Carvajal’s strategic hiring process—laid out thoughtfully and methodically—is a valuable blueprint for entrepreneurs at any stage.

Dave Carvajal’s leadership is exceptional at building relationships and nurturing the high touch process of shepherding board appointments. There is no mystery in why he is so highly regarded in the high-growth technology space.

If you dream of starting or growing a business, your most important roles as a leader are recruiting and building culture. NOTHING is more important. This book provides a priceless how-to guide to enable your success. Read it and follow it.

Dave Carvajal understands that the real issue of talent today isn’t about skill sets, which can be developed. And it isn’t about feeding the status quo. It’s about finding people who buy into a vision, and who have the passion and persistence it takes to be future-facing. For companies that believe in the importance of innovation (and that should be everyone), Hire Smart from the Start is the essential recruiting handbook.

This is the most important book I have ever read on how to leverage by recruiting and hiring well. I wish I had known these strategies fifty bad hires ago! Dave’s wisdom and insights on finding and keeping A players changes everything!

After 25 years of venture capital investing and support to entrepreneurs, this is what I know for certain: If you hire wrong – you lose time and money. This is a “learned art” so it helps to have a sherpa like Dave Carvajal guide you through the mountain pass.

There is no wonder why Dave is such a trusted partner and adviser. His team does exceptional work of engaging and delivering the right leadership talent to help grow and scale a business. They build and nurture long-lasting relationships. They take the time to really understand core values and culture fit. And deliver leadership candidates that were unrecruitable.

When we were first recommended to Dave, he was described as the “best kept secret in NYC tech.” He has since proven to be an invaluable partner in helping us scale the business with the right leadership talent. His team does the amazing work of truly understanding the unique culture, values and mission of a company and then delivering the best possible candidates. We are happy to recommend Dave and his team to anyone with high growth needs and more importantly, to those who value the importance of cultural contribution.

The ability to consistently hire the right people is the difference between building a truly great company or just a good one. This book is the how-to manual for doing exactly that. It will save you hundreds of hours of trying to figure it out yourself. I’m recommending it to all of our clients.

Dave Carvajal is exceptional about understanding how to recruit teams (players) that embrace and embody a company’s vision, toward creating high-performance teams. Hire Smart from the Start lays the groundwork for achieving your mission with the right values and people.

Your enterprise is only as good as your team. If you can’t recruit them , you have nothing. This book helps you find them, and inspire them to join the team.

Hiring the right senior executives is critical to the success of a fast-growing enterprise. Top talent attracts top talent and separates the best startups from the rest of the pack. If you dream of starting or growing a business, this is an essential how-to book to learn how to execute the most important role of a leader – recruiting and culture.

The Dave Partners team is exceptional at nurturing relationships and a process that achieves high excellence in results. They operate with noble intent. This is true of all who perform at the highest level of their craft and the reason that Dave Partners is so well respected for board and executive level recruitment services.

Too many companies hire without a blueprint. However, ‘winging it’ and making such important decisions with your ‘gut’ is a recipe for disaster. Dave Carvajal provides a thoughtful guidebook for making one of the most critical decisions a company can make — getting the right people on board.

Dave is a proven luminary in talent and team development. His Hire Smart from the Start is a go-to roadmap for any high-growth company seeking to build a team that contributes to fostering strong culture, acts as genuine evangelists of the broader business, and delivers results.

99% of success is how you communicate, how you lead, how you give, how you share. This is a difficult path, beset with obstacles from the beginning. “Hire Smart From The Start” is THE guide to finding the right and necessary people to go on that path with you.

This is a well-written, useful and practical guide for every leader who aspires to grow their business. By making recruiting and culture their competitive strategic advantage, entrepreneurs and seasoned leaders can implement the lessons and process in Hire Smart From The Start to compete, recruit and secure the greatest talent.

If there is one skill, one gift, which separates successful founders and creators, it’s identifying, hiring and developing talent. It’s the one skill all investors asymmetrically value above all others in a founder – it must be their superpower. Dave Carvajal’s Hire Smart from the Start is the new playbook to obtain it.

Dave Carvajal has developed a system so unique and useful that anyone can use it to transform their organization.

A leading company is more than a well differentiated product with a brilliant strategy. Success comes from strong leadership and a highly talented team. This book provides all the right principles to ensure that your company achieves ultimate success through your most valuable resource…people.