Circular’s 11-slide Series A deck is a masterclass in presenting a marketplace business model built on unconventional supply. Instead of competing with recruiters, Circular positions itself as a 'home' for the cooperative behaviors already happening in small, trusted communities. The deck leans heavily on the founders' pedigree at Jobandtalent and demonstrates significant traction, claiming to be the #1 hiring source for its customers. While several key metrics are redacted in this version, the narrative flow—from the insight that 99% of candidates are rejected to the 'feedback loop' that dri…
Key takeaways
- The founders leverage their background as VPs at Jobandtalent, a company that raised over €300m, to establish immediate domain expertise (Slide 2).
- The core insight is that 99% of candidates are rejected, yet many are highly valuable and already being shared in informal communities (Slide 3).
- Circular positions itself as a dual-sided platform providing a community for recruiters and a superior experience for candidates (Slides 4-5).
- The company claims to be the #1 hiring source for its customers within two years of launch, outperforming LinkedIn and internal referrals (Slide 7).
- Traction is shown through accelerated growth in interview processes and GMV (annual salary of hires) over two quarters (Slide 8).
- The business model relies on a feedback loop where job postings lead to vetted referrals, which leads to more hires and more jobs (Slide 9).
- The expansion strategy focuses on dominating major tech hubs to trigger network effects and 'reputation lock-in' (Slide 10).
- The deck highlights a previous €2.1m Seed round led by LocalGlobe as a foundation for their current scaling efforts (Slide 10).
The Narrative of Collective Recruitment
Circular’s pitch deck is a concise 11-slide presentation that focuses on the power of community-driven marketplaces. In an industry as crowded as recruitment software, Circular manages to carve out a unique position by focusing on 'cooperation' rather than 'competition.' The deck is structured to move quickly from the founders' credibility to a deep market insight, followed by product proof and aggressive traction metrics.
Slide 1: Title and Social Proof
The cover slide introduces the company name and the tagline: "Collective recruitment works." This immediately sets the theme for the entire presentation. At the bottom, the slide features a "Connecting" bar with logos of prominent tech companies including eventbrite, facebook, twilio, Typeform, hopin, and Preply . This is a classic move to establish immediate brand authority before the pitch even begins.
Slide 2: Founder Pedigree
Circular chooses to put its team strength upfront. The slide notes that the founders' journey started in 2015 as VPs at Jobandtalent , which is noted as having raised +€300m . Specifically, it names Pedro Torrecillas (VP of Product) and Teo Ruiz (VP of Engineering) . By highlighting their roles at a unicorn-level HR tech company, they establish that they aren't just founders with an idea, but industry veterans who have seen what it takes to scale a massive platform in this specific sector.
Slide 3: The Core Insight
This slide identifies the market inefficiency Circular aims to exploit. It states that "99% candidates are rejected," but adds that "Some are very valuable." The slide shows a screenshot of a Slack community where a recruiter named Janet is sharing a developer she couldn't hire. The text explains that "Valuable candidates are already shared in small trusted communities." Circular’s mission is to "scale this cooperation by giving it a home and scaling trust." This is a powerful 'why now' and 'why us' slide that justifies the existence of a new platform.
Slide 4: Product for Recruiters
The deck then transitions into the product. For recruiters, Circular is described as "the community for cooperative hiring." The slide lists four key actions for recruiters: Hire candidates referred by peers, Refer candidates that are still available, Build trust , and Learn from each other. The visual shows a web interface with a "Reputation" score of 27, suggesting a gamified or merit-based system that incentivizes participation. There is also a call to action to "Watch demo video," which is a standard inclusion for Series A decks to prove the product is functional and mature.
Slide 5: Product for Candidates
The candidate experience is framed as "the best hiring experience." The slide uses mobile mockups to show the user journey: getting referred to Circular by a peer, receiving confidential interview requests from top companies, and sharing feedback. This side of the marketplace is essential because high-quality tech talent is notoriously difficult to engage; by positioning the platform as referral-only and confidential, Circular addresses the primary pain points of top-tier candidates.
Slide 6: The Solution Summary
This slide acts as a bridge between the product and the business results. It breaks down the benefits for both sides. In-house recruiters can connect processes and distribute work while getting tools to improve the hiring experience. Candidates can centralize their efforts and collectively monitor the hiring experience. The headline "A community makes recruitment efficient and human" reinforces the emotional and functional value proposition.
Slide 7: Traction and Market Dominance
This is arguably the most important slide in the deck. It claims that "In 2 years since launch, we are the #1 hiring source for [Redacted] companies." A bar chart compares Circular to other sources. While the exact percentages are redacted in this version, the chart visually shows Circular outperforming Internal referrals, Linkedin application, Career page, Reach outs, Job boards applications, and Agencies. The right side of the slide displays a "wall of love" with logos from TravelPerk, Personio, Glovo, EA, Oracle, Gartner, and Ryanair , among others. This proves that the model works for both high-growth startups and established enterprises.
Slide 8: Growth Velocity
To prove the business is scaling, Slide 8 shows two bar charts: Interview processes and GMV (defined as the annual salary of the hires closed during the period). Both charts show a clear upward trajectory over a period of several quarters. Although the specific growth percentages and average salary figures are redacted, the visual representation of "accelerated speed" is clear. This slide is designed to show that the marketplace has reached a tipping point where growth is no longer linear.
Slide 9: The Flywheel
Circular explains its growth through a "feedback loop." The cycle is simple: 1. Companies refer vetted candidates from each job posted. 2. More quality candidates mean more jobs are filled. 3. More jobs are posted after a good experience. The slide notes that "Active companies post 90% of their jobs in circular." This high retention and high usage rate are key indicators of a healthy marketplace and a strong competitive moat.
Slide 10: The Roadmap and The Ask
The final content slide outlines the plan for "scaling the community." It references a previous Seed round of €2.1m led by LocalGlobe . The roadmap is divided into four stages, though stages 3 and 4 are redacted. Stage 1 was proving they could get quality candidates at zero cost. Stage 2 is "Scale the community across tech hubs." The slide explicitly mentions "Network effects" and "Reputation lock-in" as the reasons why this is a "winner takes most opportunity." This is the language investors want to hear at the Series A stage.
Slide 11: Closing
The final slide is a standard closing slide with a call to browse more examples at bestpitchdeck.com. It does not contain additional company information.
What Circular Does Well
Founder-Market Fit: By leading with their Jobandtalent experience, the founders immediately neutralize any doubts about their ability to navigate the HR tech space. · Unique Supply Source: Most recruitment decks talk about better AI or better search. Circular talks about a new source of supply: the 99% of candidates that other companies have already vetted and rejected for non-performance reasons. · Flywheel Focus: The deck does a great job of explaining why the business gets stronger as it grows. The mention of "Reputation lock-in" is a sophisticated way to describe a moat. · Visual Clarity: The deck is clean, uses a consistent color palette, and doesn't over-clutter slides with text. The use of real product screenshots and mobile mockups makes the solution feel tangible.
What is Missing from the Deck
Unit Economics: While the deck mentions GMV and growth, it omits any mention of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Lifetime Value (LTV), or take rates. Investors at the Series A level typically want to see the underlying math of the marketplace. · The Competition: The deck claims to be the #1 source, but it doesn't explicitly address how it will defend against LinkedIn or specialized agencies if they decide to copy the 'referral' model. · Detailed Financials: There is no slide showing burn rate, runway, or revenue projections. While these are often in a separate data room, a summary slide is common in Series A pitches. · The Team Beyond Founders: While the founders are impressive, there is no mention of the broader team or key hires that will help them scale across multiple tech hubs. · Specific Use of Funds: The deck mentions "scaling the community," but it doesn't break down how the $7.5M will be spent (e.g., % on engineering, % on sales, % on marketing).
What Other Founders Should Copy
The "Insight" Slide: Slide 3 is a perfect example of how to present a market insight. It uses a real-world example (the Slack screenshot) to prove that the behavior the company is trying to monetize already exists in the wild. · Defining Metrics: Defining GMV as the "annual salary of the hires closed" is a smart way to show the scale of the economic activity the platform facilitates, even if the company only takes a small percentage of that as revenue. · The "Winner Takes Most" Argument: Founders of marketplace businesses should copy the way Circular links geographic expansion to network effects and reputation lock-in. It turns a simple expansion plan into a strategic necessity. · Social Proof Placement: Placing customer logos on the title slide and the traction slide creates a bookend effect that makes the company seem ubiquitous.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the core problem Circular is solving?
- Circular addresses the inefficiency and waste in traditional recruiting where 99% of candidates are rejected. Many of these candidates are highly qualified but simply not the right fit for a specific role at that specific time. Circular formalizes the informal 'trusted communities' where recruiters were already sharing these valuable candidates, turning a fragmented process into a scalable, cooperative network.
- How does Circular's business model differ from a traditional job board?
- Unlike job boards that rely on active applications or outbound sourcing, Circular is a cooperative marketplace. It relies on recruiters to refer vetted talent they didn't hire. This creates a high-trust environment where candidates are pre-vetted by peers, and recruiters gain reputation points for contributing to the ecosystem, leading to a more efficient 'feedback loop' than standard platforms.
- What evidence of product-market fit does the deck provide?
- The deck claims that Circular has become the #1 hiring source for its customers, surpassing LinkedIn, agencies, and even internal referrals. It also shows a chart with accelerating growth in both interview processes and Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), defined as the annual salary of hires closed through the platform, over a six-month period.
- What is the significance of the founders' background in this pitch?
- The founders, Pedro Torrecillas and Teo Ruiz, were previously VPs of Product and Engineering at Jobandtalent. Since Jobandtalent is a major player in the HR tech space that raised over €300m, this background gives them significant 'founder-market fit.' It signals to investors that they have the technical and operational experience to scale a complex recruitment marketplace.
- What are the primary growth drivers for Circular according to the deck?
- Growth is driven by a three-step feedback loop: companies refer vetted candidates from every job posted; more quality candidates lead to more jobs being filled; and successful hires encourage companies to post 90% of their jobs on the platform. This creates network effects and 'reputation lock-in,' making it harder for competitors to displace them once they dominate a tech hub.
