Executive recruitment: a personal story of exasperation

Frustration.

That was the biggest driving force when I founded CEO Worldwide in 2001. Frustration at the headhunters and consultants I encountered as co-founder and COO of Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.com; Nasdaq : CMPR), from 1996 to 2001. Exasperation at their inadequate answers and relaxed approach to deadlines – as much as their lacklustre candidates.

It seemed the recruiters were almost mocking all the time and energy I was investing in developing the business internationally: raising funds, opening subsidiaries, acquiring and restructuring businesses. I was permanently looking urgently for managers in France, UK, Germany, the US… All my problems boiled down to quickly finding the right person, in the right culture, with the right profile, at a reasonable cost; to either help me do things faster and more efficiently, or run a portion of our fast growing business.

While meeting C-level executives, I could clearly see that I was not the only one wasting time and money in endless, costly and infuriating processes, that were highly inadequate for the pace of our international development.

It was time for a change.

I founded CEO Worldwide (www.ceo-worldwide.com), because as an entrepreneur, I recognized that cross-border executive recruiters could not keep putting themselves before clients and commanding ridiculous fees for the privilege.

Since then we've placed 1000s of candidates who have truly revitalized businesses in multiple sectors across the world.

So, if you have an urgent, cross-border need for an executive with specific senior expertise, who can be operational in few days as an interim manager, acting or non-acting director, with or without personal funding to invest, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Do you have any key challenges for recruitment in 2017? I'd love to know more about your business.