The Executive
Search Process

Before M Search opens a search, Graham spends focused time with the CEO and relevant board members to define the mandate with precision. What does the hire own on day one? What are the explicit expectations at 90 days, 180 days, and the first annual review? Who does the hire inherit, and what decisions about that team are in scope in the first quarter? What does success look like by the end of the hold period or the next funding milestone?

Mandate definition is not a box to check before the real work begins — it is the real work. The companies that skip this step (or rush through it) end up evaluating candidates against criteria that don't match the actual job. That produces a hire who was excellent in interviews but wrong for the mandate. The second search costs twice as much and takes twice as long.

M Search produces a written search brief that documents the mandate, the candidate profile, the evaluation criteria, and the process. This brief is used internally to guide sourcing and externally (in a modified version) when approaching candidates. The brief is aligned with the client before outreach begins.

The brief also includes the comp structure, equity package, and a clear articulation of why this company and this mandate are attractive to the right candidate. This matters because the best candidates aren't applying to job postings — they're being recruited from their current positions. The brief has to make the case for why they should move.

M Search sources candidates through direct outreach — mapping the relevant network, identifying the specific people who have done the closest version of this mandate, and reaching out personally. Graham handles the sourcing conversations directly, not through a junior researcher. This matters because the quality of the initial conversation determines whether strong candidates engage seriously.

Sourcing for PE and VC-backed software GTM searches requires a specific network. The candidates who work well in these environments tend to know each other. Graham's decade of placements in this niche has built the network that surfaces candidates who aren't visible in a general search.

Candidates who pass initial sourcing conversations are assessed using the FACT Framework — Fit, Ability, Credibility, and Team — with evaluation criteria drawn from the mandate definition. This is not a checklist process. It is a structured series of conversations designed to surface specific evidence on each dimension.

Assessment includes direct interviews with Graham, structured reference conversations with operating partners or board members who have worked closely with the candidate, and in some cases structured work samples or scenario discussions. The goal is evidence, not impressions.

M Search presents a short slate of assessed candidates — typically three to five — with written profiles that document each candidate against the FACT dimensions and make an explicit recommendation. The presentation includes Graham's reasoning, not just candidate bios.

Graham will also tell a client when the slate isn't strong enough to move forward, when the mandate needs to be adjusted to attract the right profile, or when a candidate who looks strong on paper has a specific gap that matters for this mandate. That kind of direct counsel is only possible in a retained engagement where the firm's incentive is a successful placement, not a completed presentation.

M Search manages the interview process — scheduling, prep, debrief, and calibration. After each round, Graham conducts debrief conversations with both the client and the candidates to surface any misalignments before they become offer-stage problems.

The debrief process is one of the most underrated elements of executive search. Most firms schedule the interviews and wait for feedback. M Search actively probes both sides — what the CEO was concerned about, what the candidate's hesitations are — and addresses both directly before moving to offer.

M Search manages the offer process, including comp benchmarking, equity structuring guidance, and close. Graham handles the candidate-side of the close directly — which matters because candidates in final stages often have competing opportunities, and the quality of the close conversation determines whether the offer accepts.

The average M Search search closes in 60–90 days from brief to accepted offer. Some searches move faster. PE-backed searches with board-level urgency can close in 45–60 days when the mandate is well-defined from the start.

M Search stays engaged through the first 90 days. Graham checks in with both the client and the hire at 30, 60, and 90 days — not to monitor the placement, but to surface anything that needs to be addressed while there is still time to address it.

Most executive search firms consider the engagement closed at offer acceptance. M Search considers it closed when the hire is working. The 90-day check-ins exist because early misalignments — between the hire's approach and the CEO's expectations, between the inherited team and the new leader — are fixable at 60 days and very difficult to fix at six months.