How GeneralMind built a hiring function before building a hiring team
“Needle helped us grow from 12 to 30+ people in weeks — and we always know exactly where every candidate stands.”
GeneralMind used Needle to build a hiring function after raising a $12 million seed round. The company had no recruiter or talent team. After GeneralMind uploaded its open roles, Needle found candidates, drafted outreach, followed up, booked first calls, and kept the hiring pipeline current. GeneralMind's team stayed in control of every hiring decision.
"Needle took all of that off our plate and became our recruiting team from day one."
At a glance
- Company: GeneralMind, the team behind Razor Group
- Product: AI software for supply-chain operations
- Challenge: Hire across the company without an internal recruiting team
- Previous options: Legacy applicant tracking systems, including Ashby
- Why Needle: Fast setup and an agent that actively runs recruiting workflows
- Result: A working hiring function without adding recruiting operations
Why GeneralMind needed a hiring system after its seed round
GeneralMind builds AI software that automates repetitive supply-chain work across email, spreadsheets, and ERP systems. Its software handles tasks such as chasing deliveries, matching invoices, and updating records.
After raising a $12 million seed round from investors including Lakestar and Leo Capital, GeneralMind needed to hire across the company. Hiring became urgent, but there was no recruiter, talent team, or time to build a manual process.
Why traditional applicant tracking systems did not fit
GeneralMind evaluated established applicant tracking systems, including Ashby. The team felt that these products were designed for companies with dedicated recruiting teams and existing hiring operations.
GeneralMind needed an applicant tracking system it could set up without consultants or a long implementation. It also wanted software that would do the administrative work, rather than give the team another system to operate.
How GeneralMind uses Needle
GeneralMind set up Needle in about 15 minutes. The team signed up, uploaded its roles, and started using the product without an implementation call or weeks of onboarding.
Needle then began running the recurring work required to keep hiring active.
What Needle handles
- Finds relevant candidates for open roles
- Drafts candidate outreach
- Follows up when candidates do not respond
- Books first calls
- Tracks who is waiting and what should happen next
- Writes up interviews
- Keeps candidate notes in one place
GeneralMind no longer has to check the pipeline constantly for missed follow-ups or stalled candidates. The team steps in when a decision requires human judgment.
"We're still the ones making the decisions. Needle keeps everything moving."
The support moment that built trust
At around 10 p.m. on a Saturday, GeneralMind had a question about sorting jobs in the pipeline. The team contacted Needle in Slack and received an answer within minutes. Someone walked them through the solution directly.
As GeneralMind added more roles, Needle continued to run the process without creating more administrative work.
"That was when I thought, okay, I can actually trust these people. And then as we piled on more roles, it just kept up."
The result: a hiring function before a hiring team
Needle gives GeneralMind a single place for candidate outreach, pipeline management, interview notes, and hiring context. The team does not have to spend the day inside an applicant tracking system to keep recruiting on track.
The clearest result is simple: GeneralMind built a working hiring function before hiring a recruiting team.
"It gave us a hiring function before we had a hiring team."
Build a hiring function without adding the admin
Needle helps teams source candidates, run outreach, coordinate first calls, capture interview notes, and maintain an accurate hiring pipeline.