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 10/7/26 Kraig Ward 10/7/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 18 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 94+) 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 18 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A sales leader rebuilt a technical outdoor apparel brand's standing with independent specialty retail from the ground up and earned Vendor of Excellence recognition along the way. An operations leader at an outdoor and defense accessories manufacturer delivered an 87.5% improvement in delivery consistency and a 94.6% reduction in inventory variance, then restructured the workforce through a demand collapse without losing the culture. A marketer unified 4 independent trade labels under a single house-of-brands strategy and won a major national retailer's Marketing Innovator Award in the first year. A footwear product executive spent 30-plus years in the category, led 300+ developers and engineers across 7 countries, then stood up a first-ever in-house footwear program at a high-growth outdoor brand. A commercial operator built a NE APAC business from zero presence over a decade-plus, earning wholesale, channel, and retail relationships in a market that punishes global playbooks.

Kraig Ward 9/30/26 Kraig Ward 9/30/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 18 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 100+) 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 18 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A growth marketer who cut CAC to zero at a premium outdoor DTC brand while retaining $2M in at-risk revenue through a lifecycle program built from scratch. A commercial leader who moved a data automation company's SaaS bookings from 60% to 85% of revenue across six enterprise software acquisitions and a London Stock Exchange IPO, then built an eight-figure Americas revenue operation anchored by a Microsoft partnership. A marketing executive who rebuilt the demand architecture across a global barcode and RFID manufacturer, cutting lead costs from $86 to $23 while launching a new brand identity across 37 countries. A product leader who owns the data flow layer at a major cloud provider, the infrastructure thousands of enterprise customers rely on to move and process data without managing it themselves. And a COO who held the compliance, people, and go-to-market systems together through hypergrowth at a healthcare fintech that scaled to 700-plus employees and 60,000 provider partners.

Kraig Ward 9/16/26 Kraig Ward 9/16/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 20 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 82+) 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 20 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A defense operator who commanded Patriot missile forces, served in the Secretary of Defense's immediate office under two administrations, and was personally selected by the Army Chief of Staff to run Army University Press before moving into Army accounts leadership at a fast-growing federal contractor. A wholesale sales leader who scaled a partner network past 1,200 accounts and built distribution into 30+ countries for a PE-backed outdoor brand navigating a CEO transition. A quality assurance leader who oversaw robotics systems at Amazon Robotics and a leading autonomous-fulfillment platform, work tied to eliminating tens of billions in supply chain costs. A 14-year general counsel who built the entire legal function inside a nine-figure family-owned workwear brand without a big-firm safety net. And a merchandising executive who scaled a lifestyle category from nine figures to more than double globally while building China market strategy from the ground up for a marquee outerwear brand.

Kraig Ward 9/7/26 Kraig Ward 9/7/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 16 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 77+) 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 16 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A commercial operator who led the partnership strategy behind more than 70% of new revenue for a B2B fleet payments platform across two consecutive years, while also building embedded banking and payroll lines from concept to scale. A sales director who grew a single distributor channel 63% inside a century-old institutional sports equipment manufacturer, built through trade show presence and spec-writing relationships with architects and facilities planners. A product executive who ran bat, glove, helmet, and apparel development as one integrated operation at the top bat brand in MLB, through nearly 30% compounded growth and a nine-figure acquisition. A wholesale director who scaled the Eastern US business for the brand that defined non-alcoholic craft beer, growing retail presence across Whole Foods, Kroger, and Costco during a stretch of 50%+ dollar sales growth. And a product leader who navigated Matterport's full hardware and software portfolio through its acquisition by CoStar Group.

Kraig Ward 9/1/26 Kraig Ward 9/1/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 16 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 89+) 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 16 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A finance leader who built the CFO function twice at bootstrapped apparel brands, taking one from scrappy accounting to boardroom ready without ever touching a public company or PE bureaucracy. An operator who served as de facto GM and CPO through the full rebuild of a shuttered merino wool label, reconstructing product, supply chain, and wholesale relationships simultaneously with zero runway for error. A product director who built Wahoo's entire indoor running category from scratch inside a company with no running DNA, positioning KICKR RUN against established incumbents. A supply chain executive with a JD in Procurement Law who rose from senior manager to Global VP at a nine-figure workwear institution, then rebuilt procurement infrastructure from the ground up at a mid-market outdoor living company. 16 profiles this week, with product and design carrying the heaviest weight, and a hiring pool built for anyone trying to move fast before the quarter closes.

Kraig Ward 8/17/26 Kraig Ward 8/17/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 16 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 89+) Added Across Consumer Brands & Enterprise Tech. All Ready and Waiting Right Now To Take Your Call.

This week's featured selection from the executives who went live on the Bearhug Network includes 16 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A retail director who opened a founder-led outdoor brand's first company-owned store and grew it into a five-location network across destination markets. A marketer who built experiential campaigns inside one of the most recognized names in endurance hydration, turning product occasions into identity moments for the core athlete. A commercial director who drove a Japanese footwear brand's lifestyle division to triple digit quarterly growth in North America. A product leader running a launch cadence of new colors and styles every two weeks across 130-plus stores globally. A sustainability director engaging directly with European Commission delegated acts while most US brand teams were still catching up. And an experiential marketer who founded a wellness events community that grew to 10,000 members. Product, marketing, and sales dominate this week's slate, but the specificity is what makes each profile worth a closer look.

Kraig Ward 8/9/26 Kraig Ward 8/9/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 39 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 230+) 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 39 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A go-to-market builder who carried a drone analytics platform through an IPO and two acquisitions, including one exit at a 10x return on entry valuation. A brand marketer who generated 30 billion earned media impressions in a single year on under two million dollars in production spend. A commercial director who drove a Japanese footwear brand's lifestyle division to triple digit quarterly growth in North America. A pharmacy automation leader who has spent a decade holding hospital operations, warehouse robotics, and software workflows in one hand. And a product leader who has run hard goods manufacturing across three different velocities, from a venture backed outdoor brand to a public connected fitness company to a robotics startup deploying into premium hospitality. A marketing executive who built ABM infrastructure precise enough to close Fortune 500 retail deals in under 90 days. Product, marketing, and sales dominate this week's slate, but the specificity is what makes each profile worth a closer look.

Kraig Ward 7/27/26 Kraig Ward 7/27/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 45 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 278+) 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 45 profiles worth slowing down for. A few stand out. A three-time chief executive ran a government lottery technology company through global expansion, led a SoftBank-backed mobile distribution business across more than 100 countries, and now chairs a climate tech platform with the first Verra-approved AI soil carbon methodology. A quantum-AI infrastructure product leader brings 30-plus years spanning EDA logic synthesis, semiconductor CEO experience, and a decade of venture partner diligence on what actually scales. A CMO scaled a Scandinavian heritage outdoor brand's retail and DTC channels simultaneously without diluting the brand, earning Forbes recognition along the way. A CDO helped flip a global apparel brand to 70 percent direct after running country-level P&Ls at Europe's dominant home-improvement marketplace. A geography CFO ran DTC, wholesale, and regulatory complexity across Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, India, and Latin America for a global athletic brand. And an operator built the first water tech accelerator in Asia-Pacific, scaling to seven cohorts and 50-plus portfolio companies.

Kraig Ward 7/19/26 Kraig Ward 7/19/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 43 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 301+) 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 43 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A CRO who led marketing through a 20x expansion at a sales intelligence platform, then ran revenue at an agentic AI company that hit profitability with 500% year over year growth. A CMO who rebuilt brand, ecommerce, and omnichannel infrastructure across a multi-brand cookware portfolio in 60+ countries, earning an EVP promotion in short order. A brand executive who architected an NFL franchise rebrand mid-season, carried that instinct into an MLB front office, and now leads brand strategy for a live entertainment portfolio approaching a centennial and a possible IPO. A sales leader who took a bike parts distributor network from 10 to 42 partners, then delivered 350% unit growth in Mexico for a European tire brand. A CEO who has run PE-backed integrations three times, once unifying four analytics and CRM businesses across seven countries into a single entity sold to a global data leader, then repeating the pattern at a global retail SaaS platform and a tech-enabled services business.

Kraig Ward 7/12/26 Kraig Ward 7/12/26

The Bearhug Network: Check Out This Week's 42 Freshly Vetted Executive Profiles (out of 191+) 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 42 profiles worth slowing down for. A few that stand out. A COO who held the full operating system together at a consumer goods manufacturer shipping to 120-plus countries while deploying AI-driven automation across finance and supply chain. A CFO turned dual COO who built a golf media brand's finance function from scratch, closed a nine-figure Series A, and expanded operations across 3 countries, all while representing the company externally to private equity and strategic media investors. A marketing executive who took a security enterprise from sub-$100M to high-9-figure revenue while launching a new consumer sub-brand from zero. And a finance leader currently managing a live restructuring at a PE-backed action sports accessories brand, unwinding a standalone retail footprint while redirecting capital toward wholesale and DTC. Each one reflects the kind of operating depth boards call for when growth outpaces the infrastructure built to support it, and the search for the next leader typically starts well before any job description gets written.

"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.”

"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."

We Fish & We Dish™

🔥Hot Off the Press

Free Report: The 27 Most Painful & Expensive Mistakes CEOs Make Before Launching an Executive Search (and How to Avoid Them)