Representative work

Complex mandates, made decision-ready.

Selected examples of how we turn ambiguous leadership needs into clear markets, informed choices and credible executive engagement. Client identities remain confidential.

CASE 01Hardware & Supply Chain / Executive Search

Hiring for supplier command—not a language proxy.

A venture-backed hardware technology company was moving from product validation toward mass production. It needed a Head of Supply Chain who could build the function 0→1 and command an Asia-based CM/ODM ecosystem from a US base.

15+Years in supply chain

3Separate 0→1 builds

US-basedSearch and placement

In seatSuccessful outcome

The brief behind the brief

The initial specification emphasized Chinese-language ability. Through consultative calibration, we established that language was only a proxy. The outcome-critical capability was supplier command: the judgment and authority to qualify, negotiate with and hold accountable an Asia-based CM/ODM network.

A sharper, wider market

That distinction preserved the Asia requirement while opening the search to exceptional US-based operators whom the original brief would have screened out. The client could now hire for the capability that drives outcomes—not a stand-in for it.

US-based, Asia-capable

We targeted a genuinely rare composite profile: mass-production and EMS depth, hands-on startup building, direct command of supplier networks across China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and experience sourcing advanced compute hardware.

Beyond the first finalist

Even after presenting a finalist who met the scorecard, we kept the market live. The client gained authentic choice—and met an additional senior operator suited to a broader future operations mandate. The search delivered both a hire and a bench.

Outcome

The right operator—already in the US market.

TL placed a Head of Supply Chain with 15+ years of experience, three separate 0→1 supply-chain builds, deep command of Asia-based CM/ODM networks and advanced vision-compute sourcing expertise. The executive joined and is now in seat; both the client and its investors were highly satisfied with the process and result.

Why TL

Business understanding

Diagnose the capability behind the proxy.

Mandate calibration

Refine the specification around business outcomes.

Relentless delivery

Maintain real choice and build a future bench.

Hard-tech + Asia depth

Speak mass production, EMS, CM/ODM and compute.

CASE 02Global Commerce SaaS / Executive Search

The first marketing leader had to build more than a function.

A $100M+ ARR post-purchase SaaS platform had reached global scale largely on product strength. It needed its first senior marketing executive—a VP of Marketing with a CMO mandate—to build the category narrative, create demand for a 30-person sales team and strengthen the investor story.

53 daysEngagement signing to start

20+Executives screened

50+Companies mapped

3Follow-on mandates

A company ready to outgrow its story

The business served more than 20,000 retailers but had no mature marketing function, brand platform or repeatable demand engine. Its first senior marketing leader needed to reposition a tracking utility as a category-defining platform while building the infrastructure behind growth.

Global fluency—not biography

The original brief required two or more years living outside North America. We reframed that proxy around operating evidence: leading distributed teams, aligning Asia-based and US stakeholders, and running global go-to-market work across time zones. The bar remained high; the market became more relevant.

Expand the ecosystem, not the standard

We broadened a narrow ecommerce and retail-tech requirement into the wider commerce ecosystem—including logistics, payments and supply-chain platforms serving the same buyers. This preserved domain credibility while reaching executives with highly transferable playbooks.

Evidence, not pipeline volume

TL mapped five talent pools, screened more than 20 executives against a six-dimensional scorecard and produced five detailed assessments. Candidates who missed a non-negotiable were not presented simply to create activity; every finalist had a credible path to success.

Outcome

From product-led scale to marketing leadership—in 53 days.

TL placed a VP of Marketing with a CMO mandate from a leading global commerce platform. The executive had already led an almost one-to-one transformation: repositioning a consumer tracking utility as a broader commerce platform while building the required growth-marketing capability. The candidate started 53 days after engagement signing. The client then retained TL for three additional leadership searches.

Why TL

Mandate calibration

Separate non-negotiable outcomes from learnable adjacency.

Global operating fluency

Assess evidence of leading across markets and time zones.

Decision-grade assessment

Translate a six-dimensional scorecard into clear choices.

Trust that compounds

Turn one placement into an enduring advisory relationship.

CASE 03AI-Native Simulation / Solutions Leadership

Building a solutions function where the talent market did not yet exist.

A venture-backed AI-native physics simulation company needed the founding leader of a forward-deployed solutions organization—a rare hybrid who could deliver alongside engineers, own services revenue and build the commercial function from zero.

4Distinct talent pools tested

Net-newFunction and scorecard

US-basedSensitive-account coverage

1→TeamExpanded organization mandate

A role without a settled profile

The initial title—Head of Solution Sales—hid four rarely combined requirements: forward-deployed delivery, personal commercial ownership, from-scratch builder instinct and enough engineering credibility to partner with a deeply technical founder. There was no established candidate pool or accepted definition of great.

Search as joint market discovery

Rather than force one archetype, TL tested four contrasting pools: Palantir alumni, strategy and AI-consulting builders, simulation-industry incumbents and hybrid engineer-operators. Each interview became evidence about the trade-offs the client was genuinely willing to make.

Test—and disprove—the obvious answer

The direct simulation competitors brought domain credibility but operated like established software vendors: large delivery benches, institutional support and mature playbooks. They had the industry expertise, but not the lean, own-the-outcome forward-deployed motion the company needed.

Design around the real trade-off

The strongest answer came from the forward-deployed ecosystem: a US-based operator from the Palantir lineage with commercial ownership and builder DNA. The client’s own technical bench could supply the deepest simulation credibility; the candidate supplied the operating model the market could not teach quickly.

Outcome

The domain incumbents had the expertise—but not the operating model.

TL placed the founding solutions leader and helped the client turn one search into a multi-seat organization build, including a distinct forward-engineering leadership track and a vertical solutions lead. The work also produced a reusable talent map for a nascent market and expanded TL’s relationship into additional go-to-market and marketing leadership mandates.

Why TL

Adjacent-market reach

Test every credible pool, not one comfortable network.

Market-backed calibration

Turn live interviews into an explicit trade-off framework.

Willingness to disconfirm

Name when the obvious competitor profile is the wrong answer.

Beyond the placement

Advise on organization seams as one seat becomes a team.

CASE 04Consumer Mobility Hardware / Parallel Executive Search

When the qualified market is finite, completeness becomes the strategy.

A venture-backed consumer-mobility hardware company needed a Head of Engineering and Head of Product in parallel. Both leaders had to operate fluently in English and Mandarin and work full-time from a single hub—two hard constraints that reduced each market to a small, countable universe.

2Parallel leadership mandates

BilingualEnglish + Mandarin fluency

Full on-siteNon-negotiable presence

2 placedBoth searches completed

Two pivotal seats, one constrained universe

The engineering leader would own hardware-and-software execution; the product leader would own roadmap, definition and cross-functional delivery. Both needed senior leadership credibility inside a bilingual organization operating across US and China teams.

Two filters that collapse the pool

Leadership-level fluency in both English and Mandarin is already rare. Requiring full-time, in-person presence removes most otherwise-qualified executives. Add seniority and consumer hardware or mobility relevance, and the addressable market no longer behaves like a broad funnel—it becomes a finite list.

Reframe reach as completeness

TL separated hard constraints from preferences, then mapped every plausible individual across the client’s category, adjacent hardware and mobility companies, and globally distributed organizations where bilingual technical leaders concentrate. The goal was not a convenient shortlist; it was the whole board.

Carry both searches through the close

Both mandates moved in parallel with distinct scorecards and shared market intelligence. TL then stayed closely involved through offer communication, helping candidates from larger companies evaluate a different value equation: lower near-term cash, meaningful equity and the opportunity to create long-term enterprise value.

Outcome

Two searches completed—and two leaders closed on long-term value.

TL successfully placed both the Head of Product and the Head of Engineering. In each case, disciplined market coverage produced the right finalist; transparent offer communication then helped both candidates move from larger companies. Each accepted a package with relatively lower cash compensation and meaningful stock options as a long-term incentive, based on a clear discussion of role scope, ownership and potential upside. The relationship continued across additional leadership mandates, becoming a multi-seat advisory partnership rather than a one-off search.

Why TL

Finite-pool completeness

Map and assess the entire qualifying universe.

Genuine bilingual reach

Source and evaluate natively across English and Mandarin.

Parallel execution

Run two senior mandates with shared intelligence and separate scorecards.

Offer strategy & close

Translate cash, equity, ownership and upside into a credible decision.

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