Featured Ask The Expert Question

senior executive looking to transition into a new career
 

 
February: Executive Career Transitions
 

“I am contemplating transitioning from a large corporation to a startup or smaller PE-funded company. I have spent the last ten years in leadership roles at a large telecommunications company with GM accountability for a $60M P&L. I can easily transition within that industry, but I'd like to go to a startup and I want to know the best way to go to those companies at a leadership level. What is the right positioning of myself? Are there a set of contacts I should be working with?”

Daniel A. Kaplan, Partner with CTPartners and AESC Americas Council Member, discusses how to transition between industries:

 

"There are three approaches which could lead to a successful executive career transition in this situation:

  • To start, I would recommend the candidate contact the headhunters and executive recruitment professionals with whom he/she has relationships and ask for introductions to the partners in their respective Private Equity or VC practices. The most likely transitional point would be a telecommunication start up with logical correlations to the individual’s experience. It’s not guaranteed, but it is fairly typical to see a GM with $60 mil P+L assume a COO job or CEO role in a start-up if they can demonstrate entrepreneurial flare, an ability to roll up their sleeves, and they remain focused on a space with natural synergies to their past.
  • Secondly, they should identify the funds that have significant capital allocated to the telecom space and identify the headhunters / executive recruiters they most frequently employ.
  • Finally, if the individual has well vetted investment ideas, the deal teams at these firms will generally want to listen.”

 

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