Executive Search That Prevents Expensive Hiring Mistakes
Growth-stage digital health and life sciences companies waste 6-9 months on searches that were broken from the beginning. The problem isn't finding talent. It's that hiring teams never aligned on what "good" looks like—and most firms lack the domain expertise to challenge it.
​​
We do the upstream work that prevents searches from failing. With 25 years across payor, provider, and life sciences.
25 years of experience · 92% completion · 6-8 weeks average
THE PATTERN WE SEE (AND FIX)
​
A senior leadership role opens up at a growth-stage health tech or life sciences company.
Job description gets written. Search kicks off. Internal talent teams execute against the spec. Or an external firm delivers exactly what was asked for.
Candidates start flowing through.
​
And that's when it falls apart.
​
Because the five people doing the interviews have five different definitions of success.
The CEO wants "strategic thinking." The CTO wants "someone who can get in the weeds." The Head of Product wants "proven scale experience." The Board wants "been there, done that." The CFO just wants someone who won't blow the budget.
Nobody's wrong. They're just not aligned.
​
And that misalignment was always there. It just doesn't show up until you're six months in, 47 candidates deep, and everyone's exhausted.
​
Internal talent teams can't solve this—their job is to execute on the spec, not challenge it.
Most external firms won't solve it—they deliver against the JD without pressure-testing whether the hiring team actually agrees.
​
We solve it upstream, before the search starts.
​
HOW WE'RE DIFFERENT
Two Reasons Companies Choose Building Blocks
1. Domain Expertise: 25 Years Across Payor, Provider, and Life Sciences
We understand the health tech ecosystem—who's where, what companies are doing what, and what skills actually transfer across these pillars versus what just looks good on paper.
This matters because:
-
Payor skills don't automatically transfer to provider roles (and when they do, most firms can't spot it)
-
Life sciences commercial models are different from SaaS GTM (and most recruiters don't know how)
-
What works at Series A doesn't work at Series C (and horizontal firms treat it all the same)
We've spent 25 years in this vertical. We know what different business models require at different stages—and we can assess candidates for roles that don't have clean precedents.
​
2. Process Rigor: We Align Before We Search
Most firms start with resumes. We start with alignment.
Before we approach a single candidate, we facilitate the conversation most firms skip: getting your leadership team aligned on what success actually looks like.
Not just job requirements. The real definition of success for your context, stage, and board expectations.
We ask the uncomfortable questions:
-
What problem are we actually solving with this hire?
-
What does success look like in 6 months? 12 months? 24 months?
-
When you say "strategic," what specifically do you mean?
-
What are you willing to trade off? (You can't have everything)
-
If stakeholders disagree, what's the framework for deciding?
This work is uncomfortable. It surfaces disagreements that were always there but nobody wanted to name.
But it's the difference between a search that takes 4 months and ends in a great hire, versus one that drags on for 9+ months and ends in regret.
Once alignment exists, the search moves fast. Because everyone knows what "right" looks like.
TRACK RECORD ACROSS 40+ SEARCHES
92% completion rate
95% retention rate
6-8 weeks average time to hire
(vs. 4-6 months industry average)
Typical fee: $50K-$100K per search
What we prevent: $180K+ wasted on a failed search that drags 9 months and ends in regret
WHY COMPANIES CHOOSE US OVER ALTERNATIVES
​
vs. Big Search Firms (Heidrick, Russell Reynolds, Korn Ferry)​
You pay for brand recognition, but get junior execution. The partner who sold you is juggling 12 searches. Your search gets handed to an associate who's never placed a VP in health tech.
We deliver senior-level attention with domain expertise—at half the cost.
​
​
vs. Internal Talent Teams
​
They execute on the spec. We challenge it.
Internal teams can't pressure-test whether the hiring team actually agrees on what success looks like. That's not their job—and they don't have the external credibility to push back.
We get engaged when internal efforts stall or when stakes are too high to get wrong.
​
​
​​​
​vs. Other Boutique Firms​​
​
Most are generalists. They'll take any search in any industry.
We've spent 25 years in health tech and life sciences. We understand what transfers across payor, provider, and life sciences models—and what doesn't. That pattern recognition is what lets us move fast without wasting your time on candidates who look good on paper but won't work in your context.
Our Process
We don’t rely on assumptions. We align stakeholders and define success before the first candidate is approached.
Align Before You Search
Most firms start with candidates. We start by making sure your hiring team actually agrees on what "right" looks like.
Outcome: A search brief built on alignment, not assumptions.
Map The Market
We research where your ideal candidates live—target companies, adjacent markets, passive talent who fit the profile.
Outcome: A focused list of candidates who match what you need.
Engage & Calibrate
Direct, personalized outreach. No spray-and-pray. We present the opportunity tied to real business impact.
Outcome: Qualified candidates who genuinely understand and want the role.
Deliver & Support Through Close
Focused shortlist evaluated against your aligned criteria. Structured interviews, negotiation support, post-hire check-ins.
Outcome: A hire that sticks. 95% retention rate.
Our process keeps stakeholders aligned and candidates evaluated against a shared definition of success.
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with private equity Operating Partners and VC Talent Partners who deploy us into portfolio companies for critical senior leadership searches.
We also work directly with CEOs at growth-stage digital health and life sciences companies—typically Series A through Series C—where leadership decisions have long-term consequences.
When Companies Engage Us:
-
Internal recruiting efforts have stalled (3-6 months in, no progress)
-
Stakes are too high to get wrong (critical role, expensive if wrong)
-
Role is bespoke (doesn't fit a template, needs to be defined)
-
Domain expertise required (can't use a horizontal firm)
-
Speed matters (can't afford a 6-9 month search)
Typical searches: VP/SVP-level heads of function across GTM (Sales, Marketing, Customer Success), Product, Clinical, Analytics, and Market Access.
Not C-suite. Not junior roles. The layer where execution strategy gets built.
TRUSTED BY LEADERS ACROSS STAGES
From pre-seed innovators to global, PE-backed companies, our clients rely on us when precision matters most.
PE-BACKED LIFE SCIENCES COMPANY | SVP GLOBAL SALES
We needed to completely rebuild our sales organization post-acquisition— shift from EU relationship-driven culture to US high-velocity enterprise model. We needed a search firm that could identify what skills would actually transfer. Troy placed our SVP in 10 weeks. That hire led our commercial transformation over 18 months and we completed the sales org rebuild on schedule.
CCO, Global Data Company
SERIES C RWD ANALYTICS COMPANY | PRINCIPAL, STRATEGIC DATA SCIENTIST
"We had a napkin sketch, not a job description. Needed someone who could code, understood oncology data at PhD level, could speak to C-suite customers, and translate customer needs back to product. Troy helped us define what the role needed to be, then placed our first hire in 6 weeks. That person became the template for our entire customer success science team."
VP Data Products, Oncology Data Analytics
PE-BACKED DIGITAL HEALTH PLATFORM | VP PRODUCT MANAGEMENT (M&A Integration)
"We were trying to merge a legacy consumer health asset with a newly acquired B2B analytics platform—completely different business models. We needed someone who could bridge both and create unified product strategy. Troy found someone with deep experience in both worlds. They stayed 2.5 years, built the product team, and delivered the integrated roadmap that positioned us for the value-based care market shift."
CMO, Consumer Health Platform
IF YOUR SEARCH IS STALLED—OR ABOUT TO START—LET'S TALK​
​
Most VP-level searches in health tech fail because of misalignment. A 30-minute call will tell you whether upstream work can prevent that.
Schedule a 30-minute discovery call to discuss your hiring challenge and whether our approach is the right fit.
​
​No obligation. No pitch. Just a diagnostic conversation about your specific situation.