Recruiter-backed intelligence for the people who run companies. Field notes from 17 years of executive search, written for boardrooms, not algorithms.
Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
I spent seventeen years headhunting CXOs across India, the UAE, and Africa before I started writing for the people I used to recruit. Every piece in this section comes from one place — the recruiter’s side of the table. What gets read in the first eleven seconds. What gets the call. What gets ignored, and why.
No AI drafts. No outsourced ghostwriters. If my name is on it, I wrote it.
Leaders
Rebranded
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Executive
Search
376 Google
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Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Quarterly board reports. CXO compensation benchmarks. Anonymized case studies from live executive searches. The kind of intelligence usually reserved for retained-search principals — now released to a small membership of senior operators.
Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Urna et pharetra pharetra massa massa ultricies mi quis hendrerit.
In ornare quam viverra orci sagittis eu volutpat odio facilisis.
Nulla pharetra diam sit amet nisl. Feugiat pretium nibh ipsum
A 24-question diagnostic that maps your career narrative against recruiter-search archetypes. Identifies which CXO category you actually read as today — and which you could plausibly transition to.
For Directors and CXOs evaluating their first independent directorship. Scores you across 7 governance dimensions and benchmarks against actually-appointed first-time directors in 2024–25.
Strategic positioning tool for senior leaders 38–48 thinking 3 moves ahead. Outputs a year-by-year sequencing plan with intentional gap-building, board prep, and category-shift windows.
If you're a sitting CXO, board director, or senior search consultant with a perspective on executive hiring, narrative, or governance — we want to hear from you. Pitches over polished drafts. We reply within 7 days. Final pieces are edited with the author, not for them.
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Every article opens for discussion. Comments require LinkedIn authentication — no anonymous accounts, no bots. The signal-to-noise ratio is the whole point. Most threads under founder essays carry 20-40 considered replies from sitting CXOs and Directors.
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Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
I spent seventeen years headhunting CXOs across India, the UAE, and Africa before I started writing for the people I used to recruit. Every piece in this section comes from one place — the recruiter’s side of the table. What gets read in the first eleven seconds. What gets the call. What gets ignored, and why.
No AI drafts. No outsourced ghostwriters. If my name is on it, I wrote it.
Leaders Rebranded
LinkedIn recommendations
Executive Search
376 Google Reviews
Quarterly board reports. CXO compensation benchmarks. Anonymized case studies from live executive searches. The kind of intelligence usually reserved for retained-search principals — now released to a small membership of senior operators.
Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Three search firms, eleven Bangalore boards, and what the brief on the table looks like before it ever reaches a job description. An insider’s account of how shortlists are really built.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do
Urna et pharetra pharetra massa massa ultricies mi quis hendrerit.
In ornare quam viverra orci sagittis eu volutpat odio facilisis.
Nulla pharetra diam sit amet nisl. Feugiat pretium nibh ipsum
A 24-question diagnostic that maps your career narrative against recruiter-search archetypes. Identifies which CXO category you actually read as today — and which you could plausibly transition to.
For Directors and CXOs evaluating their first independent directorship. Scores you across 7 governance dimensions and benchmarks against actually-appointed first-time directors in 2024–25.
Strategic positioning tool for senior leaders 38–48 thinking 3 moves ahead. Outputs a year-by-year sequencing plan with intentional gap-building, board prep, and category-shift windows.