What Series A founders get wrong about hiring

European tech startups are facing significant shifts in hiring strategies post-Series A, with founders increasingly recognizing the need for a more deliberate and integrated approach to talent acquisition. The common instinct to immediately engage recruiters after securing funding can lead to substantial, often overlooked, expenses, with recruitment costs potentially consuming 15-20% of a funding round before initial hires are even made. This highlights a critical need for startups to view hiring not as a transactional event, but as a continuous strategic function. The trend towards more intentional hiring is supported by data, indicating a 35% drop in hiring rates for early-stage European companies in 2025, as founders prioritized building capability over sheer volume. This strategic pivot suggests a growing understanding that efficiency in scaling teams requires building infrastructure for talent acquisition. Such infrastructure includes developing employer brands proactively, creating delegable interview processes, and fostering pre-existing candidate relationships, rather than reacting to immediate hiring needs. Furthermore, European startups are grappling with specific talent dynamics, particularly in high-demand fields like AI and Machine Learning, where roles saw an 88% increase in new hires in 2025. This intensified competition for skilled engineers is compounded by the stagnant net inflow of senior tech professionals to Europe, as major tech firms continue to attract experienced talent with attractive compensation packages. Founders must navigate these regional nuances, from extended notice periods common in markets like Germany to differing valuations of equity by European engineers compared to their US counterparts, to successfully build competitive teams.