Founders: The Fastest Way to Lose Great Candidates
Commit to the process, or don’t start, the best candidates won’t always wait.
The Climate Talent Playbook
Helping Climate Founders Build & Retain Teams that Win — and Solve Climate Change
We’ve all seen it. Founders who say they’re hiring but never really hire – at least with full commitment. They start the search, take a few calls, maybe interview a couple of candidates here and there… then ghost their own process.
The result? They lose time, credibility, and the best candidates to companies that simply moved faster.
In Today’s Issue:
👉 What Happens When You Half-Commit to a Hire (and Why It’s So Costly)
👉 Jobs We’re Working On
👉 Word on the Street
What Happens When You Half-Commit to a Hire (and Why It’s So Costly)
TLDR: Once you decide to hire, commit fully. A half-hearted search wastes your time, your recruiter’s time, and your team’s time. The best candidates move quickly. If you don’t, you’ll lose them and the momentum.
Here’s something I see constantly:
Founders say they’re “ready to hire,” but what they really mean is, “I’ll start looking when I have time.”
It’s stagnating the hiring process.
Shows a lot of procrastination.
If you’re serious about finding the right person, you have to commit. Fully.
Because when you don’t, three things happen, and all of them cost you and your company.
1. You Waste Everyone’s Time (Including Your Own)
You start a search. You talk to a few candidates. You think, “Okay, this looks good… I’ll circle back next week.”
Then next week becomes three weeks. Then the candidates you liked get other offers.
Recruiters lose momentum. Your team gets confused. And suddenly, you’re back to square one.
Hiring half-committed is worse than not hiring at all — because you burn cycles, goodwill, and opportunity.
2. You Lose the Best Candidates
Here’s the reality: good candidates move fast.
In ClimateTech, talent is scarce, and everyone is talking to multiple companies. If you drag your feet, delay feedback, pause interviews, or keep “thinking about it”, they’ll likely sign elsewhere.
And even if they don’t, they’ll assume your company moves slowly.
Momentum matters. The best people want to join teams that execute.
3. You Damage Your Employer Brand
When you start a search and then vanish, it affects your reputation.
Word travels. Recruiters talk. Candidates share experiences.
A half-committed process signals indecision, disorganization, or worse, lack of seriousness.
And that makes your next hire even harder.
4. You Confuse Your Own Team
Founders underestimate how much internal alignment matters in hiring.
If your team sees you start a hiring process, then stall or drop it, they start to doubt priorities. “Are we really growing? Is leadership serious about this?”
Fully committing isn’t just about candidates — it’s about sending a signal of clarity inside your own company.
At ErthTech Talent, this is something we coach founders through all the time.
We’ve seen founders burn months of runway because they couldn’t commit to the search. And we’ve also seen founders make a single decisive hire that unlocked everything else.
Once you decide it’s time, go all in. Don’t half-hire.
Action Items for Founders:
Block time every week to review candidates (non-negotiable)
Align internally before starting. Everyone should know what you’re hiring for and why.
Move fast on good talent. 48 hours between steps, max.
Communicate clearly with your recruiter or hiring partner. Silence kills momentum.
Make decisions. Perfect doesn’t exist but paralysis will kill your pipeline.
Quick Takeaway for Founders
The moment you start searching, you’re on the clock, not the candidate.
Commit to the process, move fast, and communicate clearly.
Because hesitation is the most expensive part of hiring.
Jobs We’re Working On 💼
Here are the jobs we’re supporting currently.
Manager of Engineering – Helix Earth Technologies | Houston, TX
Partner (Climate VC)
(→ Want your job here? Reply to this email.)
Don’t see a role for you? Submit your resume here.
LET US HELP YOU:
If you want to avoid these issues or want help crafting a human-centered hiring process, reach out to us today.
For 5.5 years we’ve helped CleanTech startups hire the best talent and make sure the experience is top-notch. Leaving a good taste and positive reputation with your candidates.
Now with over 80 placements under our belts, we have been around the block a time or two.
Reach out today for Coaching, Screening, or Headhunting support. All at prices even a Pre-Seed Startup can afford.
Sponsored by ErthTech Talent: 80+ Placements since 2020. Affordable. Accurate.
Word on the Street
Nothing for you today. We are working on something new, so I’ve been heads down and not out on the street as much these past two weeks. Stay tuned.
~Silas
💬 Share your hiring win, challenge, or war story.
Reply to this email or DM us—we might feature it next week. We would love to share your lessons. This way, everyone benefits. Together, we can move climate forward in these uncertain times.
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