Whilst Founders Circle's HQ remains in London(for now!) we continue to support our customers operating in the UK, US, and Europe. We spend most of our time focused on the UK and London specifically, however have continued to champion success ‘across the pond’ and amongst our European neighbours as existing customers look to expand beyond their UK teams, and new customers seek support in growing localised teams.
Behind every business is a catalyst; a story and purpose that offers an axis by which to constantly return to.
Indeed, it is our purpose that we believe offers clear distinction in our approach. Having observed through the years, we recognised that there was a shortcoming in the industry that was truly tailored towards businesses in the early phases of growth. We believe these early months and years to be most crucial, and that the early hires can truly define a business and greatly influence the eventual success story.
Throughout our shared experiences, we are able to adopt this same highly-specialised and diligent approach to hiring and apply it to more established organisations. We believe it is our approach that separates us, and being ever-passionate about what we do: we’d love the opportunity to discuss our unique DNA with anyone that is interested!
AS THE WORLD INNOVATES AND ADOPTS MORE TECHNOLOGY...
Founders Circle supports a focused portfolio of customers who operate within the Insur-Tech and broader Fin-Tech domain(Payments, Banking, Credit, etc.)
We often find that our partnerships benefit from our access to a diversified range of individuals particularly when the intention is to bring cross-industry experience with the view of adding fresh perspective and unique approaches.
WHO WE WORK WITH...
OUR TEAM
The core of our team's strength sits in our diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives as individuals that when combined- enable us to support a much broader universe of talented individuals, and better-serve our customers. We are incredibly proud that we are able to represent in this way.
FOUNDER & CEO
DEAN NORRIS
Dean started his career recruiting for leading Big 4 Consulting outfits as well as Tier 1 Banks and Insurers. Quickly, he discovered that he wanted to steer away from the sometimes transactional nature of hiring at this scale, and so decided to focus on hiring for start-ups as they scale.
Since launching Founders Circle, Dean continues to recruit talents into the InsurTech and FinTech communities, partnering with startups, VC and PE firms to provide talent support.
Dean excels at collaborating closely with Founders and leadership teams to audit and then streamline the hiring process. Central to this is establishing highly-transparent communication lines.
PARTNER & SENIOR RECRUITER
JAMES GARDNER
At 18 my introduction in recruitment; Dean and I were first non-founding hires of Elysian partnering with the Big four Management Consultancies, servicing Tier 1 Banks, Financial Services, and Insurance companies around London/UK.
After departing Elysian, I invested in the European markets, spending four years building out a software engineering desk in Germany and wider Europe. Partnering with some of the best businesses from early stage startups to enterprise level customers delivering the very best tech talent from around the world.
Some of my biggest wins:
- Relocating 40+ Engineers from 6 continents around the world.
- Placed 15+ Engineers into a GreenTech Start-up that went on to achieve Unicorn Status.
- Built & Scaled a Digital Banks engineering team from scratch.
- Delivered a number of Data Engineering & Data Science professionals into a FinTech startup that digitalised a highly regulatory procedure in the German retail banking industry.
5 years later myself and Dean have crossed paths once more! I’m currently building out a growing portfolio of partnerships with FinTech startups, VCs and Private Equity funds across the Netherlands and wider Europe. If you’re in need of a proactive partner that can support you through internal/external growth, raising funds and centralising HR processes please reach out!
ADVISOR
LAURENCE LUI
Laurence brings extensive experience and expertise to Founder's Circle having worked alongside business leaders across consulting, business strategy, cyber security and data protection matters. He is passionate about making a difference in challenging growth cycles of early-stage businesses and has a demonstrable track record having successfully supported the growth of multiple startups, providing clear leadership, continuous process improvement and excellent communication. Laurence holds a Bachelor of Science in International Politics at City University, London and is currently a Managing Consultant at Daintta having joined from Crossword Cybersecurity plc, an AIM listed technology transfer company.
SENIOR RECRUITER
JAY THANKI
Jay has been working in recruitment for over 6 years, originally starting his career working within Insurance. Working closely with brokers and the underwriting teams, his understanding of the London Market led to working with big brand Insurers in the Lloyd's Market. This centered around sourcing the right individuals to lead large scale IT and Change initiatives, in a growingly saturated market. His passion also revolved around creating a better working culture and representing the values of forward-thinking organisations. As a Londoner himself, his passion to work with young people from underrepresented communities, led to him working with an apprenticeship provider, sourcing highly skilled individuals and ensuring they received the support to be able to kickstart their careers within IT & Change Management. His focus, values and that of Founders Circle are closely aligned, and he joined Founders Circle in June 2022.
