The Challenge: Hiring for technology-led growth
After a $40 million raise from News Corp, hipages needed to shift from a sales-led business to a product and engineering-led one. That meant 35 specialist hires across product, engineering, design and marketing. Recruitment relied entirely on outside agencies, with no internal system to manage it.
Where Think & Grow Came In
- Embedded in the business: worked inside hipages for 18 months, with twice-weekly recruitment stand-ups and a visible hiring board behind the CEO's desk.
- Manager coaching: one-on-ones, coaching and workshops so hiring managers ran better processes.
- Fresh thinking: connected hipages with other scale-ups to compare how they hire and operate.
- Global search: brought in senior product and engineering talent, including hires from the US.
The Results
- All 35 roles filled.
- 80% of roles now recruited in-house, up from 0%.
- A recruitment system for CVs and interview notes, and more referrals from a stronger employer brand.
When Think & Grow came in, they got us up and running. But when they transitioned out, they taught us how to fish, as it were, to set us up for the future. - David Vitek, CEO and Co-Founder, hipages
About hipages
hipages is Australia's leading platform for finding and hiring trusted tradespeople, connecting homeowners and businesses with more than 100,000 service providers.
.svg){kind=icon}
Executive Search
A retained, senior-hire service: we map the market, reach the leaders (even the ones who aren't looking), and run a structured evaluation to deliver a shortlist matched to what you need to progress your growth stage. From C-suite to country-GM level, locally or across borders.
Co-Founder of Think & Grow and co-creator of AWS's Global Passport Program (27 cities, 200+ firms). Has helped Stripe, Square, Peloton and Dropbox enter Australia and scaled Envato, Redbubble and Harrison.ai globally; LaunchVic Ecosystem Hero.
.webp)
Growth Partner and operator who helped build companies including Groupon from an early stage, now scaling tech companies through GTM, hiring and digital transformation.
Has advised 150+ start-ups and scale-ups on GTM, AI, operations, and commercialisation. Currently an advisor for startmate and a mentor for Australian Technologies Competition.
