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Human-First: The GTM Hiring Show

Human-First: The GTM Hiring Show

Written by: Captivate Talent
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AI is rewriting what "great" looks like across sales, marketing, customer success, and RevOps. Old playbooks have stopped working. And most founders are hiring in the dark.

Human-First: The GTM Hiring Show cuts through the noise with high-signal conversations for B2B Tech founders, revenue leaders, and the VCs who back them - from the team at Captivate Talent.

Unlike other shows about hiring, we pull back the curtain on what a search actually looks like: real funnel data, real candidate feedback, and the kind of market intelligence that helps you make decisions based on reality, not guesswork.

Every episode is built around three questions every leader asks before making a GTM hire:

  • Am I ready to hire? (And what to do when the honest answer is "not yet")
  • How do I hire? (How to run a tight process and spot "great" when you've never seen it before)
  • Did I hire the right person? (How to diagnose whether it's the role, the comp, the process, or the person)

Each episode features founders, revenue leaders, VCs, and operators who've made the hard calls firsthand - sharing what worked, what didn't, and what they'd do differently. We also tackle the AI fluency question head-on: not the hype, not the fear, just what's actually changing in GTM hiring and how to evaluate it in candidates.

Human-First is produced by Captivate Talent, a boutique recruiting firm specializing in go-to-market hires for seed through Series B B2B Tech companies.

If you're building a GTM team and want to hire with more clarity and less chaos, this show is for you.

Subscribe so you don't miss an episode - and join the founders, VCs, and revenue leaders already listening.

2026 Captivate Talent Careers Economics Personal Success
Episodes
  • How to Build a US Sales Team When You're Expanding From Europe with James Isilay

    How to Build a US Sales Team When You're Expanding From Europe with James Isilay
    May 26 2026

    Most European founders expanding to the US make the same hiring mistake. This episode breaks down what actually works when building a commercial team across the Atlantic.


    Tired of watching US expansion burn through cash with nothing to show for it? Wondering whether to hire senior or junior first, which city to land in, or how to stop your new US team from churning out within a year?


    James Isilay founded Cognism and scaled it from zero to $80M+ ARR, navigating the move from the UK to the US firsthand, including an early pivot from New York to Boston that changed the trajectory of the business. He's since advised multiple high-growth B2B software companies on strategic expansion and go-to-market.


    You'll walk away with a clear framework for sequencing your US expansion: when to transplant your own people, when to start hiring locally, and the positioning work most founders skip that determines whether the whole thing sticks. This isn't theory, it's a playbook built from real decisions and real mistakes.


    This one is for European and UK-based SaaS founders and GTM leaders who are planning or actively navigating US expansion. If you're deciding on your first US hire, choosing a city, or trying to figure out why your US pipeline isn't converting, this is the episode.


    Key Takeaways

    >> Hiring a senior US sales leader before you've built a working system on the ground is the most common and most expensive way European founders fail at US expansion.


    >> Transplanting early employees from your home base creates a bridge between your existing playbooks and the new market, giving your US team access to the knowledge network that remote hires simply can't replicate.


    >> Choosing a city based on where your specific industry talent lives, not prestige or personal preference, dramatically affects hiring quality, retention, and cost.


    >> Founders need to find a tight ICP with high win rates in the US market before putting their foot on the pedal with sales hiring; without that foundation, you're accelerating from nothing.


    Chapter Markers

    00:00 - Why hiring senior in the US usually fails

    02:59 - The pattern behind failed European expansions

    05:17 - Starting junior vs. transplanting your own team

    06:32 - How often founders need to be on the ground

    07:50 - New York to Boston: why geography matters

    10:01 - Choosing a city based on talent, not prestige

    12:27 - The competitor that burned through a Series A in San Francisco

    14:04 - Time zone overlap and the East Coast advantage

    15:09 - US vs. UK sales talent: cost, churn, and calibration

    17:44 - Adapting your hiring process for the US market

    20:33 - Building culture across a satellite office

    22:33 - Why your UK brand doesn't transfer to the US

    24:44 - Reducing churn: comp, culture, and in-office presence

    26:46 - Working with specialist recruiters in the US

    28:55 - The one thing James would tell every founder before expanding

    30:17 - Honest signals that you're ready and false ones that trick you

    33:08 - Quickfire round


    Useful Links & Resources

    James Isilay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-isilay/

    Captivate Talent: https://www.captivatetalent.com/

    Danielle Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemessler/

    Chris Gannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gannonchristopher/


    Connect With the Show

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/captivate-talent/


    What's been your biggest surprise expanding a team into the US? Or if you're planning it right now, what's the question keeping you up at night? Drop it in the comments, we read every one and it helps shape future episodes.


    If this episode gave you a clearer picture of what US expansion actually takes, subscribe and share it with a founder who's about to make the move. New episodes drop every fortnight.
    Show More Show Less
    35 mins
  • Why Your First Sales Hire Is Making or Breaking Your Series A with Ben Newsome

    Why Your First Sales Hire Is Making or Breaking Your Series A with Ben Newsome
    May 12 2026

    Your first revenue-generating hire can unlock your Series A or quietly burn 12 months of runway. This episode breaks down how to get it right.


    Hiring your first salesperson when you don't come from a sales background? You don't know what "great" looks like, sellers are experts at selling themselves, and the old playbook of poaching from a big-logo company keeps backfiring. Sound familiar?


    Ben Newsome is VP of Talent and People at Cherry Ventures. He's spent his career inside the talent functions of major European VC firms, advising hundreds of early-stage B2B tech companies on their most critical GTM hires.


    You'll walk away knowing exactly what behavioral traits to interview for, why the "hire from Gong" instinct usually fails at seed stage, and the concrete steps to take before you talk to a single candidate. This is a practical hiring diagnostic, not theory.


    This one's for early-stage B2B founders, revenue leaders, and the VCs backing them. We cover the founding AE archetype, how to test for entrepreneurial grit in interviews, when founders hire too early, and the referencing mistakes that keep costing startups months of runway.


    Key Takeaways

    >> The strongest first GTM hires weight 75% toward attitude and behavior and only 25% toward experience and the interview questions you ask are the fastest way to see the difference.


    >> Hiring a seasoned operator from a growth-stage company often backfires because you can hide inside a mature playbook. Early-stage demands a generalist who's already proven they can build from zero.


    >> Founders should stress-test their go-to-market assumptions before opening the role, not after. The gaps you find will reshape the job description entirely.


    >> Firing fast only works when you're high-conviction in your GTM strategy; if you're not, seek advice fast and audit the whole machine, not just the hire.


    Chapter Markers

    00:00 - The cost of getting this hire wrong

    02:51 - Real examples of misfired GTM hires delaying funding rounds

    04:18 - The founding AE archetype: what to actually look for

    05:49 - How to interview for attitude, resilience, and entrepreneurial grit

    07:57 - Why the "big logo" enterprise seller keeps failing at seed stage

    10:17 - Behavioral interview questions that separate operators from talkers

    13:15 - Stage specificity: identifying true early-stage operators

    15:26 - How exposure and relationship-building signal a great GTM hire

    17:15 - The link between first sales hire quality and Series A graduation

    19:54 - How to know if a founder is actually ready for their first commercial hire

    21:52 - Fire fast or coach through it? When to cut ties vs. course correct

    27:40 - The founder's role: coaching, relinquishing control, and setting hires up to win

    30:20 - Three things every founder should do before talking to a single candidate

    32:25 - The one question Ben wishes every founder would ask him


    Useful Links & Resources

    • Ben Newsome on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennewsome/
    • Cherry Ventures: https://www.cherry.vc/


    Connect With the Show

    • Captivate Talent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/captivate-talent/
    • Danielle Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemessler/
    • Captivate Talent website: https://www.captivatetalent.com/


    What did your first GTM hire teach you, the hard way or the good way? Drop your story in the comments. If you're a founder navigating this decision right now, we'd love to hear what's tripping you up.


    Visit captivatetalent.com to learn how we help B2B tech companies hire exceptional GTM talent.
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • How to Build a Hiring Strategy That Survives the AI Tsunami

    How to Build a Hiring Strategy That Survives the AI Tsunami
    Apr 28 2026
    Welcome to Human First. AI is reshaping every stage of the hiring funnel. But the companies winning the talent war aren't the ones automating the most, they're the ones knowing exactly where to draw the line. You're buried in AI-optimized applications, unsure which tools to trust, and wondering whether your recruiting function even has a future. Sound familiar? Hung Lee curates Recruiting Brainfood, the most trusted newsletter in the talent profession, read by over 39,000 recruiters and HR professionals weekly. With 20+ years as an agency recruiter, Head of Talent, and recruitment tech founder, he's one of the few people who can separate genuine AI signal from vendor noise. This conversation gives you a practical framework for where AI belongs in your hiring process and where human judgment is non-negotiable. You'll walk away knowing how to protect your recruiting function while using technology to move faster. Hung and the Captivate Talent team break down the real impact of AI on recruiting, the case for founder-led hiring, and why employer branding needs radical authenticity right now. Built for founders, GTM leaders, and anyone responsible for building high-performing teams at startups and SaaS companies. Key Takeaways >> AI won't kill recruiting, but it will dramatically shrink the number of specialist recruiters needed, as non-specialists gain the tools to recruit effectively on their own. >> "Human in the loop" sounds reassuring, but most companies haven't tested what happens when AI recommendations and human intuition directly conflict and the answer matters more than you think. >> The AI-powered application flood is pushing companies back toward old-school sourcing, referrals, and gated communities as the only tenable way to manage candidate quality. >> Founders who build in public sharing raw, unpolished content about what they're hiring for and why, solve their employer branding and recruiting problems simultaneously. Chapter Markers 00:00 Is recruiting dead? The case for resilience 02:15 LinkedIn, job boards, and why "recruiter killer" tech keeps failing 03:45 What "human in the loop" actually means in practice 07:10 Assessment tools, AI delegation, and the temptation to avoid risk 09:29 Where AI agents belong in the recruiting funnel 11:23 Interview scheduling, intelligence, and high-volume screening 13:00 Voice interviewing and when candidates prefer talking to AI 16:31 AI bias, LLM training data, and the honesty problem 18:41 The K-shaped job market and who wins in an AI economy 21:03 Candidates weaponizing AI: the application flood crisis 24:29 How founders should think about building their core team 25:55 Founder-led hiring: how long should CEOs stay hands-on? 28:05 Talent strategy vs. hiring plan and why founders confuse them 29:17 Employer branding in the age of AI: radical authenticity wins 32:49 Rapid fire: remote vs. in-person, favorite tools, and hot takes Useful Links & Resources Hung Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunglee/Recruiting Brainfood Newsletter: https://www.recruitingbrainfood.com/Captivate Talent: https://www.captivatetalent.com/ Connect With the Show LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/captivate-talent/Website: https://www.captivatetalent.com/Danielle Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemessler/Chris Gannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gannonchristopher/ What's your take? Where should AI stop and human judgment start in your hiring process? Drop your thoughts in the comments or tag us on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear how your team is navigating the AI hiring wave. If this episode made you rethink your recruiting strategy, visit https://www.captivatetalent.com/ to see how Captivate Talent helps founders and GTM leaders build the teams that matter most.
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
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