Stop Hiring Fast: The 10-Hour Rule for Choosing the Right Leader

What if one wrong leadership hire could quietly cost you 10 months of growth? In this episode of Leaders in Talent, Adriaan sits down with talent advisor Puren Ucar (ex–Head of Talent Advisory at VC fund Earlybird) to unpack how founders should really approach leadership hiring, why she’s obsessed with retention rates, and how to use your calendar as a strategic tool instead of a stress factory. If you’re a founder, TA leader, or VC operator making senior hires, this one will hit close to home. Timecodes: 01:38 – Meet Puren Ucar? 03:45 – Inside VC: What a Head of Talent Advisory actually does 08:35 – Scaling a VC talent function & how success is measured 13:17 – What “good leadership” looks like: depth, clarity & retention 15:38 – Common founder mistakes + fear vs conviction hiring 20:43 – How Puren supports founders beyond hiring (process, backchanneling, coaches) 22:46 – Leaving VC to go independent: self-doubt, risk & courage 24:41 – Calendar audits & calendar hygiene for scaling founders 30:21 – The biggest surprise in entrepreneurship & closing thoughts 👤 Guest Purin Kar – Talent advisor to founders & VC funds, formerly Head of Talent Advisory at Earlybird. Connect with Purin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puren-ucar-2563a823/ 🎙 Host Adriaan Kolff – Co-Founder & CEO at Matchr, host of Leaders in Talent. Connect with Adriaan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ This episode is brought to you by Matchr – your flexible recruitment and sourcing partner for scale-ups and corporates. Learn more: https://matchr.io/