However, I think we need to flip it on its head. From my point of view as an engineer, your pipeline doesn't really matter, no matter how smart and well thought out it is.
The weakest link in the pipeline is what isn't mentioned here, how do you get candidates into the pipeline.
I get 5-10 recruiting emails a week and about the same number of linked-in messages, none of them ever even come to a phone call. (and yes, I have gotten a few from Stripe as well).
How do you email/call/text candidates? How do you define them? Do you have the same email for all or you distinguish between levels?
A lof of companies have a good pipeline and they say "we don't do whiteboards" but their recruiters are doing a disgusting job at finding people, just absolutely shameful.