You're the one signing the cheque, sitting in the offer call, living with the hire. So we wrote this for you, not your TA team. The questions you've been raising before booking the call. If yours isn't here, ask it on the call itself, we prefer the harder ones.
The job is built on continuously building relationships across a diverse set of roles. Working as a stand-alone IC inside one team actively gets in the way of that. The reach we bring you is the by-product of speaking to a Head of Operations one week, a UI/UX & CRO Designer the next, a Video Editor after that. That range is what makes the next introduction land. An IC running one role at a time, in one company, loses that compounding effect within months.
Octopus is an embedded hiring partner for founder-led companies. We learn your business model, culture, and org structure first, then go to market as an extension of your founding team, not an agency sending speculative profiles.
Not a CV factory. We do not send speculative profiles. We embed, learn the business, then run the search as part of your team. Candidates arrive already sold because we give them the real detail: your channel mix, your growth story, what it actually feels like to work with you.
We extend internal teams. We do not compete with them. We pick up the searches they do not have bandwidth or network for, founder-replacement hires, senior leadership, multi-region, and run them in lockstep with the people you already trust.
By design. We take on the number of searches we can run with full attention, and we are honest at intake when we do not have room. A handful of accountable searches beats a roster of half-attended ones.
Founders and founder-led teams. We work exclusively with founders who support flexible, remote work, because that is where high-calibre talent is, and why our introductions convert. Recent engagements have spanned DTC and e-commerce, tech and AdTech, B2B sales, and people and operations.
Decisions get made fast, and the people we put in front of you speak to the person whose vision they would actually be joining. That is where our work compounds. In layered orgs the signal we offer is diluted in committee, and the candidates who choose you most carefully feel the difference first.
Because high-calibre talent has the choice, and the best ones increasingly use it. Working only with founders who support flexible, remote work is why our introductions convert. It is also why we can recruit where the talent is, not within commute distance.
DTC and e-commerce sit at the centre of recent work: Head of Operations, Supply Chain Manager, UI/UX Designer & CRO Lead, Video Editor (AI + UGC/Organic), Performance Marketing Lead, Retention & Lifecycle Lead, Brand Designer, Copywriter. Alongside the cross-pollinating roles that compound the rest, Account Executive, Design Engineer, Product Designer, and People Partner. The reach we bring you is the by-product of speaking to a Head of Operations one week, a UI/UX & CRO Designer the next, a Video Editor after that.
Globally. EMEA, North America, APAC, LATAM, Eastern Europe, and South Africa. We recruit where the talent is, not where it is convenient. Compensation constraints and multi-region complexity are always discussed upfront.
Straightforward and outcome focused: 1× monthly salary of the successful hire. One third upfront when the search begins, two thirds on successful placement. Not a fixed percentage. Not a retainer. Pricing reflects scope, seniority, and market.
Mutual investment. It signals you are serious about hiring, and it lets us commit the time the search deserves. The remaining two thirds are tied to the outcome you actually wanted, a successful placement.
Varies by role, seniority, and market. Recent senior, founder-facing searches have closed in around six weeks from intake to hire. We will give you an honest read on timeline at the intake call, including what would slow it down.
We expect it. The intake call surfaces a lot. The market surfaces more. If the role evolves, we re-scope together. That is partnership, not vendor billing.
If the hire leaves in the first 30 days, we replace them at no charge. Terms apply. Beyond that, we stay in contact after placement because we care whether the fit is working, not just whether the contract was signed.
We do not widen for the sake of widening. We ask, "What uncertainty are you trying to resolve?" That single question, asked together, surfaces three failure modes founders rarely catch in themselves: endless comparison, decision avoidance, and false signals dressed as caution. We solve the risk with you. We do not add more noise.
Yes. Founder-replacement and executive searches are a meaningful share of the work. Discretion is the default, not a feature.
We ask first whether we can run the search well, not whether we have run one in your sector before. If we cannot, we say so, and often refer you to someone who can.
They arrive informed, not surprised. We give candidates the real detail before they decide to engage, and we represent your story, your values, and your ambition in every conversation. Candidates we do not place often stay in our network and refer others.
No. Pricing is 1× monthly salary of the successful hire, one third upfront, two thirds on hire. Not a retainer. Not a fixed percentage of annual. We earn the next search by closing the current one well.
C., Founder, bootstrapped an award-winning HRtech software company to revenue and has 7+ years in hiring with a background in psychology. Baris, Founding Talent Partner, holds a PhD in Gender Studies with a major in psychology and brings deep knowledge of the LATAM talent market across English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Book a short intro call. No pressure. We will ask the questions no one else has asked you about your business, listen first, then tell you honestly whether we are the right partner for the role you have in mind.
Bring the harder questions. We'll listen first, then tell you honestly whether we're the right partner for the role you have in mind.