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Executive Search: Technology

With deep expertise across a multitude of software and hardware technologies, BSG has chronicled vast experience in hiring for technology sectors.

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Retained Executive Search for Technology
Now that we’re into the 21st century, "technology" has become like air--it's all around us and permeates everything we do. It’s almost impossible to list all the genus, species, and subspecies of the hardware and software genealogy in which we as a firm have referenceable work. It is by this definition a broad category – and it’s one of BSG’s largest practice areas. Special areas in which BSG has deep expertise chronicle many of the recent areas of innovation in the hardware, software and Internet sectors. For more detail, see below. However, if a specific subcategory is not listed, please inquire, as the likelihood is high BSG has a meaningful track record in a tech niche not mentioned.
Our Search Specialties & Expertise in Technology
 
Latest Articles & Opportunities
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VP HUMAN RESOURCES | TECHNOLOGY | EXECUTIVE SEARCH OPPORTUNITY

BSG Team Ventures has commenced an executive search for Vice President, Human Resources for our client, a diversified holding company focused on venture creation within the life science and technology sectors. VP will partner with the CEO, investors, partners and rest of the executive team in a hands-on, active role. Read More

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CTO vs. VP Software Engineering Do you ever wonder what the difference is between a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a VP of Engineering? Here we break down the variables that define all of these mad-skills engineering leaders, and how each of them works within their respective organization. Read More
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Compensation Survey– Chief Financial Officer, private equity-backed lower-middle market, Northeast US Our search strategy focused on the target talent pool comprising those who either currently or in recent past roles held titles of CFO, VP Finance, or VP Financial Planning & Analysis/FP&A. The goal was to identify an executive who had extensive experience and a successful track record with investor backed companies, financial modeling in particular in modeling new acquisitions and their impact on the platform business, and financial reporting back to private equity ownership as well as appropriate audit conventions in preparation for a sales process/liquidity event. Read More
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The “shelf life” for executive candidates is getting shorter In common parlance, “shelf life” refers to the length of time one may stock perishables on a shelf in a grocery store or supermarket. However, the term is a very valuable concept in a different market – the executive talent market. Read More

HARDWARE

Fabless semiconductor.

BSG has done searches in fabless semiconductor across the spectrum (CEO, board, VP Engineering, VP Product, VP Sales, etc.) including the mobile, automotive and telecommunications sectors.

Telecom.

Telecom is a specialty that incorporates many of the other areas of technology hardware, software and semiconductor, leveraged against specific telecom needs. Fabless semiconductors focused on better power consumption in mobile phones, or amplifiers for mobile base stations. In addition, there are long-haul telecom technologies involving optical spectrum splitting technologies. And telecom software referred to as OSS (operating support systems) in telecom network management software.

SOFTWARE

 

Our clients and search work have seen a migration from more traditional seat-licensed enterprise software to newer innovations in software distribution models such as SaaS (Software as a Service), and MSP (Managed Service Provider). Clearly, the ubiquity of the Internet and broadband connectivity were the primary drivers. Along with these distribution models came new business models; we’ve had the opportunity to help staff at the executive levels, in markets that include mobile applications, social networking, e–commerce, and interactive video and media.

In addition, certain brick and mortar industries have been early adopters of the Internet as a distribution channel, and we as a firm have worked at the board director, CEO/C–level, and VP levels in areas including e-travel and Internet video. Both B2B (business–to–business) and B2C (business to consumer) segments are yet another way of thinking about how technology is directed. BSG has been an integral part of building executive leadership teams targeting both end-customer segments

On-premises enterprise software.

Also referred to as perpetual licensed software, our search expertise goes back to the 1990’s. While there are still applications where this remains critical (high security government, some financial services, and developing country software deployment with less reliable Internet infrastructure), most software ISVs have, or are developing, a parallel Internet subscription offering, and weaning clients off client-server driven software solutions. BSG developed early enterprise software experience in areas that include ERP & CRM.

SaaS (software as a service):

SaaS, which followed ASP of the early 2000’s, is where most of our clients are developing their solutions. Greater recurring revenue models (MRR, etc.), faster deployment and go-live cycle times, and the ability for SaaS developers to do rolling software releases with a greater focus on configurability vs. customization have been big drivers.

Internet infrastructure software (cloud, etc.).

AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azur are examples of the virtual server-farms of the 21st century. And whether it’s migrating apps to the cloud, or other tools and services offerings, BSG has done good work in this growing software subsector.

Ecommerce software.

Big data.

Big data arrived before the popularization of IoT/Internet of Things but it certainly has exploded with the profusion of and ease of data collection from Internet-connected sensors and devices. But Big Data was first enabled by the combination of open-source software development like Hadoop & MongoDB with cloud-based storage availability that reduced the cost of collecting, storing, accessing and manipulating huge masses of data. A subsequent big data revolution has been enabled by the likes of packaged software developers like Tableau, Splunk and others who offer a combination of analytics horsepower and ease of data manipulation and visualization, bringing closer and closer the holy grail of big data sometimes referred to as real-time, executive-generated insights, with no more need for computer experts, spreadsheet jockeys, or deep data science expertise.

Video streaming software.

Video related software continues to be an area in which BSG has done significant work - whether in the area of audio & video compression algorithms making streaming music and video faster, thinner, and easier, or in digital rights management related applications, eCDNs or media servers, enterprise content management, knowledge management, and learning development systems.

Mobile software.

Mobile software includes content, community, and commerce - as well as “down-the-stack” enabling software involved in security, etc. The mobile ecosystem is such a large field that BSG has conducted a series of searches over the last decade or more that has allowed us to accrue a layered expertise only possible by being involved from the dawn of the mobile platform era, pre-iPhone and the ensuing explosion of mobile post Apple’s first iOS.

Artificial intelligence.

AI has been accelerating as a sector of innovation over the last decade. One of the first searches we did in the AI was for the CEO of an MIT AI created application for emotional simulation for K12 market called Zoesis back in the early 2000’s. Applications for AI and the increasing computing power and programming sophistication are now bringing the AI character HAL from “2001, a Space Odyssey” into the realm of the possible. Also, voice recognition, a key component of good AI cognition, has grown by leaps and bounds and is now considered to be the primary user interface for devices of all kinds going forward.

Fintech.

BSG, for more than a decade, has been retained to build the leadership teams for growing financial services related software applications - from hedge fund software, to HNW (high net worth) CRM systems, to trading platform software.

ehealth/healthcare IT.

More on our healthcare specialization can be found under the healthcare practice area. However, suffice it to say, HIT, or eHealth, in all of its applications, is another large focus area for BSG’s software practice. The healthcare technology ecosystem parallels the education industry a decade ago—there’s so much inefficiency, so little connectivity and communication, so much done manually that could be more accurately, efficiently, and less expensively done using software. And the four key stakeholders in healthcare-- government, healthcare insurers, healthcare providers both hospitals and the doctors and caregivers who practice in and around, them and finally the patients. BSG has worked on executive searches for pharmacogenetics, bioinformatics, HEOR (health economics & outcomes research), hospital information management systems (HIM), EMR, and other related areas like physician insights data, market research, KOL (key opinion leader) software management, and more. It’s a wide and growing field. We remain committed to remaining at the forefront of it.

INTEGRATED HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

BSG has had the privilege of being retained on a number of searches in areas such as:

Internet of Things (IoT).
  • Automotive autonomy. BSG has been retained on a growing number of searches in the autonomy related sector. From automotive OS reflashing, to LiDAR, Radar, GPS, ADAS, and more.
  • Out-of-Band connectivity. Mobile connectivity beyond wired or wifi connected devices.
  • Other wearable devices and healthcare sensors.
Robotics.

One of the first searches we did was back in 2010 for an agricultural robotics CEO (Harvest Automation). As the market for industrial robots, as well as other robotics applications grows, BSG continues to deepen its knowledge in this exciting area of technology.

Medical devices, equipment, healthcare related.

BSG has a track record of working in the 510K Class I and Class II devices area. The fusion of software, firmware, and medical hardware, advanced systems for medical diagnostics, devices, and monitoring research has created a large and continually growing industry, an industry where BSG has played a pivotal role in building executive teams to meet the needs of the medical device and related sectors.

BSG EXECUTIVE SEARCHES BY THE NUMBERS

25
Years In Business
BSG has placed top candidates since 1997
90.2%
Hire External
90.2% of searches result in an external hire
24/173
Experience
24 years is the average executive search experience in our team. We count 173 years all together
3 in 4
CEOs Still Leading
Of all CEO searches BSG has done within the last 5 years, 3 out of 4 CEOs continue to lead their organizations to new growth milestones
Passion
We are driven by a passion to improve the entire search process for PE-backed middle market companies.
Testimonials
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“BSG spends much more time with candidates upfront and provides a much more detailed overview of a candidate's career, strengths, weaknesses, etc. This is a huge load off of me and my time.  Also, the sell-side video increases the “sell-through” of more candidates into the process, into consideration, into being interested.  Candidates reference this all the time when interviewing with me as big driver for them to consider our company.”

Art Papas, CEO Bullhorn

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“BSG filled the CEO position with an excellent candidate in an extremely short time period, and more important, this candidate turned out to be a world class CEO with extreme market knowledge and experience that was unique to our company. “

Alex Erhart, Partner, Trinity Capital Investments

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“BSG gets the job done quickly and well every time.  Whatever other recruiters may claim about their proprietary methods, most just seem to throw spaghetti (candidate CVs) at a client to see if anything sticks.  BSG has developed a disciplined, analytical process for clarifying client needs, identifying and pre-qualifying candidates, getting candidates informed and genuinely interested in the opportunity, and efficiently moving the right deal to closure.  The result is a process that's smooth, predictable and swift for the client and candidates, and a new hire who is the right person in the right role, and so likely to succeed.”

Jeffrey R. Seul, Partner, Holland & Knight LLP
Our clients
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Executive compensation highlights–VP e-commerce, B2C e-tailer

As executive recruiters, we are often asked about executive compensation.

When we complete an assignment, we aggregate the compensation data we have collected across the search, and share it with the executive talent community from which it came. In this case, in Q1, 2015 we finished a President search for a ~$200M e-tailer client located in the South Central region of the US.

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