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Oct 23, 2025Hiring Advice

Hey Founders! Are You Hiring a Founding Designer? Stop waiting for applications

Carl Wheatley · Founder, X2Talent

The best design talent isn't on job boards. Use these Boolean search strings to find them on LinkedIn:

How to Use Boolean Strings

  1. Copy the search string exactly as shown below
  2. Paste into LinkedIn's search bar (or Google for X-Ray searches)
  3. Click 'People' to filter to individual profiles
  4. Use 'All Filters' to add location, company, or other criteria

LinkedIn Internal Search

Search directly in LinkedIn's search bar:

  • Capitalize OR and NOT
  • Use quotes for exact phrases
  • LinkedIn doesn't find synonyms — spell them ALL out

1. Broad Title Search

"Founding Designer" OR "Design Lead" OR "Principal Designer" OR "Head of Design"

2. Skills + Exclusions

("Founding Designer" OR "Design Lead") AND (Figma OR Sketch) NOT (Manager OR Recruiter)

3. Early-Stage Experience

"Founding Designer" AND (Startup OR "Early Stage" OR Seed)

Google X-Ray Search

Search LinkedIn profiles from Google (finds profiles LinkedIn search misses):

  • Use minus sign (-) instead of NOT
  • Always add -jobs to remove job postings

4. Exact Title in Profile

site:linkedin.com/in intitle:"Founding Designer"

5. Title + Skills

site:linkedin.com/in "Founding Designer" (UX OR UI) Figma -jobs -directory

6. Proximity Search (Keywords Near Each Other)

site:linkedin.com/in "Design Lead" AROUND(5) startup -jobs

Beyond LinkedIn

Designers showcase their work on:

  • Behance — Portfolio platform
  • Dribbble — Design community

Pro Tips

  • Start broad, then narrow — Too specific = zero results
  • Personalize your outreach — Reference their specific work
  • Lead with value — Focus on their career goals, not just your job
  • Use enrichment tools — ContactOut, SalesQL for email addresses
  • The best candidates aren't actively looking — Reach out anyway

Need help finding your designer? I've hired dozens of designers for startups and know what works. Happy to share insights! DM me anytime.

Carl is a Former Product Designer Turned Talent Partner. Over the past 10+ years, I've built design teams at Meta, BCG Digital Ventures, and early-stage startups. Find Carl on carlwheatly.com and LinkedIn.

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