The scaling solution for startups to fuel the growth of emerging technology
OUR VALUE
Layer2 Talent is a recruitment advisory service crafted to support startups on the forefront of crypto and blockchain.
For a company, when the time has come to hire it must be understood why, where the value is coming from, and who can make the impact necessary. This takes time for preparation and action that many foundational teams do not have. Early-stage recruitment is critical, but without someone like us spending time on it, quality takes a dip.
For a job seeker, it's important to grasp what it is you are looking for. On our first call, we take the time to understand your needs so that your next role puts you in a position you will both enjoy and thrive in. From there we partner with you throughout your search and interview processes until you find the right fit.
We are impassioned by those helping create secure, automated technologies that most people don't realize we need yet. We understand the impact they will have on all of our futures and we are here to help make it happen.
"Ken has been assisting... with our developer recruitment and within a short space of time, through leveraging his own network, he was able to refer a number of high-quality candidates. Ken also evaluated and fed back on our recruitment process and was readily available to assist during contract negotiations. In short, I would have no hesitation in recommending him."
- Nick Lambert, CEO at Dock.io
OUR SEARCH
We take a personal approach to develop longstanding relationships with our clients to understand their needs both in the short and long term. We’re deeply integrated in the communities we serve to see firsthand the unique challenges faced by a start-up in a new industry. There are no shortcuts in our approach; each search is carefully understood and customized for the client so that delivery happens on time with precision.
📚UNDERSTANDING
We take the time to get to know your unique situation and hiring challenges. As our partner we not only seek to understand your business, but also to become an expert in it. In order to do this we follow a step-by-step process to understand:
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The history of the company and it’s team
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The business, financial, and cultural strategies you have moving forward
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Milestones
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Organization structure now and plans for the near future
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Market position, product
🕵️ SEARCH
Time is money. That’s why we don’t waste your time with lackluster searches that take longer than necessary. By becoming an expert of your company, searches take less time and produce better results. We work with you and your team to develop comprehensive specifications for your crucial hires
✔️ QUALIFICATION
Early stage hires are critical whether they are at the executive or individual contributor level. A bad hire can unnecessarily hold your company back and keep you from hitting objectives. That’s why we take the time to form a genuine relationship with our candidates and understand them fully.
🛰️ COMMUNICATION
We are no strangers to getting “ghosted” in the middle of a search. That’s why we have a passionate view on transparent communications throughout our entire process and afterwards. Nobody wants to be left in the dark during a critical point in development
According to the 2020 Developer Survey by StackOverflow, 57.6% of developers are not actively looking, but are open to new opportunities. 58.5% of people in the same group said that wanting to work with new technologies was the main driver in looking for a new job.
OUR TEAM
Ken Cadima
Co-founder/Managing Director, San Diego
Ken leads operations and strategy.
A seasoned recruiter, Ken has advised more than 30 startups during his career.
His passion for technology stems from programming graphing calculators and making websites in middle school. In 2013 he discovered Bitcoin through a university finance class, but didn't fall into the blockchain rabbit hole until 2017 when a close friend of his working at Everipedia crypto-pilled him during a visit.
He began his career in technical recruiting in 2014 and started working with web3 companies during the bear market of 2018. Over the Last 5 years he's had the opportunity to help scale companies including OpenSea, Audius, CoinDesk, Dock, and O(1) Labs from early stages. These experiences have led Ken to an understanding of the complex hiring needs of engineering organizations in the space.
He now lives and works in San Diego with his Australian Shepherd, Malfi
Geoff Horwitz
Co-founder, San Diego
Geoff leads the strategic sourcing and engagement effort.
Geoff grew up playing sports his whole life, his favorites being football and basketball. He played JUCO football at Dean College before receiving a full scholarship to play football at University of Rhode Island. Following college he was drawn to technology and started working in sales for a systems integration company. This curiosity for tech led him down the Web3 rabbit hole. After seeing the innovation and community around Web3, Geoff knew he had to get involved and Co-Founded Layer2 Talent with his partner Ken.
He currently resides in SanDiego, California where he lives with his girlfriend and cat Bella. In his free time he enjoys snowboarding, basketball, and driving his cat nuts with a laser pointer.
Kenny Han
Co-founder, New York City
Kenny acts as an advisor on best practices.
Having been surrounded by computers growing up, Kenny took apart, fixed and built computers at a young age but somehow instead of software engineering, he became a recruiter that loves to automate, simplify parts of the hiring process in order to make him as efficient as possible.
Kenny helped grow Functional Programming Start-ups early in his career and became engulfed by the community and passion that developers have for open source technology, language ecosystems and just the ability to express themselves artistically and creatively through code (he's still trying to learn on his own!).
After helping several Functional Programming Start-ups grow, he found his way to Walmart Labs, working as a remote Technical Sourcer that specialized in Backend Engineering hires for the open source and innovation teams at Walmart Labs.
He loves working from his home right outside New York