We have found that typically one in four hires is a rock star. That is not an accident. It comes due to our extreme focus on excellence and quality in everything we do. For example, when we speak to candidates, we look for the skill and will in candidates to be with you on your startups journey. We also look for the passion, energy, flexibility and intelligence needed to make an impact.

To ensure that we achieve the highest standards of quality, we adopted Lean. Lean is a complete philosophy and methodology for achieving the highest quality level pioneered by Toyota. With Lean we believe in setting high standards, eliminating waste and continuous experimentation to improve quality and throughput. We continuously scout for seen and unseen problems from real world interactions to make improvements. All this done in an environment of where everyone is treated with respect, one of the cornerstones of Lean.

At Novoguild, we live by Kaizen — the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. For us, Kaizen means never settling. Every search, every client interaction, every internal process is an opportunity to raise the bar.

We believe the best teams are built the same way great companies are built: step by step, always improving. Each day, we push ourselves to refine how we source, evaluate, and engage — ensuring that our clients get higher quality, faster cycles, and superior outcomes than before.

Improvement isn’t a project for us; it’s a mindset. That’s Kaizen.

Behind every great hire is smarter technology. That’s why we built our own AI-powered scoring software designed to spot the best talent early. It helps us move faster, cut through noise, and zero in on candidates who truly fit your needs. Every real world feedback improves our data quality and improves our future scoring. By combining our expertise with our in-house software, we deliver a sharper, more effective hiring process — giving our clients an edge in building world-class teams.

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We are non-transactional. Almost all our client partnerships run into multiple years through the think and thin of startups. Clients don't just come back to work with us on additional roles. They look as us as a partner who will be the first to tell things in black and white, and leverage our network to help in ways that go far beyond talent. Many clients have the deep conviction to willingly commit onto a retained model to lock on to our expertise and unstinted support.

Transparency builds trust, speeds decisions, and ensures everyone is aligned. Radical transparency is our default mode of working. We share openly, invite honest feedback, and hold ourselves accountable.

With clients, it means showing the real pipeline, the challenges, and the progress as it happens.

With candidates, it means clear communication, candid feedback, and never leaving them in the dark.

With fellow team members we have full P&L, cash flow and pay transparency. We are radically candid about our performance expectations and maintain performance appraisal transparency across the company.