The search your next leader deserves — run by one person, start to finish.
Foundry Search is a talent advisory and retained executive search firm placing senior Engineering, Product, Design, and AI leadership at venture-backed, private equity–backed, and public companies. Every engagement is led personally by the founder. No handoffs, no junior researchers, no B team.
A Partnership beyond Search
The relationship does not end at the offer letter. It usually starts there.
We personally handle each search — offering a premier recruiting experience only a specialized boutique firm can offer. You work directly with the person doing the research, the outreach, and the assessment.
We work in partnership to deeply understand the unique needs and preferences of our clients and our candidates — because a leadership hire only works when both sides were told the truth.
We only recruit for one function — technology leadership — but we recruit for it everywhere. The companies span fintech, healthcare, retail, security, and infrastructure, across venture-backed, public, and private equity ownership.
The person you meet runs your search
No pitch team that disappears after kickoff. The founder does the mapping, the outreach, the interviews, and the close — and is on every one of your calls.
A limited book, on purpose
We take on a small number of searches at a time. That constraint is the product — it is what lets us go deep on your market instead of wide on ours.
Built on two careers, not one
Before founding Foundry Search, Dante was a partner at Riviera Partners and a management consultant at Accenture, Diamond Technology Partners, and Cognizant.
Where we go deep
Engineering Leadership
CTO, SVP & VP Engineering, Chief Architect, VP Platform, VP Infrastructure.
Product Leadership
CPO, SVP & VP Product, Head of Platform Product, Head of Growth.
Design Leadership
Chief Design Officer, VP Design, Head of Product Design, Head of Research.
AI & Data Leadership
VP of AI, Chief AI Officer, VP Machine Learning, VP Data, Head of Research.
Technology Ops & Security
CIO, CISO, VP IT, VP Technical Operations.
Not on the list?
Most searches start with a role that does not fit a template. Tell us what you are solving for.
Seed to public, and the messy parts in between
A first VP of Engineering and a public-company CTO are different jobs with different candidate pools. We calibrate to the stage you are actually at, not the one on the org chart.
Venture-backed
Founder-led teams hiring their first real executive layer, and Series B–D companies replacing a builder with a scaler — or the reverse.
Private equity–backed
Leaders who can hold a number and a roadmap at the same time, and who have lived through a value-creation plan rather than read about one.
Public companies
Senior appointments where governance, scale, and succession matter as much as raw technical range — handled with the discretion those searches require.
A search you can actually follow
Growth stage through public companies
We do not publish client names. This reflects the full range of Dante’s search work, across his time at both Riviera Partners and Foundry Search — the same partner-led process runs whether the company is a growth-stage startup, late-stage private infrastructure, or a public company.
“Dante is genuinely great to work with — sharp, direct, and honest about who’s actually a fit. His network across all technology roles is as deep as anyone’s I know, and he simply delivers.”Dejan Deklich, CTO, Rapid7
“Navigating an executive level move demands expertise, knowledge, and most importantly, trust. Dante stands out because he combines true technical understanding with high-touch, professional guidance. He kept me informed and supported at every milestone during my VP of AI search, and I’d recommend working with him without hesitation to any executive, from senior professionals to someone considering an early-stage leap.”Alexander Liss, VP of AI, Aisera
Let’s talk about the leader you need to hire.
A 30-minute call, no pitch deck. If a retained search is not the right answer, we will say so.