The Hunter Report

Happy Friday!

Welcome to the very first issue of the The Hunter Report. I’m excited to share a high-level overview of the market and my insights for the week. I’ll cover a wide range of topics, including employment data, VC funding, tools I love, and intriguing companies I’ve come across.

As I build my business, my time is devoted to staying up-to-date with the market, discovering new companies, tracking venture funding, and of course, engaging with my clients and candidates. Through my research and conversations, I’m constantly learning and my goal is to pass along valuable insights from my week to you. This newsletter will evolve and I hope that you’ll find interesting nuggets of information you might not have encountered otherwise.

Ai Venture Funding:

I’ve been tracking AI Venture funding since I started this business. It’s remaining steady but it will be interesting to see which companies rise above the rest and actually generate cash flow.

This week, US-based AI companies saw 21 rounds of funding for a total of $466.8M. A significant uptick from last week’s total of $146.3M. Notable large rounds included $200M in series A to Imbue. Along with d-matrix receiving $110M in series B.

Company spotlights of the week:

• CoreWeave – Not sure how I am just hearing about this company. Their origin story is very cool, from starting out mining crypto to currently being a leading GPU cloud provider for AI companies. They’ve secured $2.8 billion in funding over 7 rounds. Not bad for starting in 2017… in a garage.

• Perfect Day: Ever wonder about the science behind dairy-free products? Perfect Day is a company developing sustainable proteins for companies like CoolHaus and Modern Kitchen which develop dairy-free products such as ice creams and cream cheese.

Some things from my life: Tools, Books, Purchases:

Apollo.io – This tool is a game-changer for business development and is incredibly robust. I love the customized automation features. Although I've only used it for a few weeks, it has already saved me a significant amount of time.

Employment Data:

The US Unemployment rate is 3.8%, up slightly from last month’s 3.5%. California is 4.5% and in a particularly difficult spot with the strikes in entertainment and hospitality.

Healthcare, social assistance, and financial companies were the highest sectors for job creation with 187,000 new jobs created in August.

My takeaway: If you’re on LinkedIn every day like me, it’s challenging to grasp a 3.8% unemployment rate, especially here in LA. There’s a strange dichotomy between what we see online, particularly in tech-related roles, and the reality of the job market. Companies are hiring but they’re exercising caution due to budgetary constraints.

The problem I’m seeing is that companies that let go of their TA teams are falling behind in recruitment efforts, and are having trouble sifting through thousands of applicants. In return, companies are developing poor candidate experience habits, leaving a pool of candidates with nothing but negative feelings. When the tides turn and it shifts back to a candidate-driven market, these companies are going to have a hard time filling their roles. Companies always need to remember that candidate experience is paramount and that applicants are not just resumes, but actual humans.

Interviewer Tip of the Week: Ensure all your interviewers are trained in the art of interviewing before putting them in front of potential candidates. As a hiring manager, it’s essential to make sure your interviewers know how to extract key data points from candidates, provide a strong candidate experience, and know how to deal with candidates who are either overly verbose or not speaking enough. Probing questions are key.

Quote to start the weekend: "It is life near the bone where it is sweetest." – Henry David Thoreau, from Walden

Have a great weekend and thank you for tuning in!

Please feel free to reach out to me directly for questions or suggestions.