Hunt Club

“Is our hiring strategy aligned with our larger business transformation strategy? Do we have the right leaders in place to lead this transformation? Is our leadership team set up to drive the next phase of growth?” Hunt Club’s most recent market report poses these questions helping leaders and founders assess their next steps for 2025. Even Godard Abel, CEO of G2, the world’s leading software marketplace, had to ask himself these tough questions when setting his sights on the company’s next tenacious goal: surpassing $100M ARR. To drive this growth, Abel knew he had to find and build the exact right executive team to lead the way. In the last year, they’ve brought this vision to life, hiring four game-changing leaders with a proven track record of driving companies through explosive, transformative growth. Meet the team: Eric Gilpin, Chad Gold, Sydney Sloan, and Tim Sanders. Sharing an inside look into G2’s PEAK culture and philosophy that drove this hiring strategy, Godard spoke to us about this pivotal moment in the company’s history and the team that will take them from a market leader, to an unstoppable force. Read the full story and learn how Godard Abel can help you build a hiring strategy that’s aligned with your business’s goals: https://lnkd.in/gDMqT2pg #ExpertAccess #businesstransformation #hiringstrategy

From RevOps to Customer Support to BDRs to Marketing… 3x CMO Amanda Malko has run the gamut when it comes to building and leading go-to-market teams. But what comes next in her career is a bold and strategic shift in line with how the market itself is transforming: Malko recently transitioned from a 3x CMO to the Chief Revenue Officer at Thinkific. “I really wanted a role that sort of brought all of my experiences together,” Malko shares. Now, she has. Her experience across revenue-driving functions, and her ability to integrate these functions into cohesive growth teams, demonstrate why she is so well-suited to help other growth-stage companies meet their next milestone. We recently caught up with Malko to learn all about her impactful C-suite pivot and why her move is indicative of a larger macro trend. Plus, she shares insights for building strong go-to-market strategies and teams through her unique, multifaceted lens. Need access to an Expert who knows how to unlock revenue potential while building powerful GTM teams? Read the full story and learn how she can help your company build strong GTM alignment: https://lnkd.in/g9ePeUd9 #ExpertAccessProgram #recruitment #leadership

Picking up the phone and simply talking to someone… Lost art, or the ultimate productivity hack? For 4x Chief Human Resources Officer Kelli Dragovich, it’s a no-brainer. With over 20 years of HR leadership under her belt, Kelli knows the power of a good old-fashioned conversation when it comes to “getting it done.” When you’ve hired more than 1,000 leaders in your career, you tend to know what works. We’re thrilled to welcome Kelli to our esteemed roster of top operators and thought leaders in the Hunt Club ExpertAccess Program. 💡Want to tap into Kelli’s expertise and transform your talent strategy? Learn more about Kelli and how she can help founders and growing companies through all things talent, org structure, and growth: https://lnkd.in/gvc4iUdy #ExpertAccessProgram #executivesearch #recruitment

“Success” in “Customer Success” used to be abstract. CS teams were focused on things like satisfaction. Happiness. Likeliness to recommend to a friend or colleague… Not anymore. While these metrics are still important in measuring the health of a business, today’s CS leaders are now not only responsible for the customer experience, but making or breaking critical revenue goals. This also ties to a broader market trend: Companies are racing to launch new products or innovate existing ones to drive continuous value — and the need for GTM and product teams to be fully aligned, is more important than ever. At the center of it all are Customer Success teams. This functional transformation starts with talent and is just one of the many ways companies are beginning to rethink how they hire for traditional roles in a not-so-traditional playing field. According to Lawrence Waldman, Hunt Club Expert and CS leader for over 20 years, the new profile of a successful Customer Success leader is defined by three key attributes: 📢 A natural ability to sell 💡 An ability to inspire 🤝 A focus on relationships Learn how these teams and their leaders are becoming pivotal to driving revenue in our latest article in collaboration with Waldman: https://lnkd.in/gCR8evag #CustomerSuccess #businesstransformation #ExpertAccess —————— 📊 More insights on how to choose the right leaders to execute strategic transformation, and the challenges that orgs face in hiring and hiring these transformational leaders are in our latest Market Report: https://lnkd.in/gjj6vTiQ

You’ve presented your 2025 plans to the board, but do you have the right talent to ensure you get there? To better understand how companies are thinking about their business initiatives and growth goals for the coming year, we conducted a market survey polling executive leaders and the results are clear. While many organizations have bold visions for change, critical gaps in leadership talent stand in the way of executing. 📊 In our latest Market Survey Report, real executive leaders share real concerns about the talent gaps that keep them up at night. In fact, it’s revealed that 61% of organizations have a vision and strategy for change, but do NOT have the right executive leadership to turn their ambitions into reality. Will their challenges in finding the right executive make or break their company’s plans to execute effective business transformation? 🗣️ Here’s what they have to say… Read the full report and discover why achieving your next major business opportunity depends on hiring the right leaders: https://lnkd.in/eWez_5i9 #MarketSurvey #ExecutiveSearch #BusinessTransformation

"A lot of CEOs do a poor job of making the distinction between is this a passionate person or are they passionate for our business?" “If you don’t really build a culture where people are comfortable asking a really hard or direct question, or asking something that they don’t know, it’s impossible to actually close the gap on what you're trying to build together.” "To win, you really need to be in it as a team, the good and the bad. When you're transparent, you can train people to not just be be obsessed with the good news, but also to come together to work through the tough moments as well." Just a few of the really unique perspectives Nick Cromydas shares on the importance of fostering a culture of curiosity and transparency within the workplace in this awesome episode of Not Another CEO Podcast with David Politis. A great conversation that underscores the key role of a curious and passionate workforce in building a successful and resilient organization. Worth a listen for CEOs, managers, hiring managers - anyone who is building a team! https://lnkd.in/g6WZtvCM

What is the role of fractional leadership in the future? Your organization might be navigating a crucial transformation or gearing up for one. Across board rooms, conversations are happening about budget, new investments, and team dynamics. One key consideration is that of leadership and whether or not the right executive is in seat. As businesses face new and more complex challenges to drive their next phase of growth, fractional leadership is reshaping how organizations strike while the iron is hot, delivering high-impact guidance exactly when and where it’s needed most. At the same time, more and more leaders who have held traditional, full-time CxO roles are seeing the benefit of fractional work. David Berkowitz, a serial founder and marketing leader with two full-time CxO roles and now, several fractional CMO roles, has been on both sides of the table. With his experience, he’s paving the way for both companies to evaluate the need for a fractional leader, as well as helping leaders assess if it's a good path forward for them. David shares more about Fractional Leadership: 5 Key Benefits & Drawbacks To Consider when assessing if fractional leaders are the right move for your business. Learn the top pros and cons in the full interview with David Berkowitz: https://lnkd.in/g9guUS5v 

According to our latest market survey, the two teams predicted to undergo the most significant changes in the coming year — in regards to budget, headcount, or team structure — are Product/Technology and Go-To-Market/Sales. This reflects a broader market trend: Companies are looking to launch or innovate their product and service offerings to drive ongoing value, as well as redefine their GTM strategies to build upon and accelerate this value. Founders: If either is the case for your organization, how are you rethinking your hiring strategy to ensure these teams are set up to drive the most growth? Meet 📿Judd Borakove📿 and John J. Higginson, two industry leaders who’ve joined the Hunt Club ExpertAccess Program to help drive some of this strategic decision-making: ➡️ Known as the “Ted Lasso of Business Growth,” 📿Judd Borakove📿 is a 6x C-Suite leader with 3 successful exits and an expert in GTM strategies, sales performance, and community building. When he’s not driving GTM success, Judd is also the co-host of GTM Unfiltered, an engaging business podcast bringing unfiltered conversations with business executives to the forefront. ➡️ Another 6x C-Suite leader, John J. Higginson is a deeply experienced product and technical leader with a strong background in driving innovation and building high-performance teams. He’s served as the CPTO of Groupon, CTO at Enova, CPTO at Florist Transworld Delivery, CTO at Applied Systems, and CTO at Chief. John is currently the CTO at Curriculum Associates. Want access to their insights and strategies to build the best Product, Technology, or GTM teams? Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/gGcg3a5a

Q: “How do I reach passive tech candidates and what are the top skill sets I should look for in an AI engineer candidate..?” With firsthand experience and expert guidance you can’t get from ChatGPT, Jonathan Ozeran is joining our roster of Experts with a background in building visionary tech teams and setting a new standard for what’s possible in AI. Jonathan has a proven track record of delivering scalable software solutions with over 15 years of experience in product management, software engineering, and AI across a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, life sciences, telemedicine, genomics, mobile commerce, and security. He currently serves as Vice President of Generative AI and Head of Tempus One at Tempus AI. We’re excited to leverage Jonathan’s extensive knowledge of this nuanced field to help the next generation of tech companies get to where they want to go next. Hiring managers and founders can learn more about Jonathan and how he can help build and integrate an AI strategy, find the right tech candidates, and design an AI-forward team structure here: https://lnkd.in/g9JUFneJ

The recruiting industry is more complex than ever. Unfortunately, many founders and hiring managers discover this truth the hard way, where they end up with the wrong leadership hire at a critical point in their growth trajectory, fracturing anything from the company vision to team morale in its wake. Take it from Josh Fabian, Founder and CEO of the online eSports coaching platform, Metafy, which connects amateur video gamers with top players for 1-on-1 coaching. Like many high-growth organizations that suddenly find themselves flush with cash following a funding round, the Metafy team went from a small bunch, to what Fabian describes as “a ridiculous, are-you-kidding-me amount of people and headcount.” During this unprecedented growth phase, Metafy hired for a critical executive leadership role, working with a talent partner that wasn’t always aligned on exactly who and what the team needed to grow in a way that made sense for them. Josh’s hard-hitting lessons from this experience? - Searching for the right candidate working with a traditional recruitment firm can feel like a square peg, round hole endeavor. - Hiring an executive leader role with a search firm must be an organic collaboration, not a rigid corporate contract. - The actual “cost” of a wrong leadership hire isn’t in large upfront fees, but in the long-term ripple effects that affect the company’s culture and future growth. Read more about his lessons working with the wrong talent partner, hiring the wrong executive leader, and how, despite these challenges, the Metafy team is still finding ways to win: https://lnkd.in/ggGHjtBr #HowWeWin #leadership #executiverecruitment