--- title: Should you start hiring before your round closes? description: Yes, start everything except the offer. Write scorecards, source and interview before the round closes, then sign offers once the money is in the bank. image: https://funded.club/hubfs/og_image_funded.png --- [![Primary\_logo](https://funded.club/hubfs/Primary_logo.svg)](https://funded.club/) [Book a call](https://funded.club/contact-us) - [Hire](https://funded.club) - [Pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) - [Find a job](https://funded.club/startupjobs) - [Case Studies](https://funded.club/case-studies) - [Locally](https://funded.club/case-studies/locally) - [Supernova](https://funded.club/case-studies/supernova) - [Isolocity](https://funded.club/case-studies/isolocity) - [WeTravel](https://funded.club/case-studies/wetravel) - [Digital Science](https://funded.club/case-studies/digital-science) - [Blog](https://funded.club/blog-results) - [Resources](https://funded.club/resources) - [Predict success](https://signup.predict.ventures/) - [Growth Planner](https://funded.club/growth-planner) - [Glossary](https://funded.club/glossary) - [FAQ](https://funded.club/faq) - [Contact us](https://funded.club/contact-us) [Book a call](https://funded.club/contact-us) - Engagement options: - [Hiring solutions](https://funded.club) - [Pay-as-you-go](https://funded.club/pricing) - Membership plan # Should you start hiring before your round closes? [Ray Gibson](https://funded.club/blog/author/ray-gibson) Nov 4, 2026, 6:00:10 PM *Updated November 2026* Yes, start hiring before your round closes, and stop just short of signing offers. Scorecards, job descriptions, sourcing and first conversations can all run while the lawyers finish the paperwork, because none of them commits you to a salary. Offers and start dates wait until the money is in your account. The angle we use is reversibility. Each hiring step either costs you hours you can write off if the round wobbles, or it creates an obligation to someone who may leave a stable job for you. Do the first kind early. Hold the second until the wire clears. ## Sort every hiring step into reversible and irreversible A signed term sheet is still not money, and rounds can fall apart in the legal stretch before closing. Test every hiring task with one question: if the close slipped by two months, would this step have hurt anyone? REVERSIBLE Start the week you sign the term sheet Hiring order A scorecard per role Job description drafts Salary and equity ranges, modelled but not promised Sourcing and first calls Skills interviews IRREVERSIBLE Wait until the money is in the bank Written or verbal offers Agreed start dates Any hint that a candidate should resign Relocation or visa commitments Job ads that mention the round **Grey zone:** final interviews and references, timed for the last week or two before the close. The grey zone matters most. A candidate who has passed every stage expects an offer within days and will accept someone else's if yours does not come, so run final rounds close to the expected close date. ## Be upfront with candidates about the timing Good startup candidates have heard "we're about to close" before. Saying it plainly in the first call earns more trust than explaining it at offer stage, and filters out anyone who needs an offer next week. WORDS YOU CAN USE IN THE FIRST CALL "We have signed a term sheet and expect the money to land in about six weeks. I would like to get to know you now so we can move quickly once it is in. I will not make an offer until the funds are in our account, and I will tell you straight away if anything changes." There are two things to avoid. Do not name your investors or the round size before the announcement, because term sheets often carry confidentiality terms. And never let a strong candidate resign on a verbal "we'll definitely have something for you". If the close slips, that person is out of work because of you. ## Worked example: three hires, six weeks to the money This example is illustrative. Nadia runs a nine-person B2B software startup. She signs a term sheet, her lawyers expect the money in six weeks, and the plan funds three hires: a senior backend engineer, a first account executive and a product designer. In week 0 she wrote a [scorecard](https://funded.club/blog/job-scorecard-startup-role) for each role and fixed the order: engineer first, because the roadmap was blocked on backend capacity, then the account executive, then the designer. By week 2 all three searches were live, and every candidate heard the timing in their first call. Nadia's plan, week by week (illustrative, swap in your own dates) WEEK 0 Term sheet signed Hiring order and three scorecards WEEK 1 Searches open Job descriptions, ranges, recruiter briefed WEEKS 2 TO 3 First calls Timing explained to every candidate WEEKS 4 TO 6 Interviews Skills rounds, then finals near the close WEEK 7 Money lands Two offers out within two days AFTER Notice periods Start dates agreed with each hire The close slipped by a week, as closes do. Candidates already knew the plan, so nobody dropped out, and Nadia held the designer's final round back. When the funds arrived she sent the engineer and the account executive their offers within two days. ## The start date is further out than the offer This is the part founders forget. Most employed candidates have a notice period to serve, and its length varies with country, seniority and contract. An offer signed on the day the money lands still turns into a start date some weeks later, and if the search only begins after the close, the full search time stacks on top. Work backwards from the date you need each person working, through notice, offer, interviews and sourcing. Our [hiring timeline estimator](https://funded.club/hiring-timeline-estimator) gives a first cut, and [what to do once the round is in](https://funded.club/blog/we-just-raised-funding.-now-what) covers the hires that should follow. Also check that your hiring order matches the use-of-funds plan your investors saw. A board that funded three engineers will ask why the first offer went to a head of marketing. ## Where Funded.club fits We are a fixed-fee recruiting partner for funded startups, and the pre-close weeks are a good time to brief us. One dedicated recruiter runs each search end to end (sourcing, headhunting, screening and support through offer). First screened candidates arrive within 7 days and our average from kick-off to hire is 33 days, so a search opened at term sheet can have a warm shortlist by the time the funds land. The fee is fixed per hire and agreed upfront, from $4,900 to $21,900 depending on the salary band. Part is an advance at the start of the search and the balance is due when the candidate accepts. First-time customers can ask to defer the advance until they see their first candidates, and if we do not deliver a shortlist of at least 3 qualified candidates within 30 days, you can claim the advance back in full. Details are on our [pricing page](https://funded.club/pricing). ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I make a job offer conditional on my funding round closing? Rules on conditional offers differ by country and state, so check with an employment lawyer before you make one. In practice, many strong candidates will not resign on a conditional offer, so the safer route is to keep them warm with clear timing and make a clean offer once the money arrives. ### Should I tell candidates my round has not closed yet? Yes. Tell them you have signed a term sheet and roughly when you expect the money, but keep investor names and the round size private until it is announced. ### What if the round falls through while I am interviewing? Tell every active candidate quickly and directly, and keep in touch. Because you made no offers, nobody has resigned on your account, and the scorecards and sourcing stay useful for when you do raise. ### Is it worth paying a recruiter before the money is in? It can be. With Funded.club the fee is fixed per hire, and first-time customers can ask to defer the advance until they see their first candidates, so you can see candidates before paying anything, and the balance is due only when a candidate accepts. Worth a brief chat about your next hire? [Book a free call](https://funded.club/contact-us). ## Hiring after a funding round? First candidates in 7 days. Fixed-fee, no commission. [See pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) [Book a free call](https://funded.club/contact-us) [Try the Growth Planner](https://funded.club/growth-planner) [![Primary\_logo](https://funded.club/hubfs/funded-images2022/Primary_logo.svg)](https://funded.club) © 2019-2026 Funded.club B.V. All Rights Reserved. Chamber of Commerce: 63083809    VAT (BTW): NL855084844B01 ## Contact Us - [Hiring service](https://funded.club) - [Pricing - Recruiting projects](https://funded.club/pricing) - [Find a job](https://funded.club/startupjobs) - [Our team](https://funded.club/fundedteam) - [Blog](https://funded.club/blog) - [Case studies](https://funded.club/case-studies) - [Startup resources](https://funded.club/resources) - [FAQ](https://funded.club/faq) - [Contact Us](https://funded.club/contact-us) ## Follow Us © 2019-2026 All rights reserved. - [Privacy Policy](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56133290) - [Cookie policies](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56133290/cookie-policy) - [Terms of Use](https://funded.club/terms) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/#ray-gibson" }, "dateModified" : "2026-11-04", "datePublished" : "2026-11-04", "headline" : "Should you start hiring before your round closes?", "image" : [ "" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/blog/hiring-before-funding-round-closes", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization", "@type" : "Organization", "areaServed" : [ "North America", "Europe", "Asia-Pacific" ], "description" : "Fixed-fee recruiting partner for funded startups and fast-growing teams across North America, Europe and APAC. 500+ startups helped since 2019. 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