The playbook for building high-talent-density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursor

About this episode

Adam Ward is the Head of Talent at Cursor, one of the fastest-growing developer tools in history. Before joining Cursor, he founded Growth by Design, an independent recruiting and talent strategy firm that helped build teams at the most ambitious AI and technology companies in the world. Adam has spent more than 20 years building elite, high-talent-density teams across the industry and is widely regarded as one of the most effective and creative recruiters in tech. In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 1. Inside today’s “tale of two cities” talent market 2. Why the traditional recruiting funnel—what Adam calls the “funnel of doom”—leads to mediocre hires 3. Adam’s three-step playbook: scoping, mapping, and relentless pursuit 4. The worst question to ask when sourcing great talent 5. The rise of the forward deployed engineer—and how to become one 6. The biggest mistake founders make when hiring their first recruiter — Brought to you by: WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more Mercury—Radically different banking, now with Command — Where to find Adam Ward • X: https://x.com/wardadamp • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adampward