Recruiting. Staffing. Consulting.

Triangle Business Journal

MORRISVILLE - Craig Stone launced HireNetworks during the depth of the technology downturn in 2001. "In many ways, it was the worst time to start a business," he says.

Despite the bad timing, Stone is enjoying a good run with his tech-heavy recruiting firm, which has grown to six employees after racking up $2 million in 2002 revenue.

Stone credits the growth to "not employing a sweatshop mentality, respect for customers and maintaining a good reputation."
About 75 percent of the company's business comes from placing people at early-stage firms, a sector prone to turbulence.

"In many ways, we are traditional, yet in some ways we are an anti-agency," he says.

Each of HireNetworks' four recruiters specializes in certain types of jobs. They allow the company to offer recruits a single point of contact. The recruiter interviews each recruit in person and over the phone. By the time the recruit interviews with a company, she is well briefed and pepared to secure the job, Stone says.

Stone had only three years of recruiting experience when he started HireNetworks. He had spent six years with IBM in sales and as an analyst before leaving to work for EdgeSource Corp., a recruiting firm with offices in Alexandria, Va., and Denver, Colo. After two years at EdgeSource, Stone was deployed to open a Raleigh office.

After about a year, Stone says he felt confident about starting his own company. Having developed differences with the EdgeSource team, he teamed with his wife, Lisa, to form HireNetworks in March 2001, just as the tech recession was hitting high gear.

HireNetworks' core function is helping companies fill technical and life science jobs. The types of positions filled by the company include software developers, programmers, Web designers and technical analysts. The company also does executive recruiting.

HireNetworks made 90 executive placements in 2002. Typical salaries were in the $125,000 range, according to company information supplied for Triangle Business Journal's Book of Lists 2004.

The company also filled 96 technical positions - a mix of contract and permanent jobs. About 60 percent of HireNetworks' business comes from technology companies, while biotech and pharmaceutical firms contribute 30 percent. Miscellaneous placements make up the rest.

In the past three years, Stone says he has seen startups change their strategy from hiring in advance to hiring when needed. For example, he says many startups in the past would hire a chief financial officer before they needed one full-time. Now, they might subcontract such a position on an interim basis.

Larger technology companies that would hire 50 developers at a time now may bring five onboard. "The volume is not there," says Stone.

On the positive side, from Stone's perspective, the pool of available talent is larger than before the recession. And, he says, many out-of-work executives are weathering the tech crash by taking a consulting job - or several of them.

"Many chief executives now work for three companies at a time," says Stone.

In the nine months of 2001 that the company was in business, HireNetworks drew up $800,000 in business. That rose in 2002 to $2 million. In 2003, the company lost a large customer in Washington, D.C., that shut down, but Stone says he expects revenue to stay about the same as it was in 2002.

Stone has worked to keep down his own costs. For example, HireNetworks automated its payroll process, ridding itself of some administrative headaches and expenses.

As for spreading the word about his company, Stone does it the tried-and-true way.

"Most of my business comes from contacts," he says.