CEO Hiring For Fintech (IT) Firm Leading To 40% YOY Revenue Growth, European Market Entry, Expansion
We achieved in 3 months what seemed impossible by 6 months of previous efforts!
Summary:
A fast-growing financial technology startup planned to launch its Europe operations and increase its revenues by 60% over two years. The company was run by the owner and founder who wanted a leader with strong experience in European market expansion in the financial services and technology sector – a CEO with a high reputation and the networks that will help the startup find customers and establish a strong market presence.
Even after six months of search and interviews with various candidates, the fintech company could not close the vacancy, and CEO recruitment seemed a never-ending task.
Following their partnership with Alliance Recruitment Agency for CEO Executive Search and Consultancy, a CEO was hired within three months. Six months after the CEO’s recruitment, the company’s European operations found three major business accounts and acquired orders from 20+ clients that would increase its revenue by 40% within a year. Their business plan projected an 80% revenue growth over two years, based on some deals which were going to close soon.
The Situation
The client, a fintech startup, had started its third year of operations and reported 25% year-over-year revenue growth through its sales in Asian markets. The owner and founder planned a European market entry by launching its European operations by the second quarter of the third year.
The move involved introducing a new product line focused on online banking and CX management – products and solutions that had a huge market interest based on market intelligence reports.
The founder planned to recruit a CEO for the next phase of growth, an experienced market leader who could achieve the business goals of European operations launch and 60% revenue growth over two years.
Challenges
No Candidate Found Despite Six Months of Search and Interviews of 15+ Candidates:
The major challenges were the following:
Difficulty in finding experienced European market leaders with a successful track record to shift base from an established company to run a startup facing several risks and threats resulting from a total lack of European presence and lack of European industry exposure.
Most European market leaders were not open to shifting to an Asian company with a work culture and framework that seemed alien to European work culture and performance management systems.
The startup had tied up with a European consultant for CEO recruitment, but the consultant was unable to find leaders native to Europe, and sourced candidates from European companies with Asia-focused backgrounds.
Executive Search Solutions And Approach
When the client approached Alliance Recruitment Agency, about six months of CEO search had been concluded with no optimistic results.
Our C-level executive search consultant took a few days to assess the recruitment goals, challenges, and previous line of approach. The consultant then reviewed the CEO recruitment scenario and expectations with the top management and framed a new approach and strategy.
- Within a month, five candidates were selected – all five met every requirement of a benchmark candidate for the position in terms of experience, track records, accomplishments, networking, and industry and technology knowledge.
- Within 60 days – three candidates had cleared four rounds of interviews and screening, including two rounds with an external advisor with 30+ years of industry experience in the financial and IT sectors. (We suggested the use of consultations, site visits, and presentations for the third round of interviews, and three candidates came out as clear winners.)
- The CEO job offer was finalized and accepted by an excellent leader with a strong background in a business turnover of startups and a huge networking base acquired over 15 years of experience in the markets our client planned to enter.
- A new post was created – President of Global Operations, accepted by the second candidate who had also seemed a clear winner. This individual had an outstanding track record as an operations champion.
- The new role would also help the startup become more agile for its European clients and transform project management, making it Lean and customer order-focused, cutting down costs and downtime.
Outcomes for the Client:
- CEO Recruitment Was Completed in 3 months – 50% the time compared to previous efforts.
- Highly efficient and elegant food presentations and serving support
- Best-Match CEO Candidate Hired Through Our Services – Winning Complete Employer Client Satisfaction
- The CEO Hired Enabled The Company To Overperform – In Terms Of Revenue Goal Achievements and Business Growth
- New Position Created And The Candidate Recruited As President of Global Operations – the move has helped the startup manage operations as per new goals and in an agile, Lean, and cost-optimized manner.
About Alliance Recruitment Agency
We are a wide network of recruitment and executive search teams offering a range of recruitment solutions worldwide.
Our ability to source highly specialized candidates within a short period of time is one of our key strengths. Our extensive recruitment experience also makes us an affordable recruitment partner, as we are able to get a lot done with less time, investment, and hassles.
