Startups & Scale-ups
Executive Search

Startups & Scale-ups.

Founder and executive talent, fractional leaders, and the scaling leadership that venture- and PE-backed companies need to move fast without breaking what’s working. This is Organizational work at its most time-sensitive — building the leadership bench a fast-growing company’s next round depends on.

The Work

Leadership built for the pace of growth.

High-growth companies don’t hire the way mature ones do. The right leader for a Series A is rarely the right leader for a Series D, and the wrong hire at the wrong stage can cost a year you don’t have. We find executives who thrive in ambiguity, build teams from scratch, and scale a business without losing its edge — whether you need a permanent leader, a fractional one, or a bench for what’s next.

Founder & Co-Founder Search

Finding the partner or founding executive who shares the vision and the appetite for risk.

Executive & C-Suite Search

Retained search for the leaders who scale the business through its next stage.

Fractional Leadership

Experienced executives on a part-time basis, for the seat you need before you can fill it.

Scaling Leadership Teams

Building the leadership bench that carries you from breakout to durable growth.

Investor-Ready Assessment

Clear-eyed evaluation of the team’s readiness for the next round or exit.

Board & Advisor Search

Directors and advisors who strengthen governance and open doors.

Why It Matters

The right leader for Series A is rarely the right leader for Series D.

Growth changes what a company needs from its leaders faster than almost anything else. The operator who thrives in the scrappy, do-everything early days can struggle when the job becomes building systems and managing managers. The polished executive from a 5,000-person company can freeze when the org chart is a whiteboard and the runway is finite. Stage fit isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s the whole game.

A mis-timed hire is especially punishing here, because high-growth companies don’t have a spare year. Every quarter carries a round, a hiring plan, and a board’s expectations. We search for leaders calibrated to exactly where you are — ambitious enough to run at your pace, seasoned enough to avoid the mistakes that cost you months, and adaptable enough to grow with you into the stage after this one.

Who It’s For

Built for backed, fast-moving teams.

We work with founders and investors at the moments when leadership becomes the constraint on growth — not the funding, not the market.

Post-raise scaling

A fresh round means a hiring plan, and the leadership team has to grow with the runway.

Founder-led gaps

The founder can’t own every function forever — and knows which seat has to come first.

PE & VC portfolio

Investors placing the right operator into a company at a pivotal inflection point.

Pre-round readiness

Building or assessing a leadership team that stands up to diligence and the next raise.

Interim coverage

A seat that needs an experienced leader now, before a permanent search can close.

Governance build-out

A board and advisor bench that adds credibility and opens the right doors.

A high-growth company doesn’t have a spare year. The wrong hire at the wrong stage costs one you can’t get back.
  • Calibrated to your stage

    We match the leader to Series A or Series D reality, not a resume that impressed at the wrong scale.

  • Speed with rigor

    A focused search closes the seat fast without the shortcut that turns into a costly re-hire.

  • Runway protected

    Getting the hire right the first time keeps the quarter, the round, and the plan intact.

What Changes

The team your next stage demands.

We match the leader to the moment, so the hire holds up as the company grows.

Stage-right leaders

Executives who fit where you are now and can grow into where you’re headed.

Speed without regret

Fast, rigorous search that gets the seat filled without the costly wrong hire.

Investor confidence

A leadership team that boards and backers can stand behind through the next round.

How We Work

Matched to your stage, ready for the next.

01

Calibrate

We understand your stage, your backers, and the leadership the next 18 months require.

02

Find & Assess

We source and rigorously evaluate leaders who thrive at your pace and scale.

03

Onboard & Scale

We help the hire land fast and build the bench for what comes after.

Common Questions

What founders and investors ask.

The questions that come up most when a scaling company plans its next leadership hire.

How fast can you move without cutting corners?

Faster than a traditional process, without dropping the rigor. We calibrate quickly, run a focused market map, and assess deliberately — because a rushed hire at your stage is the one thing more expensive than a careful one.

Should we hire permanent or fractional?

Depends on the seat and the runway. A fractional leader can hold a function — and prove out what the role really needs — before you commit to a permanent hire. We help you decide, and we can supply either.

Can you assess the team we already have?

Yes. Our investor-ready assessment gives founders and backers a clear-eyed read on the current team’s readiness for the next round or exit — so you invest in developing, hiring, or replacing with real evidence.

Do you work directly with investors?

Regularly. We partner with PE and VC firms placing operators into portfolio companies, and we work confidentially alongside boards and founders when the timing is sensitive.

Related

Explore further.

Scaling leadership connects to the searches and support around it.

What We Look For

The signals of a stage-right leader.

Impressive resumes are easy to find. These are the qualities that tell us a leader will thrive at your pace — and grow into the stage after this one.

Comfort with ambiguity

Builds when the org chart is a whiteboard and the answer isn’t in a playbook yet.

Built from scratch

Has stood up a team or function, not just inherited one that already worked.

Pace with judgment

Moves fast without the avoidable mistakes that cost a high-growth company months.

Room to grow

Seasoned enough for today, and adaptable enough for the stage you’re heading into.

Investor fluency

Credible with the board and backers, and steady under the pressure of the next round.

Hands-on and strategic

Willing to do the work now and lead the leaders who’ll do it later.

The Three Ways We Help

Scaling is an Organizational climb — with people behind it.

Building a stage-right leadership team is our Organizational practice. Founders navigating their own reinvention lean on our Personal coaching, and the operators you promote from within grow through our Professional work — three angles on the same fast climb.

Let’s Talk

Ready to build the team for your next stage?

Tell us where you are and where you’re headed. We’ll tell you honestly how we can help.

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