L
Luck & Leverage
Engagement Titan · Lead Recruiter
Reporting Period Week 1 · 4–11 May 2026
Prepared For Joe Percoco, Co-CEO

Search progress
snapshot.

Building the team behind Titan's next chapter, one calibrated hire at a time.
Role Lead Recruiter
Reports to Joe Percoco · Co-CEO
Function Talent
Location New York City
Working model 5 days in-office
Annual hiring plan ~25 hires
Headline · Early-stage signal
1qualified
candidate already qualified for shortlist, in week one.
Identified, screened, and confirmed against the real brief. To be formally presented alongside the wider shortlist of 5–6 candidates the week of 20 May. The pipeline behind this candidate is deep, calibrated, and accelerating.
first pass
241
Initial close-network outreach · expanding
26% response
63
Responded to date · ongoing
strong yield
35
Engaged & qualifying for screen

01Pipeline funnel

Outreach → Shortlist
Close networkFirst-pass outreach
241 contacts
241first pass
RespondedTwo-way contact established
63 responses
6326% of first pass
EngagedInterest confirmed, in qualification
35 engaged
3556% of respondents
Priority pipelineCalibrated against brief
13 priority candidates
1337% of engaged
Qualified for shortlistHeld back pending full shortlist
1 qualified
1week 1
↗
15%
Strong qualified-interest rate
15% of first-pass outreach has engaged as qualified, interested candidates. A healthy yield for a senior, in-person, in-NYC search in week one. Outreach continues; this is a floor, not a ceiling.
∎
35 deep
Talent map depth and quality
Behind the headline candidate sits an engaged pool from Robinhood, Scale AI, Affirm, Snap, and other peer companies. Depth and redundancy in case any lead candidate falls out.
⌖
12 live
Pipeline actively qualifying
Four further screening calls booked this week and eight remaining to screen, all calibrated against the real brief. Shortlist of 5–6 candidates targeted for delivery 20 May.

02Active priority pipeline

13 candidates · Calibrated against brief
1
Already qualified for shortlist
Held back until shortlist completes
4
Screening calls booked
This week
8
Remaining to screen
Qualifying through this week
Calibration discipline
We are screening hard for fit, not for volume.
Every candidate in the priority pipeline has been tested against the real brief. We have actively scoped out otherwise senior profiles where the fit is wrong, rather than adding them to a shortlist.
  • ✓ In-office capability. Screening out remote-only profiles regardless of seniority. The role requires five days in NYC.
  • ✓ Genuine senior IC operator. Filtering out title inflation. Only profiles with real depth in personally owning competitive senior searches.
  • ✓ Available on the timeline. Filtering out parental-leave timing conflicts and post-offer commitments. The role needs someone able to be in place by 1 June.
  • ✓ Founder-partnership ready. Calibrating for candidates who can operate directly with Joe, not those who need a layered talent function around them.

03Market intelligence

Declined or qualified out · 28 candidates
Of 28 candidates who either declined or were qualified out by the team, the reasons cluster cleanly. Friction is structural: location, timing, and brief fit, not the story or the company.
Not actively in market 16 · 57%
Remote-only preference 7 · 25%
On parental leave (timing) 2 · 7%
Already committed elsewhere 2 · 7%
Outside region (UK) 1 · 4%
Read: candidates who fit the brief are responding well to the brief. Where we are losing people, it is to structural constraints we expected, not to the role's content.
Companies represented in the priority pipeline
Robinhood · Scale AI · Affirm · Snap · Decagon · Flip · Credit Genie · IEX · SimplePractice · Riviera Partners · The Perfect Placement · Placements AI · SecurityScorecard
Confirmation that the search is competing at the right altitude: peer-tier fintech, AI, talent, and high-growth platforms.
»
What we are seeing in the market

Strong qualified interest from senior IC recruiters at high-growth fintech and AI companies. Titan's investor base, mission, and AI-meets-wealth positioning resonate clearly with the right profile.

In-office and timing are the primary filters. We are using them deliberately. We would rather scope out a senior name than carry someone through who doesn't fit the real brief.

Founder access is the closer. Direct partnership with Joe is a meaningful differentiator versus layered talent functions where senior recruiters feel buried. This is showing up consistently in candidate conversations.

04Path to placement

Goal · Somebody in place by 1 June
This week
8–15 May
Fully qualify the priority pipeline, completing remaining screens.
Shortlist delivery
Wed 20 May
Shortlist of 5–6 calibrated candidates formally presented to Titan.
Initial interviews
21–22 May
First-round client interviews with Joe and hiring stakeholders.
Final stages
w/c 25 May
Second and final-stage interviews, references, comp calibration.
Target offer
Fri 29 May
Offer extended to the successful candidate.
In place
Mon 1 June
Placement locked in: offer accepted, candidate confirmed and ready to onboard, ahead of Tara O'Brien's planned leave on 3 June.
The plan is engineered around a hard goal: have somebody in place by 1 June. That ensures continuity through Tara O'Brien's planned leave on 3 June without compressing the hiring bar.
In place by Mon 1 June