About Us

At Bespoke Partners, we identify and recruit your next leaders the way we deliver our own — efficiently and effectively. We leverage a proven search process to build tier one executive teams that drive faster and higher returns for our private equity clients. We are a group of driven, responsive, and passionate people who have vigorously examined every aspect of the search process and applied unconventional methodologies to drive faster and more successful results.

We partner with leading private equity portfolio companies to recruit elite executives throughout the entire investment lifecycle.

In the early days of private equity, funds could generate outsized returns for their limited partners through financial engineering. As more firms entered the industry, forward-thinking funds implemented operational excellence into their portfolio companies. These firms continued to generate outsized returns and became market leaders. Today, most private equity firms have internal consulting groups and operating partners who can enhance productivity across their portfolio. However, this expertise is no longer enough.

There are more investors and capital than ever before and sales multiples are at an all-time high. Succeeding in this environment requires precision in recruiting elite talent.

Enter Bespoke Partners.

Who are we? We are a retained executive search firm dedicated to partnering with leading private equity firms to recruit exceptional talent at every stage of investment, from late venture to growth equity to buy out.

What are we passionate about? Talent. And how talented people work together. We help companies build the organization and talent they need to accelerate growth and exceed expectations.

How do we partner? Bespoke Partners works side-by-side with private equity firms to evaluate and recruit top quartile leaders throughout the entire investment lifecycle – from Diligence through Value Creation to Exit.

Achievements

Placements

Solutions And Expertise

Solutions
  • Executive Search
  • Retained Executive Search
  • Retained Searches
Industries
  • Private Equity
  • Software
  • Venture Capital
Functions
  • Board/Governance
  • C-Level
  • C-Suite
  • CEO/President
  • CFO
  • Chief Marketing Officer
  • Chief Technology Officer
  • CHRO
  • CIO
  • CISO
  • CRO
  • GM/Operations
  • Private Equity

Our search process is collaborative, thorough, accelerated and therefore effective. We kick off every search by conducting a comprehensive needs assessment. Out of the discussion we develop a detailed and weighted scorecard to assess for competency. We also spend time with the executive team to understand critical behavioral attributes for the role and culture to ensure successful transition into the organization. From there, we develop a tailored research and recruiting strategy to identify executives for the role that will have the right skill set and leadership profile. We leverage our previous searches and network in addition to conducting net new research and outreach to provide you with the most comprehensive view of the market and the most optionality for your search.

We conduct daily and weekly stand ups to review research and recruiting work flows. Throughout our search process, we provide you with access to the executives we are contacting along with feedback on how the opportunity is resonating in the market. We topgrade and back channel candidates through all phases of the search process to minimize surprises and ensure we understand every aspect of an executive’s candidacy. As a result our average time to close is 76 days and our candidate placement success rate is 99%.

News Briefings

Bespoke Partners Initiates Coverage of the Healthcare IT Sector

San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners is initiating coverage of the healthcare IT sector to provide clients with access to its network of software and SaaS leaders. “The healthcare IT sector is undergoing extraordinary growth and innovation,” said Eric Walczykowski, CEO. “As an executive search firm in software and SaaS, we recognize the urgent need for transformative leadership

Hunt Scanlon’s Top 10 Recruiting Stories of 2023

For the recruiting industry, 2023 was a mixed bag. Recruiters continued to look for new ways to provide value to clients, AI remained a hot topic, and market consolidation led by investors continued to impact the industry. While fears of a recession, talent shortages, and candidate-driven market have been challenges for search consultants. Meanwhile, finding

Bespoke Partners Assists Princeton TMX with CEO Search

San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners recently assisted in the recruitment of Mark McEntire as the new CEO of Princeton TMX in Fort Wayne, IN. Partner Katherine Baker and principal Chelsea Mansfield led the assignment on behalf of Bespoke Partners. He will assume the responsibilities of outgoing CEO and founder, Tim Minnich, who will remain on the

Will the Surging M&A Market for Executive Search Firms Continue?

Over the past decade, a wave of consolidation activity across the executive search sector has profoundly changed the recruiting sector as we know it. And in the last five years, the role of executive search firms has fundamentally changed the look and feel of the sector even more. The industry has moved from simply identifying

Press Releases

Bespoke Partners Receives Strategic Investment from AEA Growth

July 21, 2022 – SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of retained executive search and leadership advisory services for enterprise software companies, today announced that the firm has received a strategic investment from AEA Growth. “We are excited to collaborate with the team at AEA Growth to enhance our services and deliver even greater

Bespoke Partners Achieves Banner Year of Growth and Expansion

(Jan. 11, 2022) Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of accelerated executive search services for the private equity (PE) market, announced that the firm achieved record growth and expansion in 2021 as demand skyrocketed for its unique executive search and human capital advisory offerings. The firm marked its 10th year in business with revenue growth of 55

Bespoke Partners Opens East Coast Office, Welcomes New Vice President

(Nov. 9, 2021) Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of accelerated executive search services for the private equity (PE) market, announced today that it has opened a Philadelphia-area office, establishing the firm’s nationwide presence to meet surging demand for its services. “We are delighted to have such top caliber executives as Maria and Ned driving our

Bespoke Partners Welcomes New Partner

(Oct. 20, 2021) Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of accelerated executive search services for the private equity (PE) market, today announced that Tess Fischer is joining the firm as Partner. “Talent is the top driver enabling a portfolio company to achieve the investment thesis for a private equity investor. Bespoke is leading the industry in

Bespoke Partners Promotes Katelyn Quaresma to Partner

(Aug. 23, 2021) Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of retained executive search and leadership advisory services, announced today that Katelyn Quaresma has been promoted to Partner at the firm. Most recently serving as Vice President, Katelyn has been pivotal to driving Bespoke Partners’ rapid growth and advancing its industry-leading executive recruiting process for private equity-backed