Insights
Perspectives on search
and value creation
Field notes on executive search, leadership, and building teams that drive value in high-growth and PE-backed organizations.
Building the Leadership Team for a $30M Portfolio Company
Too big to run on instinct, too small for a full executive suite. Building the team at this stage is its own discipline: thesis first, scoped wide, built around the founder transition.
Transformation Has a Carrying Capacity
Past a certain point, more change stops creating value and starts costing morale, productivity, and your best people. Finding the sweet spot before it breaks.
When the Strategy Function Becomes the Engine
A strategy function is overhead when its work ends at the slide, and an engine when it ends in a decision that gets executed. What separates the two comes down to one hire.
Hiring for the Phase, Not the Company
The executive who was exactly right eighteen months ago is often the one struggling now. Usually nobody did anything wrong. The company moved, and the hire didn’t.
What PE Operating Partners Actually Want From Consultants
A consultant background is an asset. But sponsors carry one quiet question about it, and the strongest candidates know how to answer it.
What Makes an Executive “PE-Ready” (and Why Most Aren’t)
A strong resume tells you someone ran a big function well. It does not tell you whether they will thrive in a PE-backed seat. Here are the five traits I screen for.
Why Executive Search at the Middle Market Is Broken
The middle market is the most underserved segment in executive search, and almost nobody says it out loud. The real problem is not firm size. It is calibration.