Proptech Startup
the role
Chief Technology Officer
THE CHALLENGE
After Summit Search Consultants successfully placed the Founder & CEO of a high-growth startup, a new challenge quickly emerged: the company needed a hands-on technical leader and product owner—someone who could serve as both CTO and builder, capable of turning vision into reality.
The CEO turned to job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed, and was initially encouraged by the volume—over 300 applicants poured in. But that optimism quickly faded. Not a single candidate met even the basic requirements.
This wasn’t just a hard-to-fill role—it was a unicorn profile:
A current, hands-on CTO who still writes code
A Computer Science degree (non-negotiable)
Proven success in early-stage startups, ideally having built engineering teams from the ground up
Deep alignment with, or experience in, climate tech or proptech
And to complicate things further, it was an onsite role in the Bay Area—offering below-market compensation
With time and funding on the line, the founder faced the growing risk of stalled product development without the right technical partner in place. That’s when they re-engaged Summit Search Consultants to lead a focused, high-touch search built for nuance and speed.
OUR approach
To meet the CEO’s highly specific and non-negotiable requirements, Summit Search Consultants deployed a precision headhunting strategy, targeting a narrow pool of hands-on CTOs with proven early-stage startup success, technical depth, and domain familiarity in climate tech or proptech.
Our team curated a shortlist of 15 highly qualified candidates, each of whom underwent a rigorous 5-step interview process, including a technical coding assessment to validate both hands-on capability and leadership potential.
The Result
This thorough vetting process produced three standout finalists, giving the CEO multiple high-confidence options for this mission-critical hire.
The selected candidate—a diverse leader who met 100% of the CEO’s criteria.
“I really appreciate how hard your team worked on this difficult CTO search, finding a needle in a haystack.”
— CEO, Energy Raven
