Hiring in stealth: Lessons in engaging talent before going public

So, you’re making the first hires for your venture. You need to attract exceptional people, the type who can build something from nothing, but you can’t be too upfront about what they’re joining. You can’t really sell on brand or IP, so you need to sell on trust, vision and people.

For founders and early leaders in this position it’s a reminder that your employer brand exists even before your company does publicly. It exists in how you approach and treat candidates now, exists in the clarity of your story and mission, and exists in the confidence you project through the small details potential hires you speak to today will definitely want to know about before making a decision to join.

Firms that’ve managed to hire in stealth will attest to this – they’re deliberate and intentional with every detail of the signals they send, the information they share in interviews, and the way they describe their mission and purpose without giving too much away.

It’s worth noting at this stage that companies exist in stealth for a multitude of reasons, some requiring more confidentiality than others. But when details have to be kept to an absolute minimum every talent acquisition tactic has to be carefully considered, and you need to think early on how you want to present yourself as an employer. This is especially true for hiring in technical markets like AI and robotics, where skillsets are scarce and talent networks talk.

Why employer branding still matters in stealth

Stealth doesn’t mean invisible to talent, but it does mean controlled visibility. Even without a public product, your employer brand is still active as long as you’re talking about hiring. How you present yourself whilst in this private state becomes your biggest signal to talent.

Perceptions form early and quietly

Every interaction you have with a potential hire, referral, or network introduction right now contributes toward your employer brand. Every interaction you have becomes your entire brand signal due to the fact you don’t yet have a public company narrative, and a poor experience leaves an impression. Any poorly handled outreach or confusion in message or role expectations can damage your reputation as an employer and credibility to candidates before you even launch.

Trust is your main currency when you can’t show your product

If you can’t point to traction yet, your existing team, processes, drive and method of communication needs to do the heavy lifting. Stealth hiring leans heavily on transparency of what you can share, like founder track record, investor network, early investment interest, and long-term vision. Sharing all you can is what builds trust at this early stage, so ensure you understand what message you want to share is, end embed it into the hiring process.

Reputation matters in niche, technical markets

In specialist tech markets, your name will travel. Closed communities talk, and 72% of candidates will share a poor recruitment experience with their professional networks. You don’t need to be told the importance of keeping a strong network at this stage, given how common it is for founders to look immediately at their existing networks to make their first hires, but that only works if those circles associate you and what you’re building with credibility and clarity.

When reputation is your only amplifier, every interaction you have compounds. A disorganised or overly secretive process signals risk, where a clear, structured one signals security.

Building your employer brand framework in stealth

Get your internal story straight first

Before you talk to a single candidate, make sure everyone in your founding group is telling the same story – particularly if the people playing a direct role in a hiring process. You need to agree on what you can share around what you’re solving, who it matters to, and where the first hires fit into that – without exposing product or IP.

If you’re all using slightly different language it will weaken the trust with people you want to bring in.

Make early hires your ambassadors

The first hires you make are often culture-setters, and tend to be a bit of an extension of you. They’ll be the ones talking to their networks and shaping how others perceive the company. It’s worth taking the time to decide how you want your work discussed, where the boundaries are, and what language feels authentic to the mission.

Getting the early hires right allows you to tap into credibility by association – when making hires that are held in high regard among their own peers sends a positive message about you as a founder and what you’re building.

Consider your digital footprint

This goes for both your own profile as a founder – like on your LinkedIn, GitHub, Substack, or any podcast or panel appearances that might show up when people Google your name – and your company itself.

Even without a fully-fledged brand and messaging in place, it’s worth creating a simple landing page with a contact email and a short line about the problem space you’re tackling. This means that when candidates outside of your immediate network start to do their own research, they find something that confirms the company exists.

A firm we recently supported out of stealth had exactly that; a minimal, content-less page that simply had the company name and a contact address. It helped enormously during outreach for their first hires as it gave candidates assurance without giving product IP away.

Attracting talent without a public product

Once you’re aligned on your story and ready to go to the talent market, there are a few common strategies to doing so while you’re still in stealth.

• Go to your professional network. Most founders start here. Begin with investors, advisors, former colleagues, and extend outside of this only once your messaging and NDAs are tight.
• Look at closed communities where your ideal candidates usually gather – Slack, Discord, alumni networks, invite-only forums. Spaces where messaging still feels personal and ones where you can control outreach.
• Make use of trusted third parties, like recruiters who understand early-stage dynamics and can represent you without overexposing.
• Use contract or project-based trials. Short, paid, confidential projects can test capability and trust before committing to a full hire. This is a good way to further a project without committing to a full permanent hire.
• Be selective and consistent with your language, expectations, and tone across founders, recruiters, and anyone representing your firm when you’re hiring. This’ll be how your employer brand takes shape a this early stage.

When you’re ready to launch from stealth

The groundwork you’ve laid privately, by tightening your story, aligning the team, and defining how you want to be represented, becomes the foundation for your public employer brand.

Before you launch, run an internal audit. Ask yourself, does our story hold together across every candidate touchpoint? Have we visited compensation, values, EVP in line with the market? This is the time to tighten prepare for a launch that builds naturally from the reputation you’ve built already amongst talent in the space.

The way you hire now sets the tone for how you do it once public. If you’re interested in learning more about getting it right, reach out today.