executive-search
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Andrew Hantzis Found His Niche in the People Behind the Passwords
For 15 years, Andrew Hantzis has recruited in technology. The useful twist is that he spent the last decade going narrow - deep into identity security, where every new machine account and AI agent creates another human problem to solve.
Charlie Saffro Built a Recruiting Firm by Charging for What She Had Been Giving Away
A $1,200 placement, a contract she was not yet staffed to deliver, and a belief that business is personal turned Charlie Saffro's instinct for introductions into a 16-year company - and then into a difficult lesson about what comes after an exit.
Fahad Jalal
Fahad Jalal is the founder and CEO of QLU.ai, a San Francisco AI platform that lets executive recruiters describe an ideal hire in plain English and surface qualified candidates in seconds rather than months. A Stanford computer scientist with a Wharton MBA, he scaled a business unit at Mentor Graphics from zero to $100M ARR in two years and has exited multiple startups to Fortune 100 companies. At QLU.ai he is building tools that automate prospect research and outreach while insisting human judgment stays at the center of hiring.
Web Augustine
Web Augustine is the founder and CEO of HiWire, a Menlo Park outfit that runs high-end executive search and fundraising help for early-stage startups at entrepreneur-friendly terms. A Stanford-trained mechanical engineer turned marketer, he was the first product manager on HP's DeskJet inkjet line, Sun Microsystems' employee 152, and the founding VP of marketing who helped spin VeriSign out as a standalone company in 1995. Four decades in, he splits his time between recruiting CEOs and VPs for founders, advising on pitch decks and financial forecasts, and writing books - including a 2020 political satire and a 1,400-entry quotations collection.
Avisha Naganath
Avisha Naganath is VP of Talent and Talent Partner at Khosla Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's most storied venture capital firms. Raised in Mumbai and educated at Stanford, she bridges the worlds of global executive search and frontier technology investing, helping founders build world-class leadership teams across a portfolio of 350+ companies spanning AI, biotech, fintech, and climate tech. A former Korn Ferry senior associate, she now sits at the intersection of human capital and breakthrough innovation, with 39 countries visited, three dance styles mastered, and a reputation as the person top founders call when they need to find their next great leader.
Jeff Markowitz
Jeff Markowitz is an Advisory Partner at Greylock Partners, one of Silicon Valley's most storied venture capital firms, where he serves as a go-to resource for the firm and its portfolio companies on executive hiring. Before returning to Greylock in an advisory capacity, he spent over six years at Alphabet as Vice President and Talent Advisor directly to CEO Sundar Pichai, helping shape leadership and succession at the board and management team levels of one of the world's largest companies. His career bridges two worlds - the high-stakes art of executive recruiting (with stints at Heidrick & Struggles and a national search firm) and the operational intensity of venture-backed company building.
Kelly Kinnard
Kelly Kinnard is Operating Partner and Head of Talent at Khosla Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's most storied venture capital firms. She leads the talent function across 500+ portfolio companies, advising founders and CEOs on how to recruit and retain exceptional leaders. With a career that spans elite retained search firms, Oracle's cloud transformation, and Battery Ventures before landing at Khosla, Kelly has helped shape the executive teams driving some of tech's most ambitious bets. She is known for treating recruiting like relationship-building - equal parts strategy, empathy, and persistence.
Matt Oberhardt
Matt Oberhardt is a Partner on the Talent Network team at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he has led executive hiring and talent strategy since 2012. Armed with a BS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Wharton, he spent six years at Korn/Ferry International before joining a16z to help portfolio founders recruit and retain world-class C-suite talent. Beyond executive search, he is a board member of The COMMIT Foundation and champions the transition of military veterans into technology careers, partnering with organizations like BreakLine, Honor Foundation, and shift.org. He lives in Truckee, California (near Lake Tahoe), shares his home with a pair of golden retrievers, and is a devoted - if historically pained - Philadelphia sports fan.
Stephanie Doppelt
Stephanie Doppelt is Partner of Executive Talent at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms. She brings two decades of recruiting expertise spanning elite executive search firms - Korn Ferry, Spencer Stuart, and Heidrick & Struggles - and six years as Pinterest's first business recruiter, where she built hiring infrastructure from the ground up. At a16z, she helps portfolio companies find and place senior leadership talent, authoring practical guides on hiring CROs, CMOs, and Chief Customer Officers. She holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is known for her mentorship of transitioning military veterans.