversation.
The appointment called for someone who could remain hands-on, guide offshore development and help establish a future London team, while providing a credible technical voice for the business.
We carried out a targeted headhunt over six weeks. The founders met most of the candidates we introduced, giving them the opportunity to explore different backgrounds and approaches. One candidate stood out and had become their clear preference by the second meeting. That candidate accepted the role, completing a crucial first technical appointment for the business.
Building a start-up’s founding engineering team_
A cybersecurity start-up needed a founding engineering team and engaged Franklin Bates as its sole embedded recruitment partner.
We worked closely with the business throughout attraction, sourcing, screening, interviews, final meetings and onboarding. That involvement gave the founders dedicated recruitment support across the whole process, with a consistent understanding of the team they were building.
The assignment resulted in the successful onboarding of the founding engineering team, with Franklin Bates operating as an extension of the business during an important early stage.