Client Profile:
KinBold is revolutionizing the chemical solutions industry with breakthrough products in water treatment (Klarolaks) and fuel additives (MilEx/MPH). Founded by Dele Martins, the company has grown to a leading innovator serving clients across 15 countries. Their products require deep technical expertise in chlorine dioxide chemistry, environmental compliance, and safety protocols – making every hire mission-critical.
Their commitment to rapid development and market responsiveness means talent acquisition must be both fast and consistently high-quality.
The Challenge: From Founder’s Brain to Scalable Team
Dele Martins faced a unique founder’s dilemma. After years of being a key driver behind KinBold’s innovations, scaling meant finding people who could match his technical rigor while bringing fresh perspectives. The challenges were multifaceted:
- Ultra-Specialized Skill Requirements: Candidates needed rare expertise in chlorine dioxide chemistry, fuel additive formulation, and environmental regulations – skills that don’t appear on standard resumes
- Safety-Critical Assessments: In chemical manufacturing, one wrong hire could lead to safety incidents, regulatory violations, or product failures costing millions
- Founder Bottleneck Syndrome: Dele was spending 30+ hours per week interviewing candidates, trying to assess complex technical knowledge while simultaneously running R&D and operations
- Innovation Mindset Match: Beyond technical skills, KinBold needed people who could think like inventors, not just operators – a quality nearly impossible to gauge from traditional interviews
- Competitive Talent Pool: With only ~500 qualified chemical engineers in their specialty worldwide, KinBold competed against Fortune 500 companies for the same talent
“I realized I was the bottleneck to our growth,” explains Dele Martins. “I was trying to clone myself instead of building a complementary team. Every interview felt like teaching a masterclass while hoping to find someone who already knew the material.”
The Solution: Predictive Assessments for Deep Technical Expertise
KinBold deployed Serand’s platform to transform how they evaluated specialized technical talent:
Technical Competency Modeling
Working with Dele, Serand created custom assessments that evaluated candidates’ understanding of chemical processes, safety protocols, and regulatory requirements without requiring lengthy technical interviews.
Innovation Potential Scoring
Beyond technical knowledge, the AI identified candidates who demonstrated creative problem-solving approaches similar to successful innovators in KinBold’s team, predicting who could contribute to R&D breakthroughs.
Safety Mindset Analysis
The platform assessed candidates’ risk awareness and safety-first thinking through scenario-based evaluations, crucial for roles handling hazardous materials.
Founder Time Liberation
Dele now only interviews the top 5% of pre-screened candidates, reducing his hiring involvement from 30 hours to 4 hours per week while improving hire quality.
The Results: Building a World-Class Technical Team
The impact of Serand’s solution transformed KinBold from founder-dependent to team-powered:
- 92% Technical Hire Success Rate: Nearly all technical hires met or exceeded performance expectations after 6 months, compared to industry standard of 60%
- 75% Reduction in Safety-Critical Mis-hires: Zero safety incidents from new hires in 18 months, compared to 4 incidents in the previous year
- 3 New Product Innovations: The expanded team independently developed three new formulations, something previously only Dele could do
- 85% Reduction in Founder Hiring Time: Dele reclaimed 26 hours per week, enabling him to secure £2M in Series A funding and expand to 3 new markets
- 40% Increase in Technical Diversity: Surfaced brilliant chemists from non-traditional backgrounds, including self-taught experts and career-switchers
Client Testimonial:
“As a technical founder, I thought only I could judge the expertise we needed. I was wrong – I was just hiring younger versions of myself.
Serand found brilliant minds I would have overlooked, like a self-taught chemist who improved our production efficiency by 30%. The platform saved me 26 hours per week and tripled our R&D output.
92% of our technical hires exceed expectations. In chemical manufacturing, where one bad hire can cause disaster, that accuracy is existential.”
Dele Martins
Founder, KinBold
Key Insights for Technical Founders
The Founder’s Hiring Trap:
- You’re Not Looking for Clones: The best teams combine complementary skills, not identical ones
- Your Time Is Too Valuable: Every hour spent on initial screening is an hour not spent on innovation or growth
- Expertise Comes in Many Forms: Brilliant technical minds don’t always have traditional backgrounds
Building Technical Teams at Scale:
- Assess What Matters: Focus on problem-solving ability and safety mindset, not just credentials
- Remove Your Biases: Even technical founders have unconscious preferences that limit talent pools
- Trust But Verify: Use AI for screening but maintain founder involvement in final decisions
The ROI of Right-Fit Technical Hires:
- Innovation Multiplication: The right team can innovate independently, multiplying your R&D capacity
- Safety and Compliance: In regulated industries, hire accuracy prevents costly incidents
- Investor Confidence: Demonstrating sophisticated hiring practices helps secure funding
Transform Your Technical Hiring
Stop spending 30+ hours per week trying to assess complex technical skills. Join innovative companies like KinBold using AI to build world-class technical teams while focusing on what you do best – building your business. Book a demo
