If You Want a New CEO, the Best Time to Start Your Search Was 90 Days Ago
If you want a CEO today, the best time to start your search was 90 days ago. The second best time is today.
Why the Go-to-Market Number Two Has Become the Most Critical Hire in Private Equity-Backed Software
On a recent episode of Tailored Talent, I sat down with Liz Moses, Partner in our Go-to-Market practice, to talk through what is happening in PE-backed software right now and what it means for the leadership builds we are running.
Software Will Keep Eating the World…and AI is Setting the Table
If you have been in tech long enough, you have lived through several “software is over” predictions. Open source. Cloud. Mobile. Containerization. None of them eliminated demand for software. AI will be no different. What changes is which companies capture the next cycle.
Why Backchannels Are Essential to Executive Vetting
Most executive mis-hires do not happen because a search firm failed to conduct a routine reference check. They happen because the process was surface level. That is why at Bespoke Partners, we are Built Different.
Reflecting on Five Years in a Built Different Firm
Over the years, I have heard a consistent refrain from the people who know Bespoke Partners best, candidates, clients, and employees alike. They tell me the same thing. Bespoke feels different.
You Can’t Land the Job You Can’t See: How Recruiter Relationships Uncover Confidential Searches
In today’s executive talent market, a résumé and a strong peer network are no longer enough. The job search has fundamentally changed. Many of the most sought-after leadership roles are never advertised. They are confidential searches, run quietly through trusted recruiting firms, long before an opportunity reaches the broader market.
Execution Over Experimentation: Seven Data-backed Implications for Product & Technology Leadership in Private Equity
Bespoke’s most recent Product & Technology Leadership Talent Report highlights a structural shift underway in how private equity sponsors and operators evaluate technology and product leadership in software and SaaS.
How CEOs Are Thinking About Their Next Act: Timing, Risk, and Conviction in 2026
In a recent Tailored Talent conversation, I sat down with Katherine Baker, CEO, Board and P&L Practice Lead at Bespoke Partners, to unpack what is actually shaping CEO decision-making right now. What stood out was not just the constraint in the market, but the degree of nuance executives are applying as they think about what comes next. This is increasingly a market defined by conviction, not volume.
Leadership Economics: Decisions That Define the Next Cycle
As 2026 begins, the conversation around leadership in private equity has shifted. The question is no longer whether talent matters. The data from 2025 made that unmistakable. The real question now is how leadership decisions shape outcomes as the market enters its next phase.
2025 in Review: What the Leadership Market Revealed Before It Was Obvious
As 2025 came to a close, one word surfaced naturally before any data review or performance analysis: gratitude. Gratitude for the teams, partners, and sponsors who trusted us with complex leadership decisions during a year that demanded precision and speed.
CFO Talent Outlook: What Sponsors Need to Prepare For in 2026
In my recent conversation with Marie Deller, our newest Partner in the Finance Executive Recruiting Practice, we spent time unpacking what is real, what is changing, and what private equity sponsors should expect in 2026.
CFO Talent Market Grows Tighter: What Sponsors Need To Know
In a recent Tailored Talent conversation I sat down with Katelyn Quaresma, Partner and Head of Bespoke’s Finance Practice, to understand what is actually happening in the CFO and VP Finance market and what sponsors should expect in the year ahead.