In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, hosts Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton dive into the research, targeting, and outreach phase of executive hiring - the point where many searches either gain momentum or quietly stall. Building on their prior discussion about kickoff alignment and scorecards, they argue that success at this stage depends less on effort and more on judgment, focus, and preparation.

Gerard and Dan walk through how to build a strategic target list that goes beyond obvious competitors. While direct peer companies are a natural starting point, they encourage leaders to think more creatively by identifying organizations facing similar challenges, operating at comparable scale, or solving adjacent problems. This broader lens often surfaces exceptional candidates who would never appear in a traditional competitor-only search.

They emphasize the importance of narrowing focus within each target company. Rather than reaching out to dozens of people with loosely matching titles, they advocate identifying five to ten individuals whose experience, timing, team context, and reporting structure genuinely align with the role. This disciplined filtering allows for deeper research and more credible outreach.

A central theme of the episode is personalization. Gerard and Dan explain why thoughtful, research-backed messages - ones that acknowledge a candidate’s career path, current context, and potential hesitation dramatically outperform generic or automated outreach.

The episode also tackles confidential searches, outlining how to maintain momentum without oversharing. By leading with a compelling high-level narrative about scale, growth, or impact, and building trust over time, hiring managers can engage strong candidates even when details are limited.

Ultimately, this conversation reframes sourcing as relationship-building rather than lead generation. The goal isn’t activity for its own sake - it’s creating a small, high-quality pipeline of executives who are genuinely worth engaging.

What You’ll Learn

• How to build strategic target lists by combining competitive intelligence with creative profile thinking
• Why narrowing your focus to a small number of highly relevant candidates increases response rates and quality
• How to personalize outreach in a way that feels human, credible, and respectful of a candidate’s context
• How to pressure-test your employer brand and address objections before candidates raise them
• How to approach confidential searches without losing candidate trust or engagement
• Why quality, response rate, and long-term relationships matter more than outreach volume or activity metrics

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Mission One: The Executive Edge is brought to you by Mission One. They ensure founders and senior leaders make the most important hires they’ll ever make across consumer tech, AI, gaming, and entertainment.

If you’re building your leadership team or considering your next move to the C-suite, connect with Gerard Miles or Dan Hampton on LinkedIn, or visit missionone.io/contact-us.

FAQs

Q: Where should hiring managers start when building a target list?
A: Start with competitors and adjacent companies solving the same problem. This grounds the search in reality. Once the obvious options are covered properly, you can expand creatively into adjacent industries facing similar challenges, but skipping the basics usually weakens credibility early.

Q: Why does quality outreach outperform high-volume messaging in executive hiring?
A: Because senior candidates are inundated with generic messages and quickly filter them out. Ten well-researched, thoughtful messages to the right people often generate more real conversations than hundreds of templated pings. At this level, relevance and credibility drive response, not persistence.

Q: What is the “Russian doll” approach to candidate targeting?
A: It’s a method of narrowing focus through multiple layers - company, time period, product, geography, team, and reporting line, until you identify the two to four individuals who actually drove meaningful outcomes. This prevents wasted effort on large lists where most candidates were peripheral to the success you want to replicate.

Q: Why does time period matter more than job title in executive searches?
A: Because leaders who solved a problem at the right stage are often more relevant than those holding senior titles today. Someone who built systems during a company’s early growth phase may be a far better fit than someone managing mature operations at scale.

Q: How should hiring teams think about outreach when candidates aren’t actively looking?
A: As relationship-building, not transaction-making. Today’s “not looking” executive may be tomorrow’s hire or your best referral. Thoughtful outreach that shows genuine understanding creates trust and keeps doors open long after a specific role is filled.

Episode Resources:

• Gerard Miles on LinkedIn
• Dan Hampton on LinkedIn
• Mission One: The Executive Edge on Apple Podcasts
• Mission One: The Executive Edge on Spotify
• Mission One: The Executive Edge on YouTube

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