Why has Schweichler Price & Partners become one of the top Bay Area Search Firms serving technology companies? Why are we repeatedly chosen to represent high profile private and public companies?

Here are 10 reasons...

1. We know your market, and what you are trying to do.  Or, we intend to find out!

We have been around as the technology industry has blossomed from infancy into its current state.  We know the full “food chain” from semiconductors and materials to sub-systems to capital equipment, to computing and networking, to wireless (infrastructure and mobility), to energy and clean tech.  Yet we treat every situation as a brand new search, making no assumptions.  Our knowledge is a framework.  Your search is a mosaic.  We want to learn the nuances of your company, get the story down cold, sharpen the message and hit the market with a concise, clear, educated story.  It makes a difference with candidates!  And our clients appreciate the diligence.  It’s intellectually stimulating to us, necessary, and fun to take care in this part of the process.

2. We have the range to handle early-stage, all the way to large public companies.

We are dynamic and operate like a startup, but very professional.  You may see us around a startup water cooler, or in a billion dollar company’s Board room.  We’re comfortable in either of these situations and these are complimentary skills.  We apply the rigor and creativity required to succeed in the fast paced venture community to our public company searches, and our clients are astounded by our energy and speed of movement.  They compare us to the larger firms and tell us they are amazed by the difference.  Then we apply the detail oriented, high-touch, elegant approach necessary to succeed for public clients to our venture backed clients.  They see us as highly differentiated from our more transactional, contingency minded competitors.  They see us as an institution that they can rely on, every search, every year.  A firm that is really paying attention to them.  The candidates see the difference too, as they know they’ll be handled with great care. 

3. We can find the best candidates, wherever they are.

We're well-connected in your market space because we have history, and because chances are, we’ve already run at least a project or two in the category where you are operating.  Sometimes dozens of projects.  We know where to go. Our research investments, infrastructure and staff are second to none so they can mine entire industries in days and sometimes hours, canvassing the sector and pointing the senior staff to the “A” people. And once we've identified prospects, we're very skillful at turning them into interested candidates.  We are very specific about approaching sector “outperformers” as a first target, and we aim high every time.  We really want to find the next Dennis Barsema, John Chambers, Dan Warmenhoven, Marc Randall, Frank Slootman, etc.  It’s what motivates us more than anything!

4. We know how to build top management teams.

We have a great track record in finding Presidents and CEOs, as well as VPs of Marketing, Sales, Engineering, Business Development, Finance, Operations, and Professional Services.  Our candidates’ success rates are extremely high, and we track them closely.  That’s why more of our clients go public, more get acquired for premiums, few of them “flake out”, etc.  Some of our competitors can claim a lot of success filling searches.  But can they really show a sustained track record among the candidates they placed?  Ask them for the complete list.  Then ask us.  Our work speaks for itself, and is manifest in our client companies’ stellar track records.

5. We only accept searches where we know we can win and deliver.

We are getting better every year at spotting situations where we know we can execute successfully.  And if we think a situation is troubled or structured improperly, we discreetly consult with our clients to show them architectures we believe can lead to success.  They appreciate the feedback, as it’s always constructive.  When we take on your search, know that we head into it with great confidence after our own due diligence.

6. We drive the process.

When you book a search firm, you should be able to relax and let them take on every detail of the project, and drive it from start to finish.  Your work should be minimal.  Everything from developing the working job description to the target list, to where to look and why, to scheduling all candidate meetings should be handled by the search firm.  You should get your money’s worth and perform your “day job.”  Our process is intense internally—and high impact, but low overhead for clients.  It’s a fully transparent process where clients can see as much or as little detail as they need, in order to know that their search is running smoothly towards successful conclusion.

7. We give you a full Partner’s, or Vice President’s full attention, beginning to end.

We NEVER hand off work to junior people and disappear, and we don’t misrepresent who is doing the “real work.”  Senior people run the search from start to finish, interview every candidate in person, and personally drive the project.  Our Partners run every search they book personally.  If our client decides to use one of our Vice President level professionals, they know clearly that that is the person who is running their project and they buy into them personally, completely.

8. We tell you exactly what's going on.

We keep you posted on the status of your search and any changes in its direction. And we alert you right away to any steps requiring fast action.  Weekly reports are standard, and comprehensive, and when a search gets intense—towards closure—we are available day and night, weekends, whatever it takes, communicating constantly with our clients and candidates to make sure it all comes together smoothly.

9. We don't give up. We finish the search.

Our success rate is 100%: in 22 years, the only searches we haven't completed are the searches our clients called off or where a situation became clearly untenable and both sides decided to pause.  We don’t get fired, and we don’t give up when searches get hard.

10. We deliver what counts: on-the-job success.

The candidates we recruit show an unusually high rate of superb on-the-job results. These people truly "make a difference" at our client companies.  It’s all about this.  How well did our client do?  How well did our candidate perform?  Everything else a search firm can sell is just marketing and talk.  It’s about the track record…