Boutique search · Engineering, Revenue & Go-to-Market
The people who can build it and sell it
aren't applying.
Founder-led search across engineering, revenue, and go-to-market, from founding hires to the teams that scale them. No handoffs. I find the people who fit your stage, have the conversation most companies can't get, and move at the pace your hire actually needs.
Right now, several hires in active interviews. None came from a job post.
- Senior Infrastructure / Platform EngineerSan Francisco · $250–350K
- AI/ML EngineerAustin · $175–250K
- Founding Engineer ×2Palo Alto · $150–200K + equity
- ML Infrastructure EngineerSan Francisco · $200–400K
- Staff Full-Stack Engineer, Tech LeadSF or NY · $275–300K
- Senior Site Reliability EngineerSan Francisco · $170–250K
- Senior Backend EngineerSan Francisco · $200–250K
- AI Platform EngineerSan Francisco · $200–300K
The problem
A job posting gets you who's available. You need who's building and who's closing.
The engineers who can scale your systems and the leaders who can scale your revenue are employed, heads-down, and nowhere near a job board. They move for the right problem when the right person brings it.
How a search runs
Forty considered. One delivered.
Not a funnel. I map the field, reach the few who truly fit, and hand you a shortlist worth meeting, often in weeks, not months.
What a focused search looks like
Proof, not adjectives.
What I search for
From the people who build it to the people who sell it.
The hires that decide a startup's next stage, across both the technical and the go-to-market side. I run search across all of it, at the seniority and the speed each role needs.
Platform, Infrastructure & AI
The engineers who build and scale the systems everything else runs on, and ship the AI on top of them.
Engineering, IC to leadership
Backend, data, and reliability engineers through founding, staff, and VP-level technical leaders.
Revenue Leadership
CROs, VPs of Sales, and heads of revenue who build the engine that turns product into predictable growth.
Sales, GTM & Marketing
Account executives, go-to-market, partnerships, and marketing hires who open markets and move pipeline now.
Early-stage to growth startups. Searches scoped to move quickly once we're aligned.
Founder-led. No handoffs.
Few searches. Full attention.
Ten years in recruiting and a decade of sales experience, on both sides of the table. I take on a limited number of searches at a time and run each one myself, from intake to close. No junior recruiter, no CRM, no handoffs. Just the depth and long-term fit that make or break a key hire at this stage, whether it's a founding engineer or your first revenue leader.
For engineers, operators & go-to-market talent
You don't have to apply to anything.
If you're heads-down doing the best work of your career and quietly open to the right move, get on my radar. I'll bring the right thing to you when it shows up.
Questions founders ask
How founder-led search works.
What does founder-led search mean?
Every search is run by me, Chasen Nick, personally. Intake, sourcing, outreach, screening, and offer all happen with the same person you met on the first call. There are no handoffs to junior recruiters or account managers at any point.
What roles does Chasen Talent recruit?
On the engineering side: founding engineers, platform, infrastructure, and AI engineers, through staff-level ICs and VP Engineering. On the revenue side: CROs, VPs of Sales, account executives, go-to-market, partnerships, and marketing hires. All for early-stage to growth startups.
How is a boutique search firm different from a large agency?
Volume. A large agency runs many searches per recruiter and sends you who surfaces fastest. I take on a few searches at a time so each one gets full attention, and I go directly to people who are not applying anywhere, not the same active candidates every agency is forwarding.
Why do you say the best people aren't applying?
Because they're employed and heads-down building or selling. They don't read job boards. They move only when the right person brings the right role, which is exactly the conversation I have on your behalf.
Where do you place candidates?
California, New York, and remote roles across the United States.
Hiring across engineering, revenue, or go-to-market?
Let's talk. 30 minutes, no pitch deck.
Book a call