A plain-English guide
What is risk-shared recruitment?
Risk-shared recruitment is hiring where the recruiter shares the financial risk of each placement with you. The fee is tied to a real outcome, such as the hire staying or your company reaching its next funding round, instead of being paid in full the day someone starts, whatever happens next.
Hurren & Hope pioneered risk-shared recruitment: capital-efficient hiring for high-growth tech teams, from hire to fundraise.
DefinitionRisk-shared recruitment, in one paragraph
Risk-shared recruitment is a way of paying for recruitment in which the agency carries part of the risk that a hire does not work out. Instead of an upfront fee that is owed win or lose, the fee follows the outcome: it is spread across the months the person stays, or part of it waits until the company raises its next round. If the outcome does not arrive, the recruiter shares the cost. It is not a loan and there is no interest: what changes is when you pay, not how much.
- Skin in the gameWe are paid as the hire stays, or when you raise.
- One flat fee20% of base salary, agreed before we start.
- Capital-efficient hiringThe cost lands when the value does.
The differenceWho carries the risk after the hire?
Traditional recruitment is a fixed cost paid up front. Risk-shared recruitment is a variable cost that tracks the outcome.
| Traditional recruitment | Risk-shared recruitment | |
|---|---|---|
| When the fee is paid | In full, when the hire starts | Monthly while they stay, or partly when you raise |
| If the hire leaves early | A short rebate or replacement period, then nothing | The remaining payments stop |
| If your funding round slips | The fee is already spent | The deferred part keeps waiting |
| Who carries the risk | You | You and the recruiter, together |
| Effect on runway | A lump sum on day one | Spread out, typically extending runway by 2 to 4 months with Aligned |
Two ways we share the riskThe same principle, applied to two risks
Retention risk and funding risk are the two that matter most to a growing team.
Pay While They Stay™: shares your retention risk
Your 20% fee is spread over 12 monthly payments instead of one invoice. If the hire leaves, for any reason, the remaining payments stop. Bootstrapped, profitable or funded, it works the same way.
Example. A £90,000 hire means an £18,000 fee, or £1,500 a month. If they leave in month 5, you have paid £7,500 and nothing more is owed.A $180,000 hire means a $36,000 fee, or $3,000 a month. If they leave in month 5, you have paid $15,000 and nothing more is owed.
How Pay While They Stay worksAligned™: shares your funding risk
Hire now, pay when you raise. Up to 75% of the fee waits for your next funding round. How much defers is set by your Aligned score, a 47-point read on your funding trajectory built on Crunchbase data. No raise, no deferred fee due.
| Aligned score | Paid on hire | Deferred to your raise |
|---|---|---|
| Breakout, 70 to 100 | 25% | 75% |
| Building, 40 to 69 | 40% | 60% |
| Early, 20 to 39 | 55% | 45% |
Where it sitsHow it relates to other fee models
Contingent recruitment
No fee until someone is hired, then the whole fee at once. Risk-shared recruitment keeps the no-hire, no-fee start and goes further: the fee also tracks what happens after the placement.
Retained search
Paid in stages, usually in thirds, before anyone starts. It suits senior and confidential roles. Our executive search takes one third at engagement and spreads the rest while your new leader stays.
Performance-based fees and payment plans
Fees linked to a result, or split into instalments. Risk-shared recruitment is the umbrella: the instalments stop if the hire leaves, and the deferral waits if the raise does not come.
Who it is forHigh-growth tech teams guarding runway
Founders, CTOs and talent leads hiring engineers, AI and machine learning people, data, product, go-to-market, cybersecurity and leadership roles in London, New York and San Francisco.
If every upfront fee is runway you cannot spare, risk-shared recruitment lets you hire the person you need now, and pay as they stay, or when you raise.
Risk-shared recruitment, questions answered
What is risk-shared recruitment?
Hiring where the recruiter shares the financial risk of each placement with the client. The fee is tied to a real outcome, such as the hire staying or the company reaching its next funding round, rather than being paid in full upfront regardless of what happens.
Who pioneered risk-shared recruitment?
Hurren & Hope developed the model for technology hiring, delivered through two products: Pay While They Stay, which shares retention risk, and Aligned, which shares funding risk.
Is there a recruiter that lets me pay when I raise?
Yes. Aligned defers up to 75% of the recruitment fee to your next funding round, with the deferred share set by your Aligned score.
What does recruitment with skin in the game mean?
It means the recruiter's fee is tied to your outcome, not just to filling the seat. We are paid as the hire stays, or when you raise. If it does not work out, we share the cost with you.
What if we never hit the milestone?
The deferred portion simply keeps waiting. No raise, no deferred fee due. That is what makes the risk shared rather than just delayed.
How is this different from contingent recruitment?
Contingent means no fee until a placement is made. Risk-shared goes further: the fee also tracks what happens after the placement, whether the person stays, or whether you reach your next round.
Is this debt, or a regulated financial product?
No. It is a deferred professional fee, not a loan. There is no interest and no financing arrangement. You are simply paying for recruitment on terms tied to your outcomes.
Does risk-shared recruitment cost more?
No. It is one flat fee of 20% of base salary (25% for executive search), the same whether you pay in one invoice or monthly. What changes is when you pay, not how much. UK fees are plus VAT.
