Also I completely agree that there are great recruiters of all types and that there are positive incentives to place the right person so you get the business automatically the next time around (plus referrals).

However, the same is true for lots of similar professions — real estate agents for example, both commercial and residential, both buyer-side and seller-side — and the biases there are well documented. I admit I've also had some bad experiences.

Having said that, my feeling is that with small-time recruiters you're probably in good hands as you say, whereas with big "head hunter agencies" I do stand firm that those are a rip-off for startups — I've experienced that myself on both sides of the transaction and other founders have said the same unanimously.

So maybe the bottom line is the same as with most anything — there's a lot of posers out there, but if you hook up with the right person it's insanely valuable. Hopefully anyone reading this will recognize that you (and the other recruiters posting here) are probably in the "valuable" category just by virtue of your thoughtfulness!

I'm a Recruiter so I should get it out there! An hourly recruiter has as much chance of drawing out their time as a retained recruiter does of looking at their watch while you're talking - a good one. I'm glad you've found a great contract resource since there are great contractors in recruiting just like in most other things these days. I was listening to the podcast on your site from August - good stuff! I think there are recruiters out there, just like coder/entrepreneurs, who want to do the right thing and are excited to be doing their jobs. I call it "good business equals good business" in my head! I guess you're writing about retained firms. I'm not much on retained searches, but as a contingency recruiter I think building teams is where the fun can be had! Sure, it's an awesome responsibility to help hire the #2. Successful recruiters understand there is a trust between ourselves and our clients. Pragmatically, we also have the incentive that company growth should grow our own business. It's in our own self interest to get the hire correct!

Thanks for the thread and articles mentioned. Definitely something I'll be checking out!

Yuri