Case Study

Hiring a founding account executive for early-stage biotech startup

Founded
2023
MARKET
Biotech
HEADCOUNT
10
FUNDING LEVEL
Seed - £1.6m
WEBSITE
sablebio.com

Our hiring solution.

Ran rigorous search and pre-qualification process
Identified founding AE with life sciences expertise
Helped transition from founder-led sales

Sable Bio is a team of deep domain experts who had been running a successful founder-led sales motion. Following their recent funding round, they were looking to hire a founding Account Executive to scale their commercial efforts. Their initial attempts to hire directly hadn’t yielded the right quality of candidates, so they engaged Cosmic Partners and we spent considerable time understanding their specific requirements.

We worked with Alex to refine the candidate specification and conducted a rigorous outbound and pre-qualification process to find people who met all their criteria. Beyond the search itself, we provided wrap-around support that proved pivotal for an early-stage company. We conducted interview coaching with Alex, shared best practices around transitioning from founder-led sales, and helped build an onboarding plan. This comprehensive approach ensured that both the new hire and the founder were set up for success.

“Rather than saying ‘this person’s all right’, you rose to the challenge and said you were actually going to find people meeting all our criteria.”

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Alex de Giorgio
Co-Founder & CEO, Sable Bio

In Alex 's words

You rose to the challenge of specific criteria
"We had a pretty long list of specific asks including life sciences experience, understanding of our customer profile, and particular personality traits. Rather than saying 'this person's all right' and trying to persuade us that someone not meeting these criteria would still be fine, you actually backed yourselves to do a harder job. You rose to the challenge and said, 'Yeah, we're going to find people meeting all these criteria.' You weren't making excuses. That really stood out."
Your breakaway sessions went way beyond expectations
"You jumped on calls to talk me through your thoughts about outreach. You refined the spec of what we were looking for multiple times. You were proactive and friendly, and your sales background really came through. That made me trust that you'd bring that same energy to the people we might hire. It went well beyond what I'd normally expect from a recruiter."
You built a relationship, not just a transaction
"I actually mentioned you in the Seed Camp Founders Group because I was so impressed. What really stood out was the rigorous search and pre-qualification process, but also the soft touch stuff with getting to know us, having lots of back and forth, refining what we're looking for. You understood the power of building a relationship as well as delivering solid recruiting. Now I feel like we have a good relationship and can come to you for advice when we hire our next person."

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