Provided herein is a method and apparatus for a starting head for a continuous casting mold, and more particularly, to a starting head configured to clinch a casting for drawing the casting from a continuous casting mold in a manner that reduces stresses within the casting decreasing the likelihood of stress cracks forming in the casting. An example starting head for a continuous casting mold includes: a body; a top surface of the body; two or more recesses defined within the top surface, where each recess extends from a first end to a second end, where the first end of a respective recess is closer to a center of the top surface than the second end of the respective recess, and where a depth of the first end of the respective recess relative to the top surface is less than a depth of the second end of the respective recess relative to the top surface; and a clinch point defined by the second end of the respective recess.