The people you need aren’t applying to your job ads. We find them. Personally.
We work directly with you on the roles you cannot afford to get wrong. Expect the first people we are prepared to recommend within a week — from engineers to executives, for startups through to global enterprises. Every search is backed by guarantee of up to six months.
You speak with a founder, not a sales rep. No brief required.
The people you meet do the work.
One of us leads your search from the first conversation to offer negotiation.
founder-led, from first call to offer negotiation
to see the first qualified people for your role
of people we introduce are invited to interview
from brief to signed offer, on average
Clients
Trusted with roles where the market is hard to reach.
We work with startups making their first critical hire, scale-ups building for their next stage of growth, and established companies strengthening a key function. The industry changes. The challenge does not: the right person is already doing a good job somewhere else.
Proof
Three companies where the hiring challenge is real.
Three different markets. The same pattern: narrow talent pools, complex context and roles where credibility matters as much as experience.
SAR satellites · defence & insurance
Sovereign intelligence from space
Why hiring here is hard
SAR, RF and commercial specialists operate in a small global market where technical depth and credibility across industry, government and defence are essential.
What was delivered
Specialist searches across marketing, the SAR team, government and public affairs. The engagement is ongoing.
5G/6G software · telco & defence
Dual-use private 5G and 6G
Why hiring here is hard
Telecom and deep-tech specialists sit in one of Europe’s narrowest talent pools. Commercial hires also need credibility with enterprise and defence buyers.
What was delivered
Embedded support as Interim Recruitment Manager. Hires across Poland and Europe included 5G/6G engineers, system architects, sales specialists and security experts.
Open-source SaaS · enterprise commerce
Frontend platform for enterprise commerce
Why hiring here is hard
Scaling from 60 to 120 people while business priorities and hiring needs keep evolving requires speed without lowering the hiring bar.
What was delivered
Two years alongside the company, delivering several dozen critical hires across engineering, product and marketing, including Head of Engineering, CISO and CFO.
About us
You will know the people behind your search.
We are Renata Chmiel and Marcin Cieszyński. Between us: 30+ years in recruitment, 250+ closed searches and a network of 70,000+ candidates built one conversation at a time.
We started Talentholo after seeing international companies pay big-agency fees and receive junior research. We built the opposite: a direct-search firm where the people whose names are on the door lead every project.
Clients come back because we tell the truth: what is realistic, what is not, and when we are not the right fit for a project.
years in recruitment
closed searches
people in our network
Recognition
Juucy Top 1% Recruiter Award
Renata and Marcin were recognised among Juucy’s top 1% recruiters.
- Click to enlarge
The difference
Talentholo vs. a typical agency process.
Hard-to-fill roles need direct ownership, not another layer between you and the market. Here is what that changes in practice.
Talentholo
A founder leads the work from the first call to offer negotiation
A typical agency process
The brief may pass from sales to delivery or junior research
Talentholo
Direct search, targeted outreach and a network built through 70,000+ relationships
A typical agency process
Job ads, database searches and people who are already available
Talentholo
A short, screened list — recommended only when we are prepared to stand behind each person
A typical agency process
More CVs, leaving more screening and calibration to your team
Talentholo
The first qualified people within 7 days
A typical agency process
Timing often depends on applications and database response
Talentholo
Fixed fee available — our fee does not rise with the candidate’s salary
A typical agency process
Percentage-only fees may increase with compensation
Talentholo
One named founder stays accountable throughout the search
A typical agency process
Multiple handoffs and shared ownership
Talentholo
Up to 6 months’ replacement guarantee — we restart at no extra fee
A typical agency process
Replacement terms may be shorter or vary by supplier
80% of the people we introduce are invited to interview. · 99% of our hires pass their probation period.
See if this approach fits your roleWhat we recruit
The hires that are too important to get wrong.
Some roles are too important for a job ad and too complex for a generic agency process. You get fewer CVs, better conversations and people you can meet with confidence.
01
Expertise that is hard to find
You need a specialist with a rare combination of experience, context and credibility. The job title is not the challenge. The pool is.
02
A hire that moves the business
A CTO, CFO, Head of Product, country manager or first sales leader can change your next quarter. These decisions deserve more than a stack of CVs.
03
A search that needs to stay private
The role may be new, hybrid or confidential. We approach people directly and share only what they need to know.
04
A role between product and revenue
Some of the hardest hires sit between two functions: people who understand the product and the customer well enough to create commercial value.
Functions we recruit across
From specialist expertise to business leadership.
Examples, not limits. Every search starts with the business outcome and the market available for it.
Tech & product
Software, AI & data · Systems, cloud & cybersecurity · Product and engineering leadership
Commercial & go-to-market
B2B sales & business development · Key account management · Presales & solutions · Marketing & growth
Finance & operations
CFO & finance leadership · FP&A, risk & compliance · Operations, project and programme management
Leadership & critical hires
C-level, VP and Head roles · Country managers · First functional leaders
Sector experience: deep tech, telecom, space, software, fintech, e-commerce, industrial technology, professional services and venture-backed portfolio companies.
When to get in touch
When hiring cannot wait.
Stop losing months to long hiring processes, rising vacancy costs and shortlists that miss the point. We help you hire the right person at the right time, even when the role is hard to fill.
01
Your job ad brings volume, not fit
You have applications, but not the right ones. The people you want are employed, well paid and not checking job boards.
02
You need to get the decision right
A product launch, funding round, market entry or quarterly target is waiting for one person.
03
The role is difficult to describe or keep private
The right starting point is what the person has to deliver in the first six months and what would make the hire fail.
04
Your internal team needs a different route
We work alongside your internal team, not against it, on difficult roles, confidential searches and unreachable markets.
Renata Chmiel · Co-founder
A direct, honest view of the market before your search begins.
How it works
A direct route from brief to signed offer.
No long onboarding and no handoff from sales to delivery. The same people calibrate the search, approach the market and stay through the close.
01
Calibrate the search
We define the outcome, test the brief against the market and agree what good looks like.
02
Approach the right people
We map the market and speak directly with people who are not applying to job ads.
03
Interview and close
You meet a short, evidence-based shortlist. We stay involved through feedback, offer and negotiation.
Engagement models
Three ways to work together.
For search assignments, pay only when you hire.
Fixed fee
Pay after the hire, at a fixed amount agreed upfront. Because our fee does not rise with salary, we recommend the strongest fit — not the highest-paid candidate.
Recommended
Success fee
Pay after the hire, as a percentage of compensation. A flexible way to begin the relationship.
Embedded recruiter
Experienced recruitment capacity inside your team. You pay for recruiter time rather than each hire.
Up to 6 months’ replacement guarantee. If your hire leaves, we restart the search at no extra fee. 99% of our hires pass their probation period.
Engagement models
More opportunities. Wider reach.
We work as recruiter partners across selected recruitment networks. Candidates gain access to additional roles beyond our direct client portfolio, while companies can benefit from a broader specialist recruiter ecosystem.
FAQ
Questions clients ask first.
No. We work with early-stage teams making their first critical hires, scale-ups building the functions behind their next phase of growth and established companies that need to get one important role right. The common factor is not company size. It is the importance of the hire.
Most searches connect with Poland, CEE and remote-first Europe. We also support international companies hiring into European markets, including projects connected with Germany. Every search starts with a direct view of whether the market is reachable for the role you need.
Request a call back and we reply personally within 24 hours. In a 15-minute consultation, you get an initial view of whether we can help. For a search we take on, the first people we recommend usually arrive within a week, and a signed offer takes 30 days on average.
Yes. Your team retains ownership of employer brand, active pipeline and the wider process. We take the searches that need a different route: narrow profiles, confidential roles or markets where you need additional reach.
Yes. People are approached directly without publishing an ad, and information is shared on a need-to-know basis. Confidential replacement and leadership searches are a core use case for direct search.
Cost depends on the model, seniority and scope of the search. You get a concrete number in the first conversation, not after a long sales process.
Every engagement model includes a replacement guarantee of up to six months. If the person you hire leaves within the agreed period, the search starts again at no additional fee.
No. The first conversation identifies what happened. Sometimes the agency failed. Sometimes the profile did not exist at the available budget, timeline or location. You should know which problem you have before paying for another search.
“
We believe better hires build stronger companies.
— Renata & Marcin
Talk to the people who will lead your search.
Book a 15-minute hiring consultation
Choose a time and speak directly with the people who will run your search.
Prefer a call back?
We reply personally within 24 hours.
No newsletter. Just a personal reply.
Prefer email? info@talentholo.com · Prefer to call? +48 601 641 580 Or reach us on LinkedIn: Renata ↗ · Marcin ↗