Using executive search firms
Once you are head of engineering or product, you’ll be surprised at how much executive roles are done through executive search firms. So it can be a good thing to reach out to a couple of executive search firms and let them know you’re looking.
This list of firms
These are some search firms I’ve used, or that people I know have used.
Artemis Canada 🇨🇦
Someone recommended them to Jade.
Artisanal Talent 🇺🇲
Jade was recruited out of New Relic by Artisanal Talent. He also referred several companies to them, and they always said they were happy with the results. Their model seems to be to go deeper with candidates, and take on fewer clients. And to find a good mutual match. However, I do think they’re been growing and scaling the company quite a bit, so I’m not sure how true this still is. Also, the person who started Artisinal Talent that I liked working with so much has left to start Fusion Talent.
Fusion Talent 🇺🇸
The person at Artisanal that I worked with has since cofounded a new company with someone from Riviera. If I were hiring a VPE right now, this is probably the first company I’d evaluate. I just have had that good of experiences with him. Alex Zakupowsky is the name of the person there that focuses on engineering — his partner focuses on product. Note: he’s mostly focusing on prestigous or “the best” companies out there. And is turning away a fair number of clients as a result — he intends to keep his company kind of small.
Erevena 🇪🇺
Jade heard this report through someone: We went with https://www.erevena.com/ , and were happy with the outcome. Not sure they will be my first choice, was very well processed, didn’t push very hard it seems, and didn’t give a ton of visibility.
Riviera 🇺🇲
Riviera is probably the most well established executive recruiting company in tech. A company I worked with in 2021 was thrilled with the quality of candidates. And I’ve worked with them recently and been quite impressed. I did have a client in 2022 or so that had challenges with them, but worked through them and ultimately found someone they were happy with. I think Riviera has expanded a lot, so it can depend on who you work with.
Their fee structure (to companies hiring) at one point was something like this:
- 33% of first year base salary and bonus
- 33% of first year equity (not sure how that is computed).
Truesearch 🇺🇸 🇪🇺
Jade heard through a friend: we went with Truesearch for our VP product. They haven’t found anyone yet, but seemed like a good option in Europe.
Another person I respect: “I’ve worked with True on a couple of searches and thought they went well, although their team seems to vary quite a lot in experience level and approach. They seemed to be slightly more receptive to/adept at sourcing a diverse pipeline than the other exec search firms I’ve worked with.”
Parker Remick 🇺🇸 🇪🇺
“They recruited me for my role. I had a positive experience as a candidate. I had met with someone from there a few years ago and the recruiter I spoke with stood out as more honest, helpful, and interested to get to know me.”