Scalesmartly

Scale Smartly is a recruitment company built around one founder, Matt Samoohi, who helps American businesses source and hire overseas talent. The proposition on the homepage is direct: hire exceptional overseas workers for a fifth of the cost of domestic staff, without giving up quality. Access is through a waitlist rather than an open enquiry, and the founder says he becomes a partner to the business rather than a supplier of names.

The company positions itself against the volume approach it says most recruiters take, throwing one candidate after another at a client in the hope that one works out. Instead it presents two or three perfect fit workers who could lift a whole team, and says it may sift through 500 applicants before putting a single name forward. Vetting runs in four stages. An initial application and interview gauges culture fit, writing, communication, intellect and how badly the candidate wants the job, with an exam set for technical positions. A longer application and a second, long form interview then work through the candidate's previous jobs and the strengths and weaknesses they would bring. Two or three past employers are called to verify what the candidate has said and to describe what they were actually like once in post. Only then is an introduction made. Roles clients describe hiring this way include chief of staff, global director of social media and financial controller.

The market it serves is American businesses that are stretched, delegating too little and losing founder time to work that should sit elsewhere. Scale Smartly argues that hiring globally can save around 80 per cent against domestic staff, but that without the right vetting it brings cultural differences, technology gaps, language barriers and contractors who treat an employer as one client among many, which shows up as slow responses and mysterious absences. Its answer is to screen for skills, experience, work ethic and culture fit so that a new hire is ready to contribute from day one.