From £7.3M Startup Exit to Revolutionizing Fair Hiring: How Forbes 30 Under 30 CEO Charlie Taylor is Democratising Psychometric Testing for SMEs

An exclusive interview with Thrive founder Charlie Taylor by Roy Perlson, founder of Jobago.ai - AI outplacement, on building scientifically-backed hiring solutions, scaling in competitive HR tech markets, and his mission to eliminate recruitment bias through accessible psychometric assessments. 

Charlie Taylor, CEO and founder of Thrive

Q: Charlie, let's start with your journey. You've had quite a remarkable path from founding Debut, which you successfully exited after raising £7.3 million, to now building Thrive. What drove you to stay in the HR tech space? 

Charlie Taylor: The frustration I experienced as a job seeker never really left me, to be honest. With Debut, we focused on the early careers market - connecting students and graduates with employers through mobile-first technology. But after that exit, I realized the hiring challenges went much deeper and affected companies of all sizes. Small to medium-sized companies were making costly hiring mistakes simply because they lacked access to the sophisticated psychological tools that larger enterprises had. That's what led me to found Thrive in March 2020. 

Q: You mentioned costly hiring mistakes. Can you quantify what companies are facing when they get hiring wrong? 

Charlie: The research is quite stark. Traditional interviews alone have limited accuracy in predicting job success. Companies without proper psychometric assessments are prone to multiple biases - contrast bias, confirmation bias, perceptual bias, halo bias. When you make a bad hire, you're not just looking at salary costs, but training, onboarding, team disruption, and ultimately replacement costs. For SMEs, a single bad hire can cost 30-50% of that person's annual salary, sometimes more. 

The Science Behind Better Hiring Decisions 

Q: Walk me through Thrive's assessment methodology. What makes your approach different? 

Charlie: We built our platform on three core pillars that have the strongest predictive value for job success. First is cognitive ability - how someone processes information and solves problems. Second is the Big Five personality theory, which gives us insights into how someone behaves and interacts. Third is skills-based assessments specific to the role. 

What makes us different is the scale and personalisation. We have 220,000 jobs on our platform, and assessments are tailored to each specific role. The norm groups, behaviours, scoring, and traits are all adjusted for each job because what makes a great software engineer successful is different from what makes a great sales manager successful. 

Q: That's impressive scale. How do you ensure the validity and reliability of these assessments across so many different roles? 

Charlie: Validity, fairness, and reliability are absolutely critical - it's like buying any product, you need to check under the hood to ensure it works as expected. We follow individuals into their employment and analyze outcome data with regression analysis over two to three years. This ensures our assessments actually predict performance, not just provide interesting data. 

We also use forced choice methodology for personality assessments, which makes them more reliable and prevents what we call "AI erosion" - where candidates might try to game the system. 

Navigating the Competitive HR Tech Landscape 

Q: The psychometric assessment industry is quite competitive. How do you position Thrive differently? 

Charlie: The industry is largely unregulated, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. Many players offer generic assessments, but we're committed to rigorous scientific validation and inclusivity across diverse demographics. Our focus on SMEs is key - while many competitors target enterprise clients, we've specifically designed our platform for companies that need sophisticated tools but don't have enterprise budgets. 

Our business model reflects this. Everything is included and unlimited, with charges based on volume of people assessed. We range from $80-90 per person at low volumes down to $30-40 at higher volumes, making it accessible for smaller companies. 

Q: You mentioned concerns about bias in hiring. How do you address the controversy around psychometric testing potentially creating unfair outcomes? 

Charlie: This is something we take extremely seriously. The key is starting with a baseline - companies without psychometrics are already biased. At least with properly constructed psychometric assessments, we can enhance prediction accuracy while actively working to reduce bias. 

Our assessments are scientifically validated across diverse demographics, and we continuously monitor for bias in outcomes. The goal isn't to eliminate human judgment, but to provide objective data that helps make more informed, fairer decisions. 

Business Strategy and Growth Plans 

Q: Tell me about your current business model and growth trajectory. 

Charlie: We currently serve 600-700 companies globally, with our assessments used by over 30 million candidates across 90 countries. We've raised about £1 million so far and are planning to raise another million starting next week, which will help us grow from 600 to 2,000 customers over the next 18 months. 

The new funding will primarily focus on acquisition channels and launching our AI capabilities. We have 11 employees currently and are hiring for key positions - an accounts executive for sales and a performance marketer specialising in Google and Meta ads. 

Q: What's your approach to fundraising? Are you targeting VCs or angel investors? 

Charlie: We have a strong preference for angel investors over venture capitalists. We have a solid cap table with two angels, and we want to avoid VCs as much as possible. Angels tend to be more aligned with our long-term vision and give us the flexibility to build the business the way we want to. 

Our fundraising activities are focused in the UK and US markets, where we see the strongest opportunities for growth. 

Future Vision and Market Expansion 

Q: You mentioned plans for B2C expansion. How does that fit into your strategy? 

Charlie: I'm really excited about expanding into B2C next year. The idea is to allow individuals to test and understand themselves - something I've wanted to pursue since my last business. We already have a B2B2C element where candidates who don't secure jobs receive additional support and detailed feedback. 

We're also planning partnerships with universities for student practice, which we aim to launch in the new year. This creates a pipeline of candidates who are already familiar with psychometric assessments and understand their own strengths and development areas. 

Q: How do you see AI impacting the recruitment space, particularly in relation to psychometric testing? 

Charlie: AI is already transforming how we approach assessments and candidate matching. We're launching our AI capabilities as part of our next funding round. The key is using AI to enhance human decision-making, not replace it. 

I'm particularly interested in how AI interviews might complement psychometric assessments - using psychometric data to inform AI interview questions or combining both approaches for more comprehensive candidate evaluation. 

Key Takeaways 

• Successful entrepreneurs often stay in industries where they've experienced problems firsthand - Charlie's journey from frustrated job seeker to HR tech innovator demonstrates the power of solving problems you've personally encountered. 

• SME market presents significant opportunities in HR tech - While many competitors focus on enterprise clients, Thrive's success shows there's substantial demand for sophisticated tools designed specifically for smaller companies. 

• Scientific rigor is essential in psychometric assessment - Valid, reliable, and fair assessments require continuous monitoring, outcome tracking, and bias detection to deliver real value. 

• Flexible pricing models can democratise access to advanced tools - Thrive's volume-based pricing (ranging from $30-90 per assessment) makes psychometric testing accessible to companies of all sizes. 

• Angel investors often align better with startup visions than VCs - Charlie's preference for angel funding reflects the importance of finding investors who understand and support long-term company culture and goals. 

• B2B2C models create additional value streams - Providing value to end candidates, even those who don't get hired, can differentiate services and create new market opportunities. 

• AI should enhance human decision-making, not replace it - The future of recruitment technology lies in combining AI capabilities with human insight and scientific assessment methodologies. 

Charlie Taylor is the CEO and founder of Thrive, a London-based psychometric assessment platform serving 600+ companies globally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, Taylor previously founded and successfully exited Debut, a student recruitment app that raised £7.3 million. Thrive is currently raising £1 million to accelerate growth and AI development.