A CV is a summary of what someone has done. It says almost nothing about whether they are the right fit for what a business is trying to do next. That gap is exactly why so many technically strong hires still don’t work out.
## Understand Comes First
Before any introduction is made, the more useful question is rarely “what skills does this role require?” It’s “what does success actually look like here, in twelve months?” A business that has just raised its first round of funding needs a different kind of specialist to one that is stabilising after rapid growth, even if the job title on paper looks identical. Taking the time to understand the goals, constraints and culture behind a role changes what “qualified” even means.
## Source With Intent, Not Volume
Once that understanding exists, sourcing becomes a much narrower, more deliberate exercise. Rather than casting the widest possible net, it means identifying people whose experience, values and ambitions are aligned with that specific business, at that specific stage. This is slower than keyword-matching a database of CVs, but it produces candidates worth actually introducing, rather than a long list to filter through.
## Connect With a Clear Reason
The introduction itself should never be generic. A good introduction explains, specifically, why this person and this business make sense together — the shared context, the complementary experience, the timing. That clarity is what separates an introduction with genuine potential from one that simply adds a name to a shortlist.
## Why This Matters More Than the CV
A CV can tell you someone has “led international expansion” before. It cannot tell you whether they will thrive inside this business’s particular culture, whether their expectations match what’s realistically on offer, or whether their timing lines up with the business’s own trajectory. That’s the work that happens between Understand and Connect, and it’s the part that a document alone will never do.
The right introduction to talent isn’t the fastest one. It’s the one built on enough understanding that both sides can see, quickly, why it makes sense.
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