What Adam Ward thinks about hiring
Head of Talent at Cursor; co-founded the recruiting and talent-strategy firm Growth by Design, which Cursor acquired in November 2025.
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6 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Adam Ward has said — not written or endorsed by them.
The shading behind a date shows how recently it was said: full within a month, empty after three years.
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Our readingFunnel-style recruiting weeds people out at each stage and ends up hiring whoever remains.
Their wordsthe way we all recruit is we kind of weed people out at each stage and we hire the remainder. So, this remainder hiring is the output of the funnel of doom.
↗The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursoryoutube.com 4th of 30 in this recording
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Their wordsif you think about going after the 1%, the most important step is getting really clear on what 1% means to you.
↗The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursoryoutube.com 6th of 30 in this recording
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Our readingRecruiters should be a confidence engine for hiring managers, not the ones making hiring decisions.
Their wordsthe recruiters goal is really about helping provide confidence to that hiring manager to make the right decision. They're a confidence engine. They're not a decision-making engine.
↗The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursoryoutube.com 12th of 30 in this recording
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Our readingThe most important interview is the hiring manager's first conversation, not the on-site.
Their wordswe put so much energy to the onsite interview, which I totally get, but honestly the most important one is that hiring manager first conversation.
↗The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursoryoutube.com 15th of 30 in this recording
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Their wordsfor a lot of companies, it's hard to think of a better way than you know, doing side-by-side real work to get those signals.
↗The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursoryoutube.com 18th of 30 in this recording
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Their wordsthey try to collapse this into one role, and generally that's a mistake.
↗The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at Cursoryoutube.com 28th of 30 in this recording
The shading behind a date fills in quarters: said within a month, six months, a year, or three years. Empty means more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.
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