Recruiter Startup - Recruitment Podcast - Hosted by Dualta Doherty

Stuart Mitchell, founder of Hampton North, calls himself the most abrasive recruitment founder in the room. He’s also built a fully remote, high-commission business with almost no turnover.
Stuart talks about why he spends heavily on great people and pays them enough to stay, why mediocrity drags top performers down, and why the right kind of failure should be celebrated. He also shares what he’d do differently: document the processes, and stop to celebrate the wins. Expect strong opinions and a few laughs.
In this episode:
Hiring the best and paying them enough not to leave
Why a 25-person firm doing $15–20M can work
Backing a recruiter through a rough start
Normalizing $100K months and building real wealth for your team
Lessons on documentation, scale and enjoying the ride
Recorded live in New York, with thanks to Agile Partnering, Woov and Spot.

Adam Posner, founder of NHP Talent Group and host of The Posscast, shares his path from marketing and media to recruitment, and how he kept his business growing through Stage 3A Hodgkin’s lymphoma by leaning hard into automation.
Adam explains what he automates, what he refuses to, and why AI should be a tool and not a crutch. We also cover meeting candidates where they are, why analog is back, and why the recruiters who thrive in five years will be the ones who master AI while protecting the art of the relationship.
In this episode:
Getting fired and finding a new career in recruitment
Running a business through chemo: what to automate and what to keep human
Scheduling: automate it or use it as a touchpoint?
Turning 20,000 LinkedIn contacts into meaningful outreach
Why the future isn’t human vs. AI

Build, buy or rent? Live from New York, in front of 100 recruitment founders, we dig into where AI genuinely moves the needle for agencies and where it’s just an expensive distraction.
Andy Hallett (Required, RecWire), Ashley (Agile Partnering) and Tycho (Spot) get into why your data is your real asset, why the “ultimate flex” might be being in someone’s phone book, what “AI-native” actually means, and why every firm should have a token budget before the subsidies end.
In this episode:
Build, buy or rent: what agencies should never build themselves
Why proprietary tech can lower your valuation
AI noise vs. human signal in outreach
Data over people: the case for treating your database as the asset
The hidden future cost of AI

The US recruitment market offers bigger margins, higher salaries, and huge demand for contract talent.

But behind the opportunity sits complex infrastructure - payroll, compliance, contractor management, and funding.

In this episode of the Recruiter Startup Podcast, our host Dualta Doherty speaks with Charles Causey, founder of Agile Partnering, about:

* Why recruitment firms are expanding into the US
* The operational realities of contract staffing
* How agencies typically scale in the US market
* The thinking behind Agile’s new Turnkey solution

Plus insights on AI, recruiter training, and the future of recruitment infrastructure.

If you’re a recruitment founder thinking about expanding internationally or building a contract desk, this conversation is well worth your time.

👉 Watch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations with the founders building the future of recruitment.

The recruitment market is recovering.
But only the most disciplined agencies will benefit.

This full live Recruiter Startup Podcast event from Sydney brings together recruitment founders, M&A advisors, and tech leaders to discuss where the recruitment industry is heading next.

Across both panels, the discussion covers:

* Recruitment market recovery trends
* AI in recruitment and modern ATS systems
* Recruitment agency profitability and EBIT benchmarks
* What drives recruitment business valuation and exit multiples
* Leadership depth and second-tier management
* Revenue productivity vs headcount growth
* Why niche recruitment agencies are more valuable

If you are scaling a recruitment business, preparing for acquisition, or trying to increase profitability per consultant, this episode provides practical insights from experienced operators and advisors.

This is recruitment growth strategy grounded in financial reality.

Subscribe for more recruitment founder conversations from around the world.

Featuring:
Paul Masters
Darragh Everard
Manu Vanderveeren
John Bourke
Victoria Kirwin

Hosted by Dualta Doherty