Peter Franks is the founder of leading executive search firm Neon River, and has spent the last 20 years working as a headhunter for technology companies.
Ambitious technology companies often need leaders with highly specialized skills. These candidates are often scarce and in high demand. They are usually well looked after and unlikely to respond to job adverts. They need to be targeted with a high quality, personalized approach that can persuade them that there is a more attractive role elsewhere.
This is fundamentally what headhunters – also known as executive search firms – do. They work on a small number of high value projects where their role is to curate the market, find the best candidates and present their clients with a strong shortlist of candidates.
The technology industry is one of the fastest paced markets to work in. The technology industry spans both consumer oriented online, mobile, gaming and hardware oriented businesses as well as a huge number of B2B software, hardware and services companies.
Neon River is a technology executive search firm – working for a range of B2B and B2C clients including SaaS (software-as-a-service), online / mobile, and games companies. The company has built a reputation as one of the leading executive search firms in the sector. Clients include Wireless Logic, a private equity backed IoT software and services provider, Miniclip, a large mobile games company backed by Tencent and Social Tip, an innovative app founded by Brewdog Founder James Watt.
Technology executive search firms will typically work on CEO, CTO, Chief Product Officer, CFO, Chief Revenue Officer, and other important hires at “C” and “VP” levels. They typically work on a retained basis, with some money being paid upfront and most of the fees being due against key project milestones.
Technology executive search firms offer a high quality, market-research led approach and are therefore usually unable to work on a “no win, no fee” basis as they have to commit a lot of time and resources to each project. They aim to provide trusted advice to clients and a consultative approach similar in style to a strategy consulting firm.
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Technology executive search firms are usually smaller firms with deep expertise of working in their sectors. Neon River is a good example of such a firm – it differentiates itself by having deep expertise of working with technology companies, and therefore having a strong network of candidates and clients to work with. Large, multi-sector headhunting firms will also have technology practices.
If you’re looking to work with a technology executive search firm as a client there are a few factors worth considering when choosing between firms. Who is doing the work – is it the Partner or a more junior member of the team? Do they have genuine market insights? Do they understand how to pitch my business appropriately to candidates?
It’s also important to give a clear briefing and provide timely feedback on candidates. This helps executive search firms to calibrate and adapt to your needs. A good executive search firm might challenge you on occasions and should have the expertise in their area to guide you if you need help.
If you are a candidate looking to network with headhunters to advance your career, you should obviously identify the key headhunters in your sector and function. Try to build a relationship with them beyond just being a candidate on their projects. Remember that headhunters work from client to candidate, and they won’t act like a sort of agent to find you a job proactively. Having a relationship with headhunters however will make you much more likely to be thought of when the right opportunity comes up.
One common misconception about headhunting firms is that they necessarily already know all the candidates in the market. The reality is that the market is huge, and few headhunting firms specialize so narrowly in terms of industry and function that they know every strong candidate for a role before they start a project. All executive search firms rely on a strong research function to map the relevant markets and companies and identify relevant candidates.
Of course having a strong network of candidates and industry knowledge will help any headhunter to deliver a better service to clients, but it is also important for headhunting firms to identify strong candidates who they might not know well or ever have spoken to before on behalf of their clients.
LinkedIn has had a hugely transformative impact on executive search firms – with both positive and negative consequences. Perhaps the big positive of the rise of LinkedIn is that it has made the market much more transparent. Twenty years ago, headhunters had a private database of contacts and this was the extent of their market knowledge.
Whilst all headhunting firms still use databases to manage their projects and contacts, LinkedIn’s platform far surpasses any internal database with literally billions of candidates describing their work history in detail on their platform. This has made it much easier for headhunters to find a broader range of candidates.
The negative consequence of the rise in popularity of LinkedIn for executive search firms is that now any recruiter – junior or senior, internal or external – can message candidates directly on their platform. Candidates are increasingly bombarded with approaches from a range of suitors, and the feeling of “being headhunted” has become much less rare and feels less special to candidates. Low quality recruiters can annoy candidates whilst quality headhunting approaches can get lost amongst the noise.
Technology executive search firms like Neon River seek to offer the highest quality service to their clients and candidates, underpinned by deep market and functional knowledge, and strong market research. They look to work on a small quantity of high value, senior placements, and offer their clients access to the best candidates in the market. When you need a key hire, and you lack the time or expertise to find the right candidate yourself, they can offer the perfect solution.
Neon River is a best-in-class executive search firm that works with technology companies including SaaS, e-commerce, consumer app and games companies.
“At Miniclip, we’ve worked with Peter and Neon River on several important hires over the years, and we’ve always been very happy with the experience. I’d recommend Neon River as one of the very best executive search firms in the market.”
Rob Small
President and Co-Founder, Miniclip
