Episode

The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursor

Adam Ward, head of talent at Cursor, explains the 'funnel of doom' most companies fall into when hiring and why he instead treats every hire like an executive search, identifying the world's top candidates through scoping, targeted questions, and relentless personal pursuit. He describes Cursor's caring, high-touch candidate experience, why hiring managers should own recruiting decisions rather than delegating to recruiters, and lessons from building talent-dense teams at Facebook, Pinterest, and his own firm.