Recently, we asked Jon Peters, an Executive Search Partner on the Bolster team, to share his thoughts about executive search. Jon has over a decade of recruiting and search experience, with a focus on technical leadership roles.
Bolster: Why is traditional search broken?
Jon: Many of today’s executive search firms’ goals are misaligned and, at times, incompatible with client and VC goals. The incumbent search firms are structured to lean on a small number of folks’ functional expertise—they are not set up to understand a company’s broader leadership issues and provide the right solutions. Even the firms that service multiple functional areas lack communication between those practices and knowledge of roles outside of their core functional area.
Also consider—most search firms are fully paid by the 60th day of the search, yet most searches take 100 to 180 days to complete, if they complete at all. Thus, search firms that are paid in full early on in the search aren’t incentivized to complete the search. Instead, they’re incentivized to focus on the next source of revenue, leaving less attention for providing the care and dedication their client needs to make the right executive hire.
B: How do you think about finding the perfect candidates for a position?
J: Frankly, there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Part of my job is working with CEOs and founders to help them prioritize the most important and relevant criteria. My goal is to find candidates who can score at least 8/10 on the key criteria, and who have the potential and the fit to grow and excel in the role. Those are the candidates I present to the client, and help them narrow down and select from.
To find those candidates, I start with a deep understanding of the role function and the landscape. I also need to spend time getting to know the client in great detail and the problem they're trying to solve with the executive hire.
And finally, to engage candidates I aim to be an accurate voice and extension of the client and the role, showcasing the client’s brand and culture, and highlighting the benefits and opportunities of working with them.
B: Complete this sentence - “Reach out to me if…”
J: …you are an early-stage VC investor with scaling challenges in your portfolio that tie back to gaps in leadership, the wrong executive for the company stage, or replacing an executive who is transitioning out.
Similarly, reach out to me if you're a VC-backed startup and something is holding back your growth—we will diagnose the situation, dig for the root cause of your pain points, and recommend the right executive solutions to solve your challenges.
Bolster combines the power of experienced recruiters (like Jon) with our unique, AI-driven platform to surface the best candidates and deliver a superior executive search experience. We’d love to support your search. Book a time to chat with Jon or another member of our team.
