True Opens New Office in Amsterdam as Global Rollout Continues
September 27, 2021 – Haddonfield, NJ-based True, a global executive talent management platform, has opened a new office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This region, which includes Belgium and Luxembourg, is a start-up area on the rise — with a booming tech scene and a growing need for tech-enabled global talent that’s at the heart of True’s expertise. “Expansion to Amsterdam is a natural step forward as we expand our capabilities and connections in the world’s technology centers,” said Joe Riggione, founder and co-CEO of True. “Amsterdam has big ambitions and the third-largest start-up sector in Europe. Companies there need access to world-class leadership to ensure they can compete and win globally.”
The Amsterdam office expands True’s footprint in EMEA, where True already has a physical presence in London, Berlin, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, and Dubai. It will be True’s 17th office worldwide. True enters Amsterdam with strong relationships already in place with companies including Mollie, Otrium and WeTransfer, and funds such as Accel, Sequoia and Index. Opportunities across the region are escalating as billions of dollars in VC capital has been invested in Amsterdam alone this year.
Veteran search consultant Uros Zver will lead the Amsterdam team. Mr. Zver has deep connections to the VC and PE market along with relationships with fintech and enterprise businesses throughout Europe. He has lived and worked in 10 countries across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and has expertise in helping technology companies scale and find international talent. He also draws on a background in international relations, having worked at the United Nations and for the NATO Alliance. Previously, Mr. Zver was a partner with Apollo Executive Search.
“I’m honored to join True and introduce our platform to the many innovative companies emerging from this region,” said Mr. Zver. “True is already the largest and most trusted talent partner in the global venture capital ecosystem, and we want to continue leveraging our relationships to add value to companies as they scale.”
As the financial and business capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam is currently ranked as one of the best European cities in which to locate an international business. It is ranked fifth in this category and is only surpassed by London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Barcelona. Many large corporations and banks have their headquarters in Amsterdam, including Akzo Nobel, Heineken International, ING Group, ABN AMRO, TomTom, Delta Lloyd Group, Booking.com and Philips. And now 21st century-facing technology companies are sprouting up; more than 100 international companies have opened offices since 2020.
Working in both the private and public sectors, True has offices throughout the U.S. as well as the EMEA and APAC regions. Since the late 1990s, the firm’s founders have refined their search process with a blend of data-centric insights, relationship-building, and experience to produce a methodology that consistently improves hiring decisions and accelerates growth. True Search is a subsidiary of True Platform, a global portfolio of human capital services and products for high-growth tech and tech-enabled organizations. True placed No. 7 on a recent Hunt Scanlon Media “Top 50 Recruiters” ranking.
Recent Growth
True Search recently named new co-leaders to several specialized practices: financial officers, consumer, and financial services. Managing director Matt Goldstein has joined partner Rhoda Longhenry as co-practice lead of the financial officers’ practice. It is a homecoming of sorts for Mr. Goldstein, who launched the practice with Ms. Longhenry in 2017 before turning his focus to helping launch True Search’s edtech and healthcare and life sciences practices.
LLR Partners Makes Equity Investment in True
LLR Partners, a private equity firm based in Philadelphia, has made an investment in True. The new partnership is aimed at developing and expanding innovation within the talent space. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. True surpassed $100 million in revenues in 2019 and added 146 people during the pandemic. True has consistently been the fastest organic growth mid-sized search firm over the last decade.
David Reuter, a partner at LLR, joins True’s board of directors alongside Nick Caldwell, vice president of engineering at Twitter; Jennifer Ceran, CFO of Smartsheet; Alex Shootman, CEO of Adobe company platform Workfront; and Evan Wittenberg, EVP and chief people officer at Ancestry. Following the minority stake investment, True co-founders Brad Stadler and Joe Riggione will continue to lead the firm with support and guidance from its board. True’s valuation was said to have been an outlier, reflecting the private equity firm’s belief that True has the potential to become one of the most significant brands in the executive talent sector. Notably, the deal is structured to grant employee participation in value creation over time.
Co-founder and partner Tim McDonald and partner Kristin Godfrey have joined partner Todd Zangrillo as co-leads of the firm’s consumer practice. The team has expertise in beauty, fashion and lifestyle, consumer digital, food tech, health and wellness, and new retail.
In addition to appointing new practice leads, True has merged its investment professionals and fintech practices to create the firm’s newest commercial practice – financial services. Partners Dan Miller and Caroline Lo have joined partner Jonathan Pomeranz as financial services co-leads.
Related: True Search Recruits New CFO for PE-Backed MikMak
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
