Success Story: How Teach Starter’s newly appointed Head of Product is helping to create more ‘aha’ moments in the classroom – both in Australia and abroad
Hunt & Co. are proud to specialise in a diverse range of digital talent, including many hard-to-find roles. We are not just recruiters, we are consultants and we are driven by our purpose to create life-changing connections, and we are invested in going on the journey with you to find the right person for your team. But don’t just take our word for it. Read our success story about finding Teach Starter’s Head of Product.
The Client
In late 2021, the Hunt & Co. team were engaged to recruit a Head of Product for a scaling SaaS startup based here in Brisbane, Teach Starter – an ed-tech subscription platform designed for teachers by teachers. Their purpose is to unlock the passion, purpose, and potential of teachers, so they can expand what’s possible for every student – providing a platform for teachers to access thousands of resources and teaching assets. Heading into a new iteration of growth with the founders handing over the reins to accomplished CEO, Liz McMillan, Teach Starter was looking to recruit an experienced Head of Product to expand their team.
The Role
This role was a complex and strategic hire for the Teach Starter team. With a new CEO helping scale the company and reach a new level of product maturity, Teach Starter required a Head of Product to lead and implement their product strategy and take the company into its next phase. Key imperatives for the role were a strong alignment with the CEO on product philosophy, a clear passion for the overall ‘why’ of Teach Starter, strong people leadership skills and an understanding of how to build product-led growth. As Teach Starter’s external talent acquisition partner, we were excited to take on this challenging and highly impactful role.
The Process
At Hunt & Co. HQ, the recruitment process began by mapping the market, identifying a clear archetype for the role and assessing our current network. This role was a linchpin for the business to hit its scaling goals and it was essential to get it right!
With Brisbane’s product market still expanding and maturing, this role was additionally complex as only a handful of people had the experience leading and scaling an established product such as Teach Starter. This was a must for success in this role. Through headhunting and leveraging ‘hyper-connectors’ within our network, it was established that there were a narrow 18 people qualified for this role in the local market. Fortunately, as Teach Starter has adopted a hybrid model of working, we were able to expand our searching horizons beyond Brisbane where we explored both our coastal neighbours and Sydney. Of those 18, four interested candidates were submitted to Teach Starter and two progressed to the interview stage. Both candidates progressed through two rounds of interviews and a panel as well as a few coffee catch ups with Liz.
The Result
Although both candidates were clearly qualified and passionate about the role, one particular candidate stood out. His name is Greg Le Sueur.
A familiar face in Brisbane’s product scene and a long time industry friend of Hunt & Co., Greg was not in the market but would be open for a ‘life-changing role’ – one that would allow him to drive product in an impact and purpose-led company. Having been pre-vetted by our team already, we were confident Greg would be a perfect match for Teach Starter.
Success! After a thorough interview and negotiation process, managing the added complexity of multiple offers on Greg’s table, Hunt & Co. were able to secure a Head of Product contract for Greg approximately seven weeks after their initial interview.
Click here to read our #LifeChangingConnections story with Greg Le Sueur.
Teach Starter wouldn’t be the company it is today without our Hunt & Co. partnership.
In early 2021, we embarked on a journey of product and engineering transformation. We couldn’t have timed our plans to rapidly grow our technical teams worse! We quickly discovered (along with most Brisbane-based technology employers) that competition for talent was unprecedentedly fast, fierce and hard fought.
At first we tried to cast a wide net – engaging 4 recruiting agencies – in an attempt to reach as many candidates as possible. But the few candidates we met were poorly aligned with our needs and uninformed about our vision.
Working with Hunt & Co (initially one of 4 agencies) was a different experience. Holly and her team spent time getting to know our culture, understanding our needs and the role new hires would play in our strategy. The result of this unique curiosity was that we could rely on Hunt & Co candidates to be aligned with our values, culture and requirements.
It didn’t take long for us to formally engage Hunt & Co as our exclusive agency partner for all recruiting. It is a true partnership and the results have been transformative. From hiring niche roles in record time to finding unicorn engineers and supporting our employer branding efforts, the Hunt & Co team have added value at every step of the way.
– Liz McMillan, CEO of Teach Starter
Want to learn more about Greg’s role as Head of Product at Teach Starter? Now you can! Click here to watch his episode on our video series, What’s The Stack.
Looking for a recruitment partner to help you source hard-to-find talent? Get in touch with our team today to see how we help you and your company
Email us at hi@huntandco.io or connect with the Hunt & Co. team here. To read more success stories and #LifeChangingConnections interviews, click here.