About nobl.
nobl. is a boutique executive recruiting firm founded by Suzanne Casolaro Ley and based in the United States. The firm specializes in early-stage company hiring, guiding founders through the specific challenges of building their first teams. With two years of operations and 25+ completed searches, nobl. works on a project model: each search targets a defined candidate universe, produces a shortlisted set of presented candidates, and closes with a placed hire. The firm was growing toward eight to ten active searches per year and adding a second team member when the CRM implementation took place.
The Challenge
After trying five different CRMs in two years, nobl. had settled into managing all search activity out of Google Sheets. Each search had its own spreadsheet: a client-facing version showing candidates in process, and a working version with call notes, compensation expectations, and qualification details. When a search closed, those sheets became archives with no cross-search memory.
The problem was the candidate database. Every search surfaces a universe of candidates, typically 150 per engagement, of whom 20 to 40 are actually engaged and 10 to 15 are presented to the client. The other 100+ are people nobl. has identified, researched, and in some cases spoken with. Without a persistent database, that context disappears when the search closes, and the next relevant search starts from scratch.
The firm also ran two pipelines in parallel: searches being filled (the supply side) and new search mandates being sold (the client side). Neither had a structured home.
Our Approach
Novlini delivered the implementation over two to three weeks, covering data model design, Google Sheets migration, pipeline configuration, and Granola integration.
Two-Pipeline Data Model
The workspace was built around two distinct pipelines: a candidate pipeline for tracking individuals across searches, with stage tracking, call notes, compensation expectations, and search association, and a client pipeline for managing new mandate acquisition from first conversation through signed contract.
A key design decision was building the candidate database as a persistent, cross-search asset. Candidates do not belong to a single search. When a candidate is found in one engagement, their profile, conversation history, and availability status carry forward into any future search they might be relevant for. This was the core problem with the spreadsheet model, and the Attio data model was designed from the start to solve it.
Google Sheets Migration
Historical candidates and closed searches from the prior two years were extracted from existing spreadsheets and imported into Attio. Candidate records were structured to carry notes, qualification status, and search history rather than being recreated fresh for each new engagement.
Granola Integration
Granola was connected to Attio for automatic meeting note capture. Candidate and client calls are recorded by Granola, and notes and summaries are pushed to the relevant Attio record post-call without manual transcription.
Technology Stack
Attio - CRM, two-pipeline architecture (candidates + mandates), persistent candidate database (source of truth)
Granola - meeting notes, automatic sync to Attio records
The Results
nobl. went from search-by-search Google Sheets to a persistent candidate database with two live pipelines and automated note capture.
Candidate database persists across searches - context from every previous engagement is available when a new relevant search opens, no starting from scratch
Both pipelines structured - candidate tracking and new mandate acquisition each have their own stage logic and views
Two years of history migrated - 25+ closed searches and their candidate universes now live in Attio rather than archived spreadsheets
Call notes automated - Granola captures and syncs notes to Attio after every candidate and client call
Second team member onboarded - the setup was designed from day one to be used by two people without confusion
"Working with Novlini was fantastic. The team is incredibly knowledgeable, professional, and responsive. They helped us design a scalable and thoughtful system that finally solves a problem we've been trying to crack for two years."
Suzanne C. - nobl. ★★★★★
Why It Matters
Recruiting at the boutique level is fundamentally a network business. The value of a search firm compounds as its candidate database deepens, but only if that knowledge persists between engagements. A spreadsheet per search destroys the compounding effect. Every closed search at nobl. now adds to a growing, queryable candidate database that makes the next search faster and the firm's institutional knowledge genuinely durable.