Candidate sourcing checklist for Founding Operators

This is the candidate sourcing checklist adapted for founding operators. It exists because spending too much time on admin, and the checklist below is the shape that actually survives contact with how founding operators work day to day.

What this checklist is for

Purpose: build a shortlist of candidates for a specific role without ATS sprawl. For founding operators specifically, the value is that it turns a recurring admin task into a 5-minute repeatable artifact. This isn't a generic template - the items below are tuned for founding operators and the tools they actually live in.

The candidate sourcing checklist (checklist)

• The role brief (must-haves, nice-to-haves, exclusions)
• The geography and timezone constraints
• The sources (LinkedIn search, GitHub, conference speaker lists, alumni networks)
• The qualification questions (must-pass before reaching out)
• The reach-out template (channel-specific)

Adjustments for founding operators

founding operators typically live in . That changes how this checklist runs:

• Pull the inputs from the apps founding operators actually use, not generic SaaS exports.
• Anchor on recent activity in the prospect or company - it's the highest-signal field for this role.
• Skip items that don't apply to your weekly cadence; this is a starting shape, not a contract.

The most common way to mess this up

Skipping the exclusion list - results in scoring 200 candidates and rejecting 195 manually. For founding operators, this shows up as spending the saved time on more admin instead of higher-leverage work. Build the checklist into your week, not as a one-off.

How Strawberry runs this checklist

Strawberry can search across LinkedIn, GitHub, and conference speaker lists at once, then filter against your must-haves and exclusions before showing the shortlist. For founding operators, Strawberry uses your live tabs and connected apps - so the checklist is filled with your real context, not a placeholder.

When to use this, when to skip

Use this checklist when the work recurs (weekly, per-prospect, per-meeting). Skip it when the situation is novel and judgment-heavy - the checklist is a baseline, not a substitute for thinking.

Caveats

Strawberry holds back on sending email, updating CRM records, or changing shared systems until a human approves the action. Treat the agent as a fast first-draft author, not an autopilot.