Chris Birkedale is co-founder and CEO of Saiyō. He has spent around fifteen years in technology search, headhunting Leadership, GTM and AI talent for B2B software vendors across the UK, Europe, North America and APAC.
He founded Saiyō in 2023 to end the rationing of headhunting. Most technology scale-ups can only afford proactive search on one or two roles a year, so the rest of their hiring runs on job ads and inbound. The subscription model removes that constraint.
He writes The SaaS Review, a weekly LinkedIn newsletter on B2B SaaS hiring read by 1,200 subscribers, and authors most of the Saiyō Knowledge Centre.
Publications
- The SaaS Review
Weekly LinkedIn newsletter on B2B SaaS hiring, 1,200 subscribers.
Knowledge Centre guides (25)
- Embedded Headhunting Explained
- Professional Headhunting Explained
- Recruitment Agencies at Scale: Where the Model Works and Breaks
- RPO for Technology Scale-ups: Strengths, Limits and Alternatives
- Choosing a Hiring Model for a Technology Scale-up
- Building an Internal Talent Acquisition Function
- How to Reduce Cost per Hire Without Lowering the Bar
- How to Reduce Time to Hire for Specialist Roles
- Building a Predictable Hiring Process
- Why the Best Candidates Rarely Apply
- The Market First Method: How to Map a Talent Market
- How to Hire Enterprise Account Executives
- How to Hire Revenue Leaders (VP Sales, CRO)
- Building a GTM Team After Series B
- Hiring Senior and Specialist Talent Internationally
- The Complete Guide to Hiring in a Technology Scale-up
- The Accessibility Gap: Understanding Market Access in Hiring
- The Economics of Technology Hiring
- How to Hire Marketing Leaders for Technology Scale-ups
- How AI Should Be Used in Talent Acquisition
- Measuring Candidate Quality
- The Hiring Performance Framework
- How Technology Scale-ups Should Structure Talent Acquisition
- How to Hire Product Leaders and Specialists
- How to Hire Customer Success and Professional Services Talent
Questions (104)
- How does Embedded Headhunting work?
- When should a technology company use Embedded Headhunting?
- What does a professional headhunter actually do?
- How is Embedded Headhunting different from a recruitment agency?
- Is Embedded Headhunting the same as RPO?
- Can Embedded Headhunting replace an internal Talent Acquisition team?
- How much does Embedded Headhunting cost?
- Is headhunting different from recruitment?
- Why do headhunters still cold call candidates?
- Is LinkedIn outreach the same as headhunting?
- What makes a good headhunter?
- What is the difference between executive search and headhunting?
- Why do high performers rarely apply for jobs?
- How do you attract passive candidates?
- Is candidate volume a useful measure of hiring quality?
- How should inbound applicants be assessed against headhunted candidates?
- What is talent market mapping?
- How many candidates should be mapped before outreach begins?
- Which companies should be included in a talent map?
- Can internal Talent Acquisition teams build talent maps?
- What is the Accessibility Gap in recruitment?
- How do you measure talent market coverage?
- Why does more outreach not always improve candidate quality?
- Which recruitment channels reach the most passive talent?
- Which hiring model is best for a technology scale-up?
- Agency, RPO or internal TA: how do you choose?
- When should executive search be used?
- Can a company use several hiring models at once?
- When should a company stop relying on recruitment agencies?
- Why do agency costs rise at scale?
- How many recruitment agencies should a company use?
- When is a recruitment agency still the best option?
- Is RPO suitable for a Series B company?
- What does RPO cost compared with embedded recruitment?
- Why do scale-ups struggle with traditional RPO?
- When is RPO the right choice?
- When should I hire my first internal recruiter?
- How many recruiters does a 300-person SaaS company need?
- What should internal Talent Acquisition own?
- Should a Head of Talent recruit or lead the function?
- How should a technology company budget for recruitment?
- What is a good cost per hire for specialist technology roles?
- How should recruitment ROI be measured?
- Is agency spend an operating cost or a growth investment?
- How can we reduce cost per hire?
- Does lowering recruitment fees reduce hiring cost?
- When is internal TA cheaper than agencies?
- How does hiring volume affect cost per hire?
- What is a good time to hire for specialist roles?
- Why do specialist roles take so long to fill?
- How can Series B SaaS companies hire faster?
- Does adding more recruiters reduce time to hire?
- How can a scale-up make hiring more predictable?
- How many interview stages should a specialist hiring process have?
- How should hiring managers be held accountable?
- Why do offers fail at the end of the process?
- How do you measure candidate quality?
- Is interview-to-placement ratio a useful metric?
- What makes a high-quality shortlist?
- How many candidates should be interviewed before a hire?
- Which recruitment metrics should Talent Leaders report to the board?
- What is the difference between activity and outcome metrics?
- How should market coverage be measured?
- Which hiring KPIs predict better outcomes?
- How should TA be structured in a 250 to 1,000 employee technology company?
- What roles belong in a modern TA team?
- Should sourcing and recruitment operations be separate?
- How should TA capacity be planned?
- How do technology companies hire internationally?
- Should we use local recruitment agencies in every country?
- How do you maintain candidate experience across regions?
- Which roles are hardest to hire internationally?
- How much does it cost to hire an Enterprise AE?
- How long should Enterprise AE hiring take?
- What should you assess in an Enterprise AE?
- Why do high-performing AEs fail after moving companies?
- When should a scale-up hire a VP Sales?
- What makes a strong revenue leader?
- Should a CRO come from a larger or smaller company?
- How do you assess revenue leadership without relying on quota claims?
- Which GTM roles should a Series B company hire first?
- How large should a GTM team be at Series B?
- Should a scale-up hire leaders before individual contributors?
- How do you sequence sales, marketing and customer success hiring?
- How do you hire a strong Product Leader?
- What should a scale-up assess in product candidates?
- Should product leaders come from the same industry?
- Why is product hiring difficult?
- How do you hire a Customer Success leader?
- What should you assess in Professional Services candidates?
- When should Customer Success be separated from account management?
- How do you hire for retention and expansion?
- When should a scale-up hire its first CMO?
- What makes a strong B2B technology Marketing leader?
- Should Marketing leaders have category experience?
- How do you assess brand versus demand generation capability?
- How should AI be used in recruitment?
- Will AI replace recruiters or headhunters?
- Which Talent Acquisition tasks should be automated first?
- How do you protect candidate experience when using AI?
- What is the best hiring model for a technology scale-up?
- How many recruiters does a scale-up need?
- How should a scale-up plan annual hiring?
- What should founders and Talent Leaders measure?
Frameworks (17)
- The Market First Method
- The Talent Accessibility Pyramid
- The Reactive Hiring Cycle
- The Hiring Operating Model
- The Conversation Advantage
- The Specialist Hiring Curve
- The Cost Per Hire Curve
- The Hiring Maturity Model
- The Candidate Quality Index
- The Technology Hiring Flywheel
- The Accessibility Gap
- The Hiring Economics Curve
- Embedded Headhunting Explained
- Complementary Capability Model
- The Headhunting Spectrum
- The Professional Headhunting Process
- Professional Headhunter Competency Model
Insights (89)
- A Founder's Return Signals a Shift in Executive Hiring
- Why 83% of SDRs Miss Quota and How to Fix Your Hiring
- How Senior GTM Talent Evaluates Your AI Scale-Up
- Hiring for AI Sales: Why Your SaaS AE Playbook Is Obsolete
- UK AI Hardware's Rise Creates a New SaaS Talent Battleground
- Sales Team Structure Dictates Your Hiring and Scaling Strategy
- Your Next Strategic Hire is The VP of Customer Success
- Your Next Customer Success Hire Is Not a Generalist CSM
- Most Commentary on the Stanford AI Hiring Study Is Wrong
- The AI Spending Backlash Demands a New Sales Hiring Profile
- Fox's Roku Deal Gives GTM Leaders a New Poaching Ground
- Meta’s AI Turmoil Is Your Best Executive Hiring Signal
- ServiceNow's Breach Is a Green Light for Security GTM Hiring
- How to Avoid Hiring an AI-Fuelled Technical Debt Machine
- RPO vs RaaS: Which Hiring Model Actually Fits a Technology Scale-up?
- When Embedded Talent Acquisition Beats RPO for Technology Scale-ups
- Why Your Hiring Manager Is the Hidden Bottleneck in GTM Recruitment
- Why GTM Headcount Planning Breaks Down Before the First Interview
- Why Fractional TA Is the Most Underutilised Hiring Model in Scaling SaaS Companies
- Is the SDR Role Dead, or Does It Need a Complete Rethink?
- What Should You Actually Look for When Hiring Account Executives in SaaS?
- How Do Interview Scorecards Improve Hiring Decisions in SaaS Companies?
- Why Hiring Efficiency Is Becoming a Board-Level Metric in SaaS
- Why Hiring Speed Alone Is a Misleading Metric in SaaS
- Why Reactive Hiring Is the Biggest Cause of Poor Candidate Quality
- Why Hiring Bottlenecks Are the Silent Killer of SaaS Growth
- Why Hiring 'Proven' Leaders Often Fails in SaaS Scale-Ups
- Why Candidate Experience Starts at the Top of the Funnel
- Why Hiring Consistency Is the Real Challenge in Scaling SaaS Teams
- Why Hiring Flexibility Is Now More Valuable Than Hiring Capacity
- Why Hiring Systems Are Becoming More Important Than Hiring Teams
- Why SaaS Companies Are Replacing Agency Spend With Embedded Hiring Models
- Why Top-of-Funnel Sourcing Is Becoming a Dedicated Function in SaaS
- How CVaaS Helps SaaS Companies Maintain Continuous Hiring Pipeline
- The Talent Economics Driving the Rise of Embedded Recruiting in SaaS
- Why SaaS CFOs Are Rebuilding Hiring Budgets Around Flexible Talent Infrastructure
- Why SaaS Hiring Volatility Is Driving New Recruitment Models
- Why RaaS Is Becoming the Default Hiring Model for SaaS
- Why SaaS Companies Need a Hiring Strategy, Not Just a Hiring Plan
- Why SaaS Companies Struggle to Hire Their First Truly Strategic CRO
- How CVaaS Helps SaaS Companies Enter New Markets Faster
- Why Hiring Confidence Is the Hidden Driver of SaaS Growth
- Why SaaS Companies Are Moving From Recruitment Spend to Hiring Investment
- How to Identify Leadership Potential Beyond Track Record in SaaS Hiring
- Why Predictable Hiring Costs Are Becoming Essential for SaaS CFOs
- Why Talent Density Matters More Than Headcount in Scaling SaaS Companies
- The Cost of Delaying a Critical Executive Hire in a Scaling SaaS Company
- Why High-Growth SaaS Companies Outgrow Their Hiring Model Before They Realise It
- Why RaaS Is the Most Sustainable Way to Scale GTM Teams in SaaS
- Why CVaaS Is the Most Cost-Effective Way to Support High-Volume SaaS Hiring
- Why Hiring Speed Is a Leading Indicator of SaaS Growth Health
- Why RaaS Delivers Better Hiring Outcomes Than Building a Large Internal TA Team
- How CVaaS Helps SaaS Companies Enter New Markets Faster
- Why Headcount Planning Fails Without a Clear Hiring Operating Model
- Why RaaS Is Better Suited to Uncertain Hiring Forecasts Than Traditional Recruitment
- How RaaS Improves Internal Mobility and Reduces Attrition
- How RaaS Helps Finance and Talent Teams Work in Sync
- Should You Centralise or Decentralise Talent Acquisition in a Global SaaS Business?
- What High-Performing SaaS Leaders Do Differently In The First 90 Days
- How CVaaS Supports Diversity Hiring Without Slowing Down Delivery
- Is Subscription Hiring the Antidote to Rising Agency Fees?
- The Hidden Talent Risks in Scaling a SaaS Company From 50 to 150 Employees
- Should Your Next Revenue Leader Be a CRO or a VP Sales?
- Why Most SaaS Companies Hire Too Late, And How to Fix It
- Why RaaS Beats Internal Hiring for Meeting Quarterly Targets
- The Hiring Playbook Every SaaS Company Needs Before Scaling Into New Regions
- What SaaS Hiring Leaders Get Wrong About Candidate Pipelines
- When Hiring Needs Spike, RaaS Ensures You Never Miss a Beat: Strategic Guide for SaaS Talent Leaders
- From Vendor to Partner: The Strategic Shift in SaaS Hiring Models
- Hiring in a Downturn: How SaaS Companies Can Protect Culture and Retain Talent
- How to Spot a Future CEO: Leadership Signals VCs and Boards Look For
- Beyond Speed: Why CVaaS is Becoming SaaS Talent Leaders' Best Kept Secret
- Inside the embedded headhunting model: How Continuous Hiring Partnerships Drive Compounding ROI
- The State of SaaS Hiring 2025: What the Data Says About Growth and Talent Gaps
- Executive Search in SaaS: How To Identify Leaders Who Can Scale Globally
- How Subscription-Based Hiring Transforms Workforce Planning for SaaS
- How to Hire a CRO Who Can Take You from $10M to $100M ARR
- How to Integrate CVaaS into Your Existing Hiring Workflow
- RaaS vs Traditional Recruitment: Which Model Scales Better for SaaS?
- Scaling Sustainably: How to Build a SaaS Team That Lasts
- Talent Challenges Every SaaS Company Faces at Series A, B, C, and D (and How to Overcome Them)
- The Hidden Costs of a Bad Executive Hire (and How to Avoid Them)
- The Psychology Behind Executive Hiring: Assessing Resilience, Not Just Results
- The Real Cost of Hiring Too Late in a SaaS Growth Cycle
- The Traits of SaaS Leaders Who Thrive in Hypergrowth Environments
- What Is CVaaS? How SaaS Companies Are Filling Pipelines Faster at a Fraction of the Cost
- Why Predictable Hiring Costs Are Transforming SaaS Hiring
- Why Talent Density Is the New Competitive Advantage in SaaS
- Why Top-of-Funnel Candidate Sourcing Is the Secret Weapon for SaaS Hiring Teams