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Referral-based hiring

The Future of Recruitment: Inside Vouch’s Referral-Based Hiring Platform

The Power of Referral-Based Hiring

Håkon Høgetveit believes that referral-based hiring is the most effective recruitment strategy for modern businesses. Traditional methods, relying on cold applications, are becoming obsolete, especially in tight-knit communities like Oslo. “People don’t apply for jobs the way they used to. They hate the forms, they hate the black-box experience,” says Håkon. He emphasizes that recruiting through trusted networks leads to more reliable and successful hires, a lesson he learned firsthand from building companies. Vouch capitalizes on this, creating a platform that systematizes referrals, providing a seamless experience for employers.

AI Enhances but Doesn’t Replace the Human Touch

While AI is increasingly playing a role in recruitment, Håkon emphasizes the need to maintain a human element. “It can write job ads, craft cover letters, and even screen candidates,” he notes. Despite these advancements, the personal touch remains crucial for truly understanding and connecting with applicants. However, he sees the risk of losing the human connection, which can negatively impact hiring. At Vouch, they use AI to optimize processes but ensure that trust remains the key factor. “People still hire people they trust,” Håkon adds, emphasizing that Vouch blends technology with personal connections to create an ideal hiring platform.

Why Traditional Application Systems Are Failing

Håkon explains how the job application process has become tedious for both applicants and companies, especially as the market becomes flooded with unqualified candidates. “We’re seeing companies overwhelmed by hundreds of applications, many of them not qualified,” he explains. AI tools can even spam these systems, creating a backlog of applications that are often ignored. By focusing on referral-based hiring, Vouch eliminates these issues and helps companies hire with confidence. The platform ensures only relevant, pre-vetted candidates are considered.

Building a Community-Centric Business Model

Håkon’s entrepreneurial journey has always involved community-building. With Vouch’s referral-based hiring model, he’s fostering a network of trusted relationships that fuel recruitment. “We’re building a user base of people referring people they know and trust,” he says. This community focus doesn’t just streamline hiring; it creates a more supportive and dynamic ecosystem. Whether it’s supporting fellow founders in Oslo or investing in other startups, Håkon is dedicated to strengthening the entrepreneurial network, which is essential for success in smaller startup hubs like Oslo.

Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Norway

As a founder in Norway, Håkon has faced challenges related to taxation and regulation, particularly around startup exits. “The Norwegian tax model challenges founders, especially when wealth is tied up in startups,” Håkon explains. The wealth and exit tax system can make it harder for entrepreneurs to reinvest in their businesses, affecting growth. Despite these obstacles, Håkon remains hopeful, thanks to efforts from local organizations and initiatives that are working to improve conditions for startups in Norway. He believes in the importance of a supportive ecosystem to help founders navigate these difficulties.

Find Håkon on:

LinkedIn: Håkon Høgetveit

Website: vouch.careers

Find Ben on:

LinkedIn: Ben Costantini

Twitter/X: @bencostantini

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Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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