Mitchells Start a search

The early hires decide what a company becomes.

Recruiting and talent research for venture-backed startups and the investors behind them.

Approach

Great companies are built by a handful of people who could work anywhere. We find them through research, patience and discretion, and we take on only as many searches as we can run well.

We place engineering, AI, go-to-market and leadership talent from seed through growth, and we help the investors behind those companies read the market before a search begins.

Start a search

Practice

Who we place

Four search areas, all inside venture-backed companies from seed through growth.

  • Engineering

    Founding engineers, senior individual contributors, and the infrastructure and platform teams everything else runs on.

    Typical searches

    • Founding Engineer
    • Staff & Principal Engineer
    • Infrastructure & Platform
    • Security Engineering

  • AI & Machine Learning

    Researchers and engineers who take models from a paper to a product customers pay for.

    Typical searches

    • Machine Learning Engineer
    • Research Engineer
    • Applied Scientist
    • AI Infrastructure

  • Go-to-Market

    The first sellers, and the leaders who turn early traction into a repeatable motion.

    Typical searches

    • Founding Account Executive
    • Sales Engineering
    • Developer Relations
    • Product Marketing

  • Leadership

    Executives and first functional leaders for companies at an inflection point.

    Typical searches

    • CTO & VP Engineering
    • VP Sales
    • Head of Product
    • Chief of Staff

  • Something else?

    If the role is critical to a venture-backed team, we would like to hear about it.

    Start a search

Research

Know the market before you make the hire.

Venture firms bring us in before a search exists. We map talent markets for investors and their portfolio companies, so hiring plans start from evidence rather than instinct.

Illustrative market map 240 profiles · 5 clusters · 7 first calls

  • Market maps

    Who is building in a space, where the strongest people sit today, and what it would take to move them.

  • Talent benchmarks

    Compensation, scarcity and time to hire for a specific role, team or city.

  • Portfolio support

    A standing search partner for the companies you back, focused on the hires that unlock the next stage.

Process

How a search runs

Four stages, and each one ends with something you keep.

01

Brief

We start with the business. What does this person need to accomplish in their first year, and what would make them leave?

You receiveA written search brief

02

Map

Before any outreach, we map the market: the companies, teams and individuals who fit, and what it will take to move them.

You receiveA market map you keep

03

Slate

A short, considered slate. Every candidate comes with a written view on fit, motivation and risk.

You receiveA slate with written notes on every candidate

04

Close

We manage the offer, references and resignation, and we stay in touch after the start date.

You receiveOffer strategy, and check-ins after the start date

Cheyenne Mitchell, founder of Mitchells Agency

Founder

Cheyenne Mitchell

Cheyenne leads every Mitchells search personally. Founders and investors work with the same person from the first conversation to the signed offer.

The firm is small by choice. Keeping the number of active searches low gives each one real attention.

Model
Principal-led, every search
Ownership
Female-founded
Works with
Founders, venture firms and their portfolio companies

Contact

Start a search

Email

Candidates

Exploring your next role? Introduce yourself at the same address.

Clients in

San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boise