STARTUP HIRING CASE STUDY
How Cortex Built a High-Performing GTM Team Following Series A
Following its $15 million Series A funding co-led by Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global, Cortex partnered with The Search Experience to build its go-to-market organization from the ground up. Together, we transitioned the company beyond founder-led sales by hiring senior commercial leaders who established a scalable and repeatable revenue engine.
Stage
Series A
Founded
2019
Industry
SaaS • Software Dev
HQ
San Francisco
Team Size
1 salesperson
The Challenge
Following Series A funding, Cortex had exceptional technology and investor backing but lacked a structured commercial organization. With no outbound marketing function and only a single salesperson, the business needed experienced GTM leaders capable of building a repeatable sales motion while establishing Cortex as a destination for top commercial talent.
Build an end-to-end GTM function capable of supporting rapid commercial growth.
Create a compelling employer story before product-market fit had been fully established.
Attract experienced commercial leaders to an emerging startup during a highly competitive, risk-averse hiring market.
Our Hiring Strategy
01
GTM Organization Design
Partnered with Cortex's founders to define the commercial leadership structure required to move beyond founder-led sales and support long-term growth.
02
Employer Brand Positioning
Developed a compelling market narrative that communicated Cortex's product vision, investment backing and long-term commercial opportunity.
Executive Talent Mapping
Mapped senior GTM talent across high-growth companies, identifying proven leaders with experience building commercial functions from an early stage.
03
04
Leadership Assessment
Evaluated candidates not only on functional expertise but also on startup mindset, leadership capability and alignment with Cortex's ambitious growth plans.
05
Scaling the Commercial Organization
Continued supporting Cortex as the business expanded, hiring across executive leadership, marketing, sales, customer success and sales engineering to create a repeatable GTM engine.
PROVEN RESULTS. REAL OUTCOMES.
The Results
7×
Revenue Growth
6.1
Interviews to Placement Ratio
100+
Team Growth
8.5 Wks
Avg. Time to Fill
Key Hires
✓ VP Sales
✓ VP Marketing
✓ VP Customer Success
✓ VP Customer Engineering
✓ Director of Sales Engineering
✓ Head of Product Marketing
✓ Head of Demand Gen
✓ Mid-Market Sales Manager
✓ BDR Director
✓ Enterprise AE ×4
✓ Commercial AE ×2
✓ Sales Operations Manager
"Paul's name comes up every time someone asks why I joined Cortex. He wasn't just focused on matching skills to a role. He understood the company, the market opportunity, the investors and the team dynamic. By the end of the process he felt like my own trusted advisor, and many of the people I work most closely with today were also placed by Paul. I recommend him without hesitation to any company building a high-calibre GTM team."
Lauren Craigie, Head of Marketing & Product Marketing
FAQs
How did Cortex build its go-to-market team after Series A?
Following its Series A funding, Cortex partnered with The Search Experience to build its commercial organization from the ground up, hiring leadership across sales, marketing, customer success and sales engineering.
Why did Cortex move beyond founder-led sales?
As customer demand increased, Cortex needed experienced GTM leaders capable of building repeatable commercial processes, creating predictable revenue and supporting long-term company growth.
What roles did Cortex prioritize first?
The first hires focused on executive commercial leadership, including VP Sales, VP Marketing, VP Customer Success and senior sales engineering leadership before expanding the broader GTM team.
How long did it take Cortex to hire its GTM leaders?
Cortex achieved an average time to fill of 8.5 weeks while maintaining an average interviews-to-placement ratio of 6.1 throughout the engagement.
What business outcomes followed these hires?
The business established a recognized employer brand within its talent market, achieved approximately sevenfold revenue growth and expanded beyond 100 employees while continuing its growth trajectory.
People Also Ask
Why did Cortex need to build a GTM team after Series A?
Series A funding enabled Cortex to invest in commercial growth, requiring experienced leadership to establish sales, marketing and customer success functions beyond founder-led selling.
What hiring challenges did Cortex face?
Cortex needed to attract senior commercial talent despite being an emerging startup with limited employer brand awareness, while competing in a highly competitive post-COVID hiring market.
How did Cortex attract experienced GTM leaders?
By combining a compelling company vision, strong investor backing, a large market opportunity and a carefully positioned employer story, Cortex successfully attracted senior commercial talent.
What roles are most important when building a GTM function?
For Cortex, the first priorities included executive sales leadership, marketing leadership, customer success, sales engineering and demand generation, creating the foundation for a scalable commercial organization.
Why do startups use retained recruitment after raising funding?
Funding creates pressure to build leadership teams quickly and effectively. A retained search approach provides dedicated market mapping, executive search expertise and structured hiring processes designed to secure high-impact talent.