I spend my time in a few areas: in the nuts and bolts of search; in pure research, and, most excitingly for me; in developing our coverage of & thesis on operators. I think that Europe is still some way behind the States, but the opportunity is massive for operators wanting to get into early-stage investing. The tech scene in Europe is exploding, and with it comes a wave of talent that has experience in the weeds of ambitious, high-growth tech start-ups. I want to find them (you!).
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Success means working with the very best teams in the space who are hyper-collaborative and share our values.It’s not about the placement – it’s about how we get there together.
My edge
I think that immersion in the early-stage tech space is my edge. My Twitter feed is exclusively VCs and tech personalities; I was active on Clubhouse (back when that was still a thing!) and I try and keep abreast of all the major investments and developments in the ecosystem through the many newsletters & podcasts I subscribe to. I think it keeps us really credible in the space – we’re not just recruiters, but informed and specialised talent partners.
KEA
What do you enjoy about the Kea team?
JC
The Kea team aren’t just my colleagues and people that I respect – they’re my friends. I think that it’s a very rare thing to have such a high-performing team also be as functional as we are!
KEA
How have your outside passions & education influenced your day-to-day at Kea?
JC
I read Music at University and spent a year singing with Trinity College Cambridge. A lot of those soft skills – close, active listening, verbal & non-verbal communication and expression – I use every day on the job.
KEA
How does your personal life interplay with Kea’s values?
JC
I get all of my energy from being around other people. I love being the ‘hype man’. However, the Kea value of Positive Energy doesn’t just mean relentless optimism to me – often, I think it’s way more valuable to be able to sit with someone and acknowledge how difficult a situation is, and then either work through a productive solution... or sometimes just be there for a conciliatory pint.
Relationship First is the Kea value that speaks most to me: careers on the buy-side are long, and you don’t get kudos as a headhunter simply by being the person who picked up the phone to sell them a role. I want to be able to offer counsel to clients, occasionally tough advice, a deep insight into a candidate or simply just market insights or compensation benchmarking with no expectation of anything back. Life isn’t a zero-sum game, and nor is this industry – it’s about the relationships you build.