Strategic Talent Partner for High-Growth Tech
Strategic Talent Partner for High-Growth Tech
Our Approach
RKO Partners collaborates with high-growth tech startups by fully embedding in our clients' company culture, delivering talent strategies that drive real impact and long-term results.
With deep leadership recruitment expertise in fast-moving tech environments, we prioritize quality over quantity, investing the time needed to truly understand each company's unique challenges. We tailor our approach to fit specific needs and focus on building lasting, trusted partnerships.
How We Work
Embedded Partnership
We act as an extension of our clients' teams. A true strategic talent partner. Immersed in culture and workflow, and aligned on goals.
Flexible by Design
We offer a flexible menu of services tailored to our clients' specific needs, whether it's end-to-end recruitment process outsourcing, retained executive search, or augmenting internal teams on tough-to-fill roles.
Intentional & Focused
We take on a limited number of projects so we can go deep. We're deliberate about the partnerships we pursue, ensuring each is built on shared values and long-term alignment.
Transparent Communication
We value direct, straightforward updates and feedback. Transparency builds trust and drives momentum.
Trusted Relationships
100% of our clients come from referrals. Our hires often become clients themselves. We invest in relationships that compound over time.
Proven Results
Explore real-world examples of how we've built impactful leadership teams across key functions in high-growth tech companies.
Challenge: Preparing for rapid global expansion, the company needed to hire a strategic Chief Financial Officer to oversee financial operations, manage international budgets, and drive growth as they entered new markets.
Solution: Partnered with the Chief Executive Officer and Chief People Officer on a highly targeted search for a CFO with deep international finance experience and relevant industry expertise. Focused on candidates who could not only manage financial operations but also serve as a key strategic partner to the leadership team.
Outcome: Successfully placed a CFO who optimized financial systems for scale and ensured multi-country compliance. The hire had an immediate impact, leading to a rapid promotion within six months with the addition of Chief Operating Officer (COO) responsibilities.
Challenge: As a hypergrowth company prepared for IPO, they needed to scale their sales and marketing functions with leaders who could drive revenue growth while navigating the complexities of a larger organization.
Solution: Partnered with senior GTM leaders, including the Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, to recruit key VPs and Senior Directors across sales, go-to-market strategy, data and analytics, customer success, field operations, product marketing and demand generation. Focused on candidates with both startup agility and the ability to anticipate challenges at scale.
Outcome: Successfully placed a high-performing GTM leadership team and revenue-generating sales leaders who accelerated revenue growth, optimized customer retention, and established a scalable go-to-market strategy to support the company’s expansion.
Challenge: Amid rapid growth, the company needed to build a world-class legal leadership team to support scaling, ensure compliance, and navigate a successful IPO.
Solution: Partnered with the Chief Legal Officer to lead executive searches for multiple key legal leadership roles, including Directors and Senior Directors across corporate, commercial, product, risk and employment law.
Outcome: Successfully built a cohesive legal leadership team designed for long-term scalability, resulting in 0% leadership turnover over five years. As the company grew, several of the leaders advanced to VP roles. The team played a pivotal role in compliance, risk mitigation, and strategic decision-making through the company’s IPO and beyond.
Challenge: The company was in a critical stage post-IPO, adapting to a rapidly shifting market landscape driven by the AI revolution. The Chief Product Officer sought experienced leaders to drive innovation across key areas, including core product development, pricing, and monetization strategies.
Solution: Partnered closely with the Chief Product Officer to identify and hire top-tier product executives, including VPs and Senior Directors, to lead specialized product functions. Focused on candidates with deep expertise in scaling post-IPO companies and driving revenue growth through strategic product initiatives.
Outcome: Successfully placed multiple product leaders who played a pivotal role in refining the company’s product strategy, optimizing monetization, and driving continued growth and innovation as the company scaled towards $1B in annual recurring revenue.
About the Founder
Rich Kahn
Founder & Executive Search Consultant
With over 15 years of executive search and talent acquisition experience, Rich has a proven track record of helping high-growth tech startups build world-class leadership teams.
He built and led executive search at GitLab through its IPO, and previously served as a VP at a national search firm. His work includes hundreds of successful placements across engineering, security, product, sales, marketing, people, and operations.
Rich brings a unique perspective from both in-house and agency roles and is known for embedding deeply with clients to deliver high-impact, tailored solutions.
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