This edition is brought to you by Athyna

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Saturday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world’s most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

Today we’ve got a guest post from Bill Kerr the founder and CEO of Athyna, and author of Open Source CEO. I am a proud partner of Athyna after seeing first-hand their ability to source a diverse set of roles quickly.

They hire the best sales, marketing, product and engineering talent, all at up to 80% less than hiring locally. Incredible talent, matched with AI-precision, at lightning speed.

Today, Bill is going to share his ultimate guide to hiring that he’s observed from placing thousands of candidates at hire growth companies globally. If you’re a founder, leader, or operator, you’ll enjoy hearing how to run an efficient process.

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. We want to be worthy of your time. I respond to every email.

G’day! Bill Kerr here.

What if I told you that mastering a killer recruitment process is the secret to building a world-class team that drives your startup’s success?

Why trust me? I’m the CEO of Athyna, a fully remote startup with 70 team members, where hiring is our superpower. We specialize in connecting companies with top offshore talent while maintaining engagement and culture scores that average 90%. In short, we’ve cracked the code on recruitment, and I’m here to share how you can do the same.

Let’s explore how you can transform your hiring process with actionable strategies and proven frameworks.

The Framework for a Killer Recruitment Process

Here’s the ultimate recruitment blueprint for your startup:

1. Define the Role Beyond the Job Description

Don’t just list skills; outline what success looks like. Frameworks like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals help you set clear expectations.

• Example: Instead of “Looking for a sales executive,” try “Looking for a sales executive who will onboard 15 clients within 3 months while achieving 90% client retention.”

2. Source Smarter: Go Global

The global talent market is your untapped resource. Two regions stand out:

• Latin America (LatAm): Known for cost-effective, high-quality talent with strong bilingual skills and time-zone alignment for North American businesses.

• Southeast Asia (SEA): Countries like India, the Philippines, and Indonesia boast professionals with exceptional engineering, customer support, and sales skills. Prestigious institutions like IITs and large-scale hiring by companies like Google and Amazon highlight the technical strength of SEA talent.

Stats: LatAm and SEA talent can save companies up to 70% in hiring costs without sacrificing quality

3. Screening: Efficiency Meets Precision

Traditional CVs can only tell you so much. Incorporate tools and methods like:

• Pre-vetting: Platforms like Athyna ensure only top candidates make it to your shortlist.

• AI Matching: Use AI-driven systems to match candidates’ skills, experience, and personality to your requirements.

4. Structured Interviews: The Data-Backed Approach

Structured interviews increase the likelihood of a good hire by up to 80%. Standardize questions to evaluate:

• Role-specific expertise.

• Cultural fit.

• Problem-solving abilities (use scenario-based questions).

5. Global Onboarding

• Clear documentation of processes and expectations.

Onboarding remote talent requires clarity and consistency. A killer onboarding process includes:

• Regular check-ins during the first 90 days.

• Cross-cultural training for team integration.

Why Global Hiring is the Future

The global talent market isn’t just a trend—it’s the future of hiring. By leveraging LatAm and SEA talent, startups can:

• Scale quickly without breaking the bank.

• Access diverse perspectives that drive innovation.

• Build a team that’s truly 24/7, thanks to strategic time-zone overlaps.

Stats: 75% of companies globally plan to increase remote hiring in the next five years (Gartner).

Athyna’s Global Hiring Process: A Case Study

Imagine this: You’re a Melbourne-based SaaS startup looking for a customer success manager. Locally, you’re offered candidates with high salary expectations and limited availability.

With Athyna, you explore LatAm and SEA markets. Within two weeks:

• You interview a pre-vetted professional from the Philippines with 5+ years of experience managing global client accounts.

• The candidate’s bilingual skills and familiarity with SaaS tools make onboarding seamless.

• You save up to 70**%** on salary costs, reinvesting the savings into scaling your product.

Final Thought

A streamlined, global recruitment process isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for startups aiming to scale quickly and efficiently.

Athyna is here to make it happen. With a unique model that combines pre-vetted talent, AI-driven matching, and zero upfront costs, Athyna simplifies hiring while maintaining quality.

The global talent market is open—LatAm and SEA are leading the charge. It’s time to hire smarter, scale faster, and build a team that propels your startup to the next level.

Further Readings

• Remote Work Is Eating The World — A look at how remote work is taken over the technology space, and some of the huge Benefits.

• The True Cost of a Bad Hire and How to Avoid Them - Published by Forbes Australia

• Building a remote-first company: Our biggest lessons so far—The learnings Coinbase has made by going fully remote.

• Collection: Hybrid, On-Site, Remote & Why?—A deep dive with several founders on how they handle the remote/hybrid conversation.

• The Latin American Talent Revolution: Why Top Executives Are Turning South—A look at one of the world’s hottest regions for remote talent, South America.

• Building a Global All-Remote Company: The GitLab Story—A deep dive into the story of one of the remote work OGs.

• Deel, EOR & The Future Of Global Teams—One of the fastest growing startups in recent history and how they are shaping the future of remote.

• How Athyna Makes Remote, Work—One startup rules around how to have incredible culture and engagement, remotely.

• How to build a remote team, GitLab—A set of tools and ideas for how to thrive in a remote environment.

• Unlocking Global Talent Goldmines: The Secrets to Success in Emerging Markets—A look at the hottest talent markets globally and how to hire remotely.

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

Hire remote employees with confidence

Two years ago, I hired an offshore assistant for the first time. Since then, I’ve recommended many people do the same. It’s been one of the highest leverage things I’ve done, helping with everything marketing and customer support (for The Intelligence Age) and personal matters and email management.

Athyna is a service that quickly (<5 days!) finds remote employees across 150+ countries for you or your team. They cover roles from sales and marketing to creative and product, and have worked with companies like Facebook, Zoom, Uber, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Amazon.

I’ve personally used Athyna and recommended them to my Brother, Will, who runs a fashion label, and several close friends running their own businesses. To date, they’ve all had very positive experiences.

If you’re in the market for talent, visit their website to explore options and cover all your hiring needs.

Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

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