What we hire for Commercial & salesMarketing & growthAI-enabled operatorsFractional leadershipBilingual talent Locations Pricing About Blog For founders For candidates Start consultation

Operators, not recruiters

Startup hiring,
done properly.

Your next hire will speed the company up — or quietly slow it down. We help founder-led teams in Thailand and Southeast Asia get it right the first time.

Not just candidates. Startup-fit operators.

Start a hiring consultation → See pricing
We’ve made the wrong hire too. That’s why we do this differently.
0
Shortlisted candidate
ROLE — HEAD OF SALES, SEED STAGE
FOUNDER-READY
Ownership & bias to act94
Commercial track record88
Works in ambiguity91
Low ego, high learning speed85

Pricing

Founder-friendly pricing. No agency games.

Pay 50% less

Traditional firms charge 20–25% of first-year salary. Here, you often pay only around half the cost.

Pick what you need. Pay for what works.

CV Pack

No commitment

Curated, vetted profiles. No full search commitment.

Most popular

Success Search

Pay when you hire

End-to-end search. You pay only when you hire.

Fractional Hiring Partner

Monthly

Monthly support for multiple roles or ongoing hiring.

No long lock-insNo per-CV chargesNo surprise feesFree first consultation
Get pricing for your role →

The stakes

You can’t afford the wrong hire.

Early hires shape culture.

Commercial hires shape revenue.

Leadership hires shape execution.

The wrong person

drains your time, money, and momentum — and lowers the bar for everyone after them.

The right person

changes the speed of the whole company.

Sound familiar?

Most recruiters never ask what your business actually needs — so we start there.

  • You’ve hired someone who aced the interview — then flopped in the role.
  • You’ve waited weeks for a shortlist that missed the brief entirely.
  • You’ve paid a fee for a hire who didn’t last six months.
Traditional recruitment
  • Starts with a job description
  • Searches by keywords
  • Sends too many CVs
  • Focuses on experience only
Proper Round
  • Starts with the business problem
  • Defines success outcomes
  • Vets for startup fit
  • Delivers a focused shortlist

How we vet

A great CV won’t tell you who can actually do the job. We do.

Startup-fit & personality

A structured personality and mindset assessment — not a gut-feel call.

OwnershipLow egoLearns fastHandles ambiguity

English proficiency

Written and spoken, assessed with structured, tool-based evaluation.

WrittenSpokenRole-calibrated

Commercial track record

We verify they have actually done the job — not just listed it.

ReferencesReal outcomesVerified

The process, step by step

01Understand the need
02Build the scorecard
03Source & screen
04Vet skill & mindset
05Deliver the shortlist
06Support the close

What we hire for

The seats you can’t afford to get wrong.

01 — COMMERCIAL

Commercial talent

Hit your number. Salespeople, BD, partnerships and go-to-market hires who can actually sell what you’ve built.

View roles →
02 — GROWTH

Marketing & growth

Get found and get demand. Growth, brand, performance, content and demand-generation hires who move the pipeline.

View roles →
03 — AI-ENABLED

AI-enabled operators

Do more with a leaner team. Operators who use AI to speed up sales, marketing, operations and decisions.

View roles →
04 — FRACTIONAL

Fractional leadership

Senior leadership before you’re ready for full-time. Fractional Head of Sales, CMO, COO, Chief of Staff and Country Lead.

View roles →
05 — BILINGUAL

Bilingual talent

Win locally and internationally. Operators fluent in Thai and English (and more), vetted so the language holds up in the room.

View roles →

Thailand & Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia isn’t one market — and we don’t hire like it is.

Hiring in Bangkok Hiring in Singapore Across Southeast Asia

Start a consultation

Tell us the role. We’ll find the person.

Tell us what you’re building and what good looks like in the first 90 days. We’ll come back with people who can do the job — usually within one business day.

Prefer email? Email us your hiring need

We reply to every founder personally, usually within one business day.

Thanks — we're on it.

Your hiring need is in. We'll reply personally within one business day to set up your consultation.

For candidates

Are you a startup-fit operator?

We place commercial, growth, AI-enabled, and leadership talent with founder-led companies across Thailand and Southeast Asia. If you move fast, take ownership, and want to build, introduce yourself — we'll reach out when the right role lands.

  • You own outcomes, not just tasks.
  • You're comfortable building in ambiguity.
  • You want startup pace, not a corporate seat.
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We keep your details private and only reach out about relevant roles.

You're in the pool.

Thanks for introducing yourself. We'll be in touch when a role matches your focus and stage.

FAQ

Startup hiring questions, answered.

What does Proper Round do?

Proper Round is a startup recruitment company that helps founder-led companies in Thailand and Southeast Asia hire vetted, startup-fit business talent. We recruit for commercial, marketing and growth, AI-enabled, fractional leadership and bilingual roles.

What roles does Proper Round hire for?

We focus on high-impact business roles: commercial and go-to-market talent, marketing and growth, AI-enabled operators, fractional leadership such as Head of Sales, CMO, COO, Chief of Staff and Country Lead, and bilingual talent.

Where does Proper Round operate?

We work with founders and growth companies across Thailand and the wider Southeast Asia region, including Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

How is Proper Round different from a traditional recruitment agency?

Traditional recruiters start with a job description and search by keywords. Proper Round starts with the business problem, defines success outcomes, vets candidates for startup fit, and delivers a focused shortlist instead of a stack of CVs.

Do you offer fractional leadership hiring?

Yes. We place fractional Head of Sales, CMO, COO, Chief of Staff and Country Lead roles for companies that need senior leadership before a full-time executive hire.

Do you vet candidates for English proficiency?

Yes. When a role needs strong English, we assess written and spoken proficiency with structured, tool-based language evaluation, alongside Thai and other Southeast Asian languages.

How does the Proper Round hiring process work?

We follow a six-step process: understand the real need, build a hiring scorecard, source and screen, vet for skill and mindset, deliver a focused shortlist, and support the close.

Who does Proper Round work with?

Founder-led startups, venture-backed companies, scaleups and ambitious growth companies in Thailand and Southeast Asia — from a first commercial hire to fractional leadership.

Is Proper Round a headhunting or executive search firm?

Yes. We do startup-focused headhunting and executive search — actively sourcing and approaching strong candidates, including people who aren’t job-hunting, for commercial, growth, AI-enabled, fractional leadership and bilingual roles, instead of just posting a role and waiting.

How much does headhunting with Proper Round cost?

We scope each search to the role and stage, with a model built to be more affordable and transparent than traditional executive search agencies. Tell us the role and we’ll outline pricing before any work begins.

Can you work alongside our in-house HR or talent team?

Absolutely. We act as an extension of your HR, talent and hiring team — handling sourcing, screening and shortlisting, while your team stays in control of every decision.