Big Tech finance → Series B/C Director/Sr Director roles: what actually works?

I’m in big tech finance and trying to move into a Director / Sr Director strategic finance role at an early-stage or high-growth Series B/C startup, ideally in NYC.

LinkedIn applications feel pretty useless right now. A lot of roles have hundreds of applicants almost immediately, and I’m not getting much signal from applying cold. Networking has been mixed too.

I’ve seen people make the big tech → startup move and sometimes get a title bump. Curious how that actually happens in practice.

For people who’ve done it or hired for these roles: was it mainly warm intros, recruiters, investor referrals, former coworkers, direct outreach, or something else?

Are there recruiters/ search agencies who can help with senior roles placement?