---
title: What recruiting fees cost across your first 10 hires
description: "Recruiting fees for 10 startup hires: $236k to $295k at 20 to 25% contingency, or $110,600 on fixed fees. See the full hiring plan priced three ways."
image: https://funded.club/hubfs/blog-featured-images/fc-recruiting-fees-first-10-hires.png
---

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# What recruiting fees cost across your first 10 hires

![what-recruiting-fees-cost-across-your-first-10-hires](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-featured-images/fc-recruiting-fees-first-10-hires.png?width=1200&height=628&name=fc-recruiting-fees-first-10-hires.png)

[Ray Gibson](https://funded.club/blog/author/ray-gibson)

 Sep 30, 2026, 1:49:18 AM

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*Updated September 2026*

For a typical startup hiring plan of 10 roles with $1.18m in combined base salary, contingency recruiters charging 20 to 25% of salary would cost between $236,000 and $295,000 in fees. The same 10 hires on Funded.club's fixed fees would cost $110,600, leaving $125,000 to $184,000 in the bank. That difference is roughly the salary of one more senior engineer.

Most founders compare recruiter fees one hire at a time. That makes sense when you are hiring your first engineer, but after a round you are usually planning 8 to 15 hires over the next 12 to 18 months. The fee model you choose on hire one will still be setting your costs on hire ten, so it is worth pricing the whole plan before you sign anything.

## The first 10 hires, priced three ways

We built a sample hiring plan that looks like many of the Seed to Series A teams we talk to: two engineers early, a designer, the first go-to-market hires, then an engineering manager and a sales leader once the team starts to grow. The salaries are illustrative, so swap in your own numbers.

![Line chart of cumulative recruiting fees across 10 startup hires: 25% contingency reaches $295,000, 20% contingency $236,000, Funded.club fixed fees $110,600](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/(01)%20Thumbnails/n01-chart-cumulative.png?width=1200&name=n01-chart-cumulative.png)

| Hire | Base salary | 20% contingency | 25% contingency | Funded.club fixed fee |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Founding engineer | $140,000 | $28,000 | $35,000 | $11,500 |
| Senior backend engineer | $130,000 | $26,000 | $32,500 | $11,500 |
| Product designer | $110,000 | $22,000 | $27,500 | $7,500 |
| Account executive | $100,000 | $20,000 | $25,000 | $7,500 |
| Customer success manager | $70,000 | $14,000 | $17,500 | $4,900 |
| Data engineer | $135,000 | $27,000 | $33,750 | $11,500 |
| Growth marketer | $95,000 | $19,000 | $23,750 | $7,500 |
| SDR | $60,000 | $12,000 | $15,000 | $4,900 |
| Engineering manager | $160,000 | $32,000 | $40,000 | $21,900 |
| VP Sales | $180,000 | $36,000 | $45,000 | $21,900 |
| **Total** | **$1,180,000** | **$236,000** | **$295,000** | **$110,600** |

For the two hires above $150,000 we used the top of Funded.club's range ($21,900), so the saving shown is the cautious end. Check [current pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) for your roles.

## Why the gap gets wider as you scale

A percentage fee grows with every dollar of salary. A fixed fee moves in bands, so it stays flat across a wide salary range and only steps up at set points.

![Chart comparing recruiting fee per hire by salary: 20 to 25% contingency rises in a straight line, while fixed-fee bands step from $4,900 to $21,900](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/(01)%20Thumbnails/n01-chart-bands.png?width=1200&name=n01-chart-bands.png)

On a $60,000 hire the difference is a few thousand dollars. On a $180,000 leadership hire it can be more than $20,000 for a single role. That matters because the most expensive hires tend to come later in the plan, when the team is bigger and the budget is under the most pressure.

## The incentive most founders don't think about

When a recruiter is paid a share of salary, their fee rises every time the offer does. Most recruiters act in good faith, but the structure still puts them on the candidate's side of the table during a salary negotiation.

With a fixed fee agreed upfront, the recruiter earns the same whether the offer lands at $125,000 or $140,000. Their only goal is getting the right person to say yes, at a number that works for your budget. For a founder negotiating their first senior offers, that is one less thing to second-guess.

## How to budget recruiting for your next 10 hires

- **List every planned role with a realistic salary.** Use the offers you expect to make, not the job ad range.
- **Price the plan under each model.** Multiply by 20% and 25% for contingency, then compare against fixed bands. Seeing the total in one number usually changes the conversation with your co-founder or board.
- **Decide which hires you will run yourself.** Some roles fill well from your network or a job post. Keep outside help for the roles that are hard to find, and for the ones where a slow hire costs you the most.
- **Plan the cash timing.** Ask each provider when fees fall due. Some bill on the start date, others split payment between the start of the search and the accepted offer.
- **Look at timelines as well as cost.** A cheaper search that takes three extra months can still cost you more in lost output.

## Where Funded.club fits

Funded.club is a fixed-fee recruiting partner for funded startups and fast-growing teams across North America, Europe and APAC. We've helped 500+ startups from Seed to Series D with engineering, product, sales, marketing, operations, customer success and leadership hires.

Funded.club agrees a low fixed fee upfront, averaging 6 to 9% of salary, from $4,900 to $21,900 per hire. Part of the fee is an advance at the start of the search, with the balance due when your candidate accepts the offer. One dedicated recruiter runs each search end to end, from sourcing and headhunting to screening and support through the offer.

![Timeline of a Funded.club search: kick-off on day 0, first screened candidates by day 7, a shortlist of 3 qualified candidates by day 30 or the advance back, average hire on day 33](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/(01)%20Thumbnails/n01-chart-timeline.png?width=1200&name=n01-chart-timeline.png)

If we don't deliver a shortlist of at least 3 qualified candidates within 30 days, you can claim the advance back in full. First-time customers can also ask to defer the advance until they see their first candidates. Supernova (YC W19) made 22 hires this way, with a 27-day average time to hire and about EUR 210k saved compared with percentage fees.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much do recruiters charge startups per hire?

Contingency recruiters typically charge 20 to 25% of first-year base salary, so a $140,000 engineer costs $28,000 to $35,000 in fees. Funded.club charges a fixed fee agreed upfront, averaging 6 to 9% of salary, which is $11,500 for the same role.

### Is it cheaper to hire in-house than use a recruiter?

It can be for roles that fill quickly from your network or inbound applicants. For hard-to-find roles, the founder time spent sourcing and screening often costs more than a fixed fee, especially while that time is taken away from product and customers.

### How should a startup budget for recruiting after a funding round?

Price the full hiring plan, not single roles. List each planned hire with its salary, total the fees under each model you are considering, and check when the payments fall due so the cost fits your runway.

### How quickly can a fixed-fee recruiter fill a startup role?

Funded.club delivers first screened candidates within 7 days and takes an average of 33 days from kick-off to hire, with a 100% fill rate.

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)

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