Rec Gen

Hiring for ConTech will never look like hiring for any other industry and that’s exactly why so many companies get it wrong. I spoke with a founder this week who said, “Why is it so hard to find salespeople who can actually sell to construction?” It’s not hard. You just need to stop hiring like you’re a SaaS company. ConTech isn’t sold in boardrooms. It’s sold on job sites, in trailers, on the phone while someone’s wearing gloves and trying to solve a real operational nightmare. The people who win here aren’t the ones with the shiniest CV. They’re the ones who can build trust with the field, understand the daily chaos, and translate tech into outcomes that matter right now. That’s why Rec Gen focuses exclusively on this space. Because hiring for ConTech requires context, credibility, and people who genuinely “get it.” If you want talent who can speak construction as well as they speak software… That’s literally what I do every day. Let’s build the right team for the right industry. #RecGen #ConTech #TechForTheBuiltWorld #HiringRight #SalesRecruitment

“I had a founder tell me last week they’ve been through 4 sales hires in 12 months.” When I asked what kept going wrong, they said, “They all looked great on paper… just never worked out in reality.” It’s a common story in ConTech. Because hiring for this industry isn’t about who’s best at selling software. It’s about who actually understands construction. You can teach sales methodology. You can’t teach someone how to build trust with a foreman who’s been on-site since 6am. That’s why I always tell founders… stop trying to hire from SaaS playbooks. Start hiring for context. The people who thrive in this space are the ones who respect the trades, not just the tech. That’s what Rec Gen does, we help ConTech companies find salespeople who actually get the industry they’re selling into. Not perfect resumes. Just perfect fits. #RecGen #ConTech #HiringRight #SalesRecruitment #TechForTheBuiltWorld

Two years ago today, I started Rec Gen. No funding. No team. Just a laptop, a ridiculous amount of ambition, and a belief that recruitment could be done differently. Building a business sounds glamorous until you’re living it, the late nights, missed outings, and those days when stress feels like a full-time job on its own. But the truth is, none of this works without the right people around you. Friends who celebrate your wins like they’re their own. Family who remind you to rest when you won’t. And a partner who understands when you’re buried in calls at midnight and still believes in what you’re building. This card from Ainoa meant more than most will realise, it’s a reminder that behind every founder, there’s someone quietly cheering them on through every high and low. Rec Gen turns 2 today. Grateful for every person who’s supported the journey, every client who’s trusted me, and every candidate who’s believed in what we do. Here’s to building something real, surrounded by the right people. #RecGen #Recruitment #StartupLife #Anniversary #Gratitude

🚧 Hiring Salespeople in ConTech Isn’t Like Hiring for SaaS…. Here’s Why Most Teams Get It Wrong Let’s be honest….. selling to construction isn’t easy. It’s not a “demo and close” environment. It’s a world built on trust, relationships, and coffee in job site trailers. Here’s what I see every week: 1. The “SaaS transplant” mistake Founders hire someone from Salesforce or HubSpot and expect them to crush it in ConTech. Reality? They last 3 months. Because they’ve never sold to a foreman, GC, or project exec. 2. No clear ICP Half the time, “construction” is treated like one big segment. You can’t sell payroll software to the same person who buys safety tech. Different pains. Different buyers. 3. Sales cycles built for tech, not trades Construction buyers don’t move fast. They don’t live in HubSpot. They want relationships, references, and results. If your sales process doesn’t reflect that, you’re setting reps up to fail. At Rec Gen, we’ve spent the last two years fixing this exact problem. We don’t just “find” salespeople We find the ones who get it. The ones who can walk a site, translate tech into value, and close deals without a shiny pitch deck. If you’re building a sales team in ConTech and want reps who can actually sell to builders, this is literally what we do every day. 👉 Let’s chat. #contech #hiring #recruitment #construction #sales #saas #engineering

“The best hires usually start with the quietest conversations.” Last week I was speaking with a VP of Engineering at a ConTech company I really respect. He told me his best hire this year wasn’t the loudest, flashiest, or even the most technical person they interviewed. It was the one who spent the first 10 minutes of the interview asking questions instead of trying to impress. Questions about users. About the environment their software is used in. About the people covered in dust trying to get tech to work in 35-degree heat. He said, “That’s when I knew he’d fit.” And it stuck with me. Because that’s what separates a good hire from a great one….. curiosity. The best people don’t want to be sold on your company. They want to understand it. That’s why when I’m helping clients build their teams, I look beyond experience. I look for curiosity, context, and the ability to listen before building. Those are the people who actually move industries forward, especially in ConTech. What’s one underrated trait you look for when hiring? 👇 I’d love to hear your thoughts. #contech #engineering #swe #recruitment #hiring #construction

“I almost lost a client because I told them the truth.” A few months ago, a ConTech founder asked me to help hire a Senior Account Executive. They’d already interviewed six people and couldn’t understand why none of them were “strong enough”. After a quick look at the job description, I said, ”You don’t need a Senior AE. You need someone who actually likes selling to builders.” Silence. Then a slightly uncomfortable laugh. Most of the people they were interviewing had SaaS experience from big names HubSpot, Salesforce, the usual. But none had ever set foot on a construction site. They could talk about CRMs and product demos all day, but not one of them understood the chaos of a foreman’s Friday morning. That’s when it clicked for the founder. He didn’t have a hiring problem, he had a positioning problem. The company was pitching itself like a software business, but their best customers were guys wearing steel-toe boots, not loafers. We rewrote the brief. Found someone who’d sold time-tracking software to field crews. They’ve since closed three deals worth over $400k. Sometimes my job isn’t about finding someone new. It’s about helping founders see what they actually need. Hiring in ConTech isn’t just about skill. It’s about fit for reality. What’s the most honest thing you’ve told a client that nearly cost you the deal? 👇 I’ll go first. #hiring #contech #sales #engineering #opentowork

“This engineer asked me one question that told me everything I needed to know” I was interviewing a Senior Software Engineer for a ConTech startup. He asked me: “Do the PMs here actually talk to the people using the software on-site?” That one question told me more about his mindset than any resume ever could. You can teach frameworks, syntax, languages. But you can’t teach curiosity for the real world your code touches. The best ConTech engineers don’t just build tools — they build for the bloke standing in the mud with an iPad that won’t load in the sun. Hiring technical talent in this space isn’t about who’s worked at Google. It’s about who understands why a foreman needs their software to just work. What’s one underrated question you ask when hiring engineers? #leadership #engineers #construction #contech #swe #software