Diagnostic
What is actually getting in the way?
Five questions about your hiring. At the end you get a view on where the constraint most likely sits, and what to read or do next.
This is a structured prompt, not an assessment. It reflects the patterns we see most often, not a measurement of your company. Treat the result as a starting point for a conversation rather than a conclusion.
Most likely constraint
The constraint is a specific, hard hire
One role, a thin market, and no obvious candidate pool.
What you describe is the classic shape of a critical search: the role matters disproportionately, the market is small, and the strongest people are neither looking nor easy to reach.
The work here is a real map of where that person actually sits, including the adjacent industries most companies never think to search, followed by direct and researched outreach.
Where Terra would start
Critical SearchExecutive and difficult individual hiresMost likely constraint
The constraint is sequencing, not sourcing
The question is which roles to open and in what order.
At this stage the order of the first hires matters more than any individual profile. A wrong sequence quietly consumes two quarters and produces a team that is strong at what you already knew how to do.
Start by working backwards from the milestone the team has to deliver, then decide which capabilities have to exist before others can be productive.
Where Terra would start
Origin TeamFounding and formative team buildingMost likely constraint
The constraint is capacity
You know what you need. There is nobody to run it.
Several processes at once, no internal talent function, and hiring managers absorbing work they are not set up to do. This is a throughput problem rather than a judgment problem.
The usual answer is dedicated senior recruiting capacity on a defined commitment, working inside the team, with a documented process your internal hire can inherit later.
Where Terra would start
Embedded Talent PartnerHands-on recruiting capacity during a hiring surgeMost likely constraint
The constraint is the system, not the search
Strong pipeline, poor conversion. That is usually a design problem.
A role that has not converted in months often cannot be filled as written. A team that keeps losing people at offer stage usually has a compensation philosophy it has never articulated.
The fix sits above the search: how roles are defined, how decisions get made, how people are levelled and paid, and how the company explains itself to people it has not met.
Where Terra would start
Talent ArchitectureHiring strategy, sequencing and assessment systemsMost likely constraint
The constraint is how the company is understood
The work is compelling. The explanation of it is doing less work than it should.
When the founder is the only reliable source of context, both hiring and execution slow down. Candidates cannot assess the opportunity, and employees receive decisions without the reasoning behind them.
This is not a branding problem. It affects who joins, who stays, and how quickly the company can move.
Where Terra would start
Talent ArchitectureHiring strategy, sequencing and assessment systemsWant the thinking behind this?
We will send the guide that matches your result. Nothing else, and no sequence.
Have a critical hire ahead?
Let’s talk about the role, the market and what great could look like. The first conversation is diagnostic, not a pitch.
Start a confidential conversation