At Founders Connect, we’re not just recruiters—we’re strategic partners to founders. I launched this company to help early-stage startups unlock growth through world-class hiring, built on years of experience scaling teams from 0 to 1.
I’ve seen firsthand how transformative the right hire can be—and how costly the wrong one is. That’s why Founders Connect goes beyond job descriptions and resumes. I work hand-in-hand with founders to understand the nuances of their culture, business goals, and hiring philosophy—then help them attract and close candidates who align on every level.
Jonny Leighton is a seasoned talent acquisition leader with nearly a decade of experience helping high-growth startups build world-class teams. As the founder of Founders Connect, he partners directly with early-stage companies to design and execute recruiting strategies that drive meaningful, long-term growth.
Earlier in his career at Robert Half, Jonny worked closely with enterprise clients including Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and AutoNation, where he developed a deep understanding of hiring at scale and the importance of aligning talent with business outcomes. His experience laid the foundation for a high-impact, consultative recruiting style grounded in speed, precision, and cultural fit.
Jonny’s approach blends strategic foresight, operational rigor, and a deeply human touch. He believes that every hire is an opportunity to change the trajectory of a company—and he’s passionate about helping founders hire with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Jonny was a tremendous partner in our engineering hiring process. His ability to identify high quality candidates and get them excited about the role was second to none.
He maintained a strong level of communication with both myself and the candidate, helping move things along in a fast-paced recruiting process. I would highly recommend Jonny to anyone seeking to add a high-performer to their recruiting team.
I had the honor of managing and learning from Jonny at Wilbur Labs. Jonny is a true Talent professional and was a major asset to our small but mighty Talent machine. As the Talent Acquisition Recruiter, his contributions were invaluable to our Talent Team, making a lasting impact on our recruitment strategies, candidate experiences, and talent administration processes.
His dedication, innovation, and positive approach made him an asset to our organization.
His exceptional ability to identify and cultivate high-value partnerships has significantly expanded our market presence. He provided invaluable insights into enterprise customer needs, directly informing our product strategy. His talent for articulating our product's business value has improved our win rates and helped secure landmark deals.
I highly recommend Jonny as an excellent recruiting partner. What sets Jonny apart is his range of capability. I led HR at just one company in a portfolio of several that Jonny led recruiting for.
His ability to succeed in recruiting roles that span a wide range of industries, departments and job functions is far above what I would expect of anyone. Add to his recruiting acumen the fact that he’s simply a joy to work with and you have an excellent team member.
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