Founder Resources

Recruiting Insights for Human Performance Brands and Environmental & DeepTech Startups

"Bearhug's in a category of its own. It's not even fair to compare them to other recruiters. Their process and work product blew me away."

Kourosh Zamani
"Bearhug helped us hire damn great department heads who've all built out strong teams. We’re growing 10% MoM & have expanded to 30 states!"

Maria Khokhlova
"Bearhug found our winning candidate within 7 days. Towards the end, it felt like they were our own Chief People Officer."

Himanshu Gupta
“Working with Bearhug was worth every penny and every minute. I now have a new standard for how I'll recruit for all future hires.”

Robert Romano
“I’ve recommended Bearhug to my board and will promote them to the other startup founders in my network. They've done an amazing job!"

Somya Kapoor
"Of the 55 Executive Search Firms I've worked with, none had the follow-up, professionalism, thoroughness & enthusiasm as Bearhug Recruiting."

Richard DeFrancisco
“Bearhug's unwavering drive & persistence gave me the confidence they'd get the job done. We found an amazing "diamond in the rough!"

Aaron Elder
“Bearhug's a N of 1 at what they do. Any VC portfolio company with go-to-market hiring would be very lucky to work with them.”

Ryan Alshak
"Now I really know what it means to be a "great recruiter". I'm afraid there is an impossible gap between Bearhug and the rest."

Dmitry Korolev
“Bearhug helped us hire all of our GTM function heads. Monthly sales have grown ~3x. Plus our team freaking loved working with them!”

Ivan Lvov
"Bearhug's hiring window was solid. The process was solid. Our needs were met effectively which is why I’ve come back for all our GTM roles."

Rohit Gupta
"Bearhug's approach was structured & methodical which helped us ferret out candidates we simply would not find through other means."

Sriram Ramachandran
"The experience with Bearhug was like a breath of fresh air. We hired a great new CEO and the way they serviced us was amazing.”

Josh Hailpern

Kraig Ward 7/6/26 Kraig Ward 7/6/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 33 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 254+) Added Across Consumer Brands & Enterprise Tech. All Ready and Waiting Right Now To Take Your Call.

This week's featured selection from the hundreds of executives who went live on the Bearhug Network includes 33 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. One executive held the CFO and Co-CEO seat simultaneously at a Swiss sportswear brand through an NYSE IPO, fourfold revenue growth, and APAC expansion that nearly doubled in a single year. Another spent 17 years inside Nike running Greater China and then CEEMA, crossed into automotive as VP EMEA at Tesla, and now chairs a B Corp certified footwear brand scaling from 49 million to 91 million pounds in four years. A third built legal, compliance, ESG, and communications infrastructure from scratch as a footwear portfolio grew nearly fivefold and went public. A fourth scaled global field marketing through an IT security company's public offering, then rebuilt go-to-market for a developer platform used by millions of builders. A CHRO has spent a career stewarding people infrastructure across five production facilities and more than 525 branded retail locations at a 120 year old American manufacturing institution. Finance, brand, and people leaders dominate this week's slate, all ready to take your call.

Kraig Ward 6/29/26 Kraig Ward 6/29/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 43 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (Out of 196+) Added Across Consumer Brands & Enterprise Tech. Ready and Waiting To Take Your Call.

This week's featured selection from the hundreds of executives who went live on the Bearhug Network includes 43 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A CFO who led finance through the sale of an active lifestyle hydration brand to a global health science conglomerate, with additional CFO stints across natural snack, footwear, and DTC food and beverage. A CCO who built the commercial organization that carried a water bottle brand from launch to the number 1 position at Target, Walmart, and Dick's Sporting Goods inside 4 years, servicing 90,000 store locations simultaneously. A CMO who built the marketing architecture that converted a western lifestyle brand's pop culture moment, tied to country music, prestige TV, and a multi-year NFL quarterback partnership, into lasting consumer loyalty. A CLO who protected a premium activewear brand's trademark and trade secret portfolio across hundreds of stores and dozens of countries, earning a Counselor's Power 50 recognition in the process. A CTO who rebuilt an entire technology stack as a comfort apparel brand climbed from DTC startup to nine-figure omnichannel operator with doors at Nordstrom, Target, and DSW opening simultaneously.

Kraig Ward 6/15/26 Kraig Ward 6/15/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 34 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (Out of 261+ Added) in Consumer Brands and Enterprise Tech, All Ready To Take Your Call.

This week's featured selection from the hundreds of executives who went live on the Bearhug Network includes 34 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. One footwear director rose from intern to Global Footwear Product Director at one of the largest athletic brands in the world, owning multi-season franchise creation across performance innovation and consumer positioning simultaneously. A PE-backed industrial CEO has led a nonwoven filtration manufacturer post-acquisition and taken a storage platform through a full hold cycle before that. A CFO has held that seat at 4 distinct companies spanning healthcare services, manufacturing, and industrial safety, plus a regional GM role inside a global conglomerate. And a DTC strategy executive ran the global digital flagship and membership infrastructure for the highest-revenue category at the world's largest athletic brand during a full go-to-market restructuring.

"Your level is above 99% of recruiters because of the obsessive detail you go through to truly understand both the candidates and the role. Most firms say they go deep, but Bearhug actually does. That’s why we got the outcome we wanted, in the timeframe we needed."

Brett Moyer
"Bearhug’s process was absolutely thorough. From market coverage to real-time visibility, nothing was left unexamined. We landed the perfect person for the moment. 10/10."

Brett Carlson
"The Bearhug team is one of the top executive search firms in the nation. They have a very unique perspective on building and scaling companies and I highly recommend their work!"

Spencer Dusebout
“I want to commend the Bearhug team for being such excellent partners to our entrepreneurs and the larger PeakSpan team. We really appreciate and value our relationship with you!"

Phil Dur
“Bearhug helped one of our portfolio companies hire almost their entire US C-level team, that enabled the business to scale from 1 to 20M+ over the last 4 years. They are truly awesome.”

Anton Fedorov
"I’ve worked with dozens of search firms, and Kraig and the Bearhug team are truly something special. They put more thought into their work than almost anyone I’ve met in business."

Jay Potter
“Kraig and the Bearhug team are one of the best startup recruiting firms I have ever met.”

Gaurav Manglik
"Kraig, we are thrilled to formally finish the process. Congratulations on your helping us get an amazing new executive to our company!"

Vangelis Mihalopoulos
"Having seen Bearhug from both sides, as a candidate & client, their approach is unmatched. Radical transparency and hands-on coaching delivered results that felt like a miracle."

Jon Kerry-Tyerman
“Bearhug’s outreach stood out immediately — specific, contextual, and focused on real impact. The process was collaborative, transparent, and the most thoughtful I’ve ever experienced."

Amit Shrivastava
“Bearhug’s approach was refreshing — transparent, knowledgeable, and focused on adding value from the start. Their approach turned a high-stakes role into a smooth, confidence-building experience.”

Nick Ezzo
"Bearhug is the recruiting partner high-growth businesses need — experienced, transparent, and realistic about what’s possible in senior searches. They bring urgency and deep preparation to every step."

Colin Parker
"Bearhug does things differently. The process was thoughtful, transparent, and executed with a level of rigor and insight I didn’t expect."

Doug Brown
"I was initially skeptical, but Bearhug quickly proved different — down-to-earth, empathetic, and thorough. They exceeded all expectations and delivered a great outcome for both sides.”

Matt Fox
"Bearhug’s process was extremely structured, efficient, and effective. Unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The level of detail and organization gave me total confidence at every step."

Jason Murante
"Getting to know the Bearhug team through such a thoughtful, structured process was a standout experience. Any high-growth startup needing specific executive hires should expect not just results, but a process that makes candidates want to join."

Walter Rowland

Founder Resources

"Bearhug's in a category of its own. It's not even fair to compare them to other recruiters. Their process and work product blew me away."

"Bearhug helped us hire damn great department heads who've all built out strong teams. We’re growing 10% MoM & have expanded to 30 states!"

"Bearhug found our winning candidate within 7 days. Towards the end, it felt like they were our own Chief People Officer."

“Working with Bearhug was worth every penny and every minute. I now have a new standard for how I'll recruit for all future hires.”

“I’ve recommended Bearhug to my board and will promote them to the other startup founders in my network. They've done an amazing job!"

"Of the 55 Executive Search Firms I've worked with, none had the follow-up, professionalism, thoroughness & enthusiasm as Bearhug Recruiting."

“Bearhug's unwavering drive & persistence gave me the confidence they'd get the job done. We found an amazing "diamond in the rough!"

“Bearhug's a N of 1 at what they do. Any VC portfolio company with go-to-market hiring would be very lucky to work with them.”

"Now I really know what it means to be a "great recruiter". I'm afraid there is an impossible gap between Bearhug and the rest."

“Bearhug helped us hire all of our GTM function heads. Monthly sales have grown ~3x. Plus our team freaking loved working with them!”

"Bearhug's hiring window was solid. The process was solid. Our needs were met effectively which is why I’ve come back for all our GTM roles."

"Bearhug's approach was structured & methodical which helped us ferret out candidates we simply would not find through other means."

"The experience with Bearhug was like a breath of fresh air. We hired a great new CEO and the way they serviced us was amazing.”

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 33 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 254+) Added Across Consumer Brands & Enterprise Tech. All Ready and Waiting Right Now To Take Your Call.

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 43 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (Out of 196+) Added Across Consumer Brands & Enterprise Tech. Ready and Waiting To Take Your Call.

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 34 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (Out of 261+ Added) in Consumer Brands and Enterprise Tech, All Ready To Take Your Call.

"Your level is above 99% of recruiters because of the obsessive detail you go through to truly understand both the candidates and the role. Most firms say they go deep, but Bearhug actually does. That’s why we got the outcome we wanted, in the timeframe we needed."

"Bearhug’s process was absolutely thorough. From market coverage to real-time visibility, nothing was left unexamined. We landed the perfect person for the moment. 10/10."

"The Bearhug team is one of the top executive search firms in the nation. They have a very unique perspective on building and scaling companies and I highly recommend their work!"

“I want to commend the Bearhug team for being such excellent partners to our entrepreneurs and the larger PeakSpan team. We really appreciate and value our relationship with you!"

“Bearhug helped one of our portfolio companies hire almost their entire US C-level team, that enabled the business to scale from 1 to 20M+ over the last 4 years. They are truly awesome.”

"I’ve worked with dozens of search firms, and Kraig and the Bearhug team are truly something special. They put more thought into their work than almost anyone I’ve met in business."

“Kraig and the Bearhug team are one of the best startup recruiting firms I have ever met.”

"Kraig, we are thrilled to formally finish the process. Congratulations on your helping us get an amazing new executive to our company!"

"Having seen Bearhug from both sides, as a candidate & client, their approach is unmatched. Radical transparency and hands-on coaching delivered results that felt like a miracle."

“Bearhug’s outreach stood out immediately — specific, contextual, and focused on real impact. The process was collaborative, transparent, and the most thoughtful I’ve ever experienced."

“Bearhug’s approach was refreshing — transparent, knowledgeable, and focused on adding value from the start. Their approach turned a high-stakes role into a smooth, confidence-building experience.”

"Bearhug is the recruiting partner high-growth businesses need — experienced, transparent, and realistic about what’s possible in senior searches. They bring urgency and deep preparation to every step."

"Bearhug does things differently. The process was thoughtful, transparent, and executed with a level of rigor and insight I didn’t expect."

"I was initially skeptical, but Bearhug quickly proved different — down-to-earth, empathetic, and thorough. They exceeded all expectations and delivered a great outcome for both sides.”

"Bearhug’s process was extremely structured, efficient, and effective. Unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The level of detail and organization gave me total confidence at every step."

"Getting to know the Bearhug team through such a thoughtful, structured process was a standout experience. Any high-growth startup needing specific executive hires should expect not just results, but a process that makes candidates want to join."

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