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Bluebird is now officially a partner of AI Coalitie 4 Nederland | AIC4NL and their Breaking Barriers programme. AIC4NL works to speed up responsible AI adoption in the Netherlands, together with government, business and education. Through Breaking Barriers, Dutch AI startups get access to experts who help them get past the things that slow down growth. Our part in that is simple: people. Hiring is one of the hardest problems for early-stage AI companies. The talent pool is thin, good candidates are picky, and one wrong early hire costs a lot. We’ve been there. Our consultants have held the roles they recruit for. We work with a lot of Dutch AI companies, so it feels right to give something back. Founders in the programme can reach out to get advice on hiring, compensation plans, how to structure their teams, or for intros to investors if they’re raising their first round. Thanks to the AIC4NL team for having us, and Anita Lieverdink in particular. Looking forward to working together!

I placed two VPs of Sales last week. One at a 50M Seed to Series A. One at a Series D. Completely different people. Completely different roles challenges for their next chapter. And that’s where most founders get it wrong. You hire for the company you want to be in two years, not the one you actually have right now. The VP crushing it at Series C, the one scaling a global team and running forecasts? That person will destroy your Series A. They’re brilliant at scaling what already works. But there’s nothing to scale yet. Think about it like this: at 0 to 1 million, you need a builder. Someone who carries quota, closes their own deals, figures out what lands. No playbook yet. Then at 1 to 10 million, you need someone who can take that and make it repeatable. At 10 to 100 million, you want your scaler building teams and managers. At 100 to 500 million, you’re running a global org out of strategy mostly. Each stage needs a different person. The expensive mistake is confusing them. So before that impressive logo on the CV distracts you, just ask: which stage am I actually hiring for? Get that right and everything else works.

"A recruitment agency without recruiters." You might have seen the slogan, but what does it actually mean for you? Just ask Cécile Méguère who leads Sales at AirOps, a platform that helps brands get found and cited in AI search. She was making a critical hire: her first EMEA Account Executive who would lay the groundwork for an entirely new market. As you can imagine, there was no room for error. Cecile had worked with our managing director, Jelle van Jaarsveld, at a previous company, so she trusted us with the search. She spoke to our team about what she was looking for and how the role fit into AirOps' expansion roadmap. Within 24 hours, Sam Creemers sent her the profile of the person she eventually hired. They made their first sale within 6 weeks! How did he do it? Sam knew what questions to ask and had context on the industry, so he could build the candidate profile efficiently. Combined with his extensive network, he found exactly what Cecile was looking for. That's the ex-operator mindset of our consultants, and the key difference at Bluebird. We understand where you are, we genuinely care about helping you get to your next phase, and we bring in the candidates who make it happen. We're grateful Cecile trusted us with this hire, and proud to have played a role in getting her team off to a strong start 🙌 Watch her full story below. Hiring across GTM, Marketing, Product, Engineering or Executive Search? Send us a message. We're here to help. #WorkingWithBluebird

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Excited to share what I've been building toward at Bluebird. After 4.5+ years, I'm fully stepping into my new role leading our Executive Search practice, our fastest growing service line. Executive Search is where I've always felt most in my element. The complexity of finding the right leader, understanding a company's culture, what kind of person can move the needle at the VP or C-level. And the impact when you get it right is unlike anything else in recruiting. Over the years I've placed dozens of VP and C-level executives for our clients across the B2B SaaS and AI space. Now I get to put all my focus there. A big part of what makes this exciting is the opportunity to work even more closely with our VC and PE partners. Helping their portfolio companies bring in the leaders they need to scale and being a strategic sounding board when they need one. For all executives in my network: let's connect. I'll be sharing market insights, opportunities, and thoughts on what great executive hiring actually looks like. Follow along if you're interested. For now: Back to building. See you on the other side! 🚀

I speak with founders and marketing leaders every day, and 1 thing is clear: AI is changing the marketing function, fast... Most companies are already using AI to increase the speed of output. But that's just scratching the surface of what’s actually possible. The more interesting question is what happens when you stop using AI to improve the current setup and start rethinking the setup itself. Would you build the same team? Use the same tactics? Keep the same workflows and approval processes? That’s what we’ll be discussing at The AI Mulligan on September 17 at Birdies Amsterdam, together with our friends at Unmuted | B2B SaaS Marketing. 6 golf bays, pizza, drinks and a small group of senior marketing leaders discussing what they would rebuild if AI had been there from day 1. 🏌♀️ Want to join us? Apply for a spot. Link in comments!🏌♀️