The challenge:

A new tech start-up was launching in Singapore, having been successful in another market, and needed a credible CEO to lead the new business. The investment company behind the start-up had exhausted their own network and hadn’t found anyone of the right calibre, partly because there was no established brand name to attract the top talent, and also because the budget was slightly below the level a top candidate would demand. We were engaged to discuss what options were available to them in this scenario.

Our solution:

We proposed a retainer that would enable us to invest time with each identified top candidate, in order to sell the vision of the business. This effort was the only way we would gain the buy-in and trust of a potential CEO for such a start-up business. We also enlisted our dedicated regional research function who helped generate some strong new profiles to complement our existing network and we secured a strong candidate for the business within a month and a half.

The outcome:

• We controlled the narrative of how the brand was brought to market for the most senior people in Singapore

• We found the right candidate within the desired timeframe

• The client wanted to source the rest of the roles themselves, so we made sure our CEO hire was an attraction and had a strong network