foundr

What foundr does

Foundr, operating as FOUNDR TALENT LLC, is a boutique talent search firm founded in 2024 in San Francisco by co-founders Bruce Pendrey and Rob Portwood. The firm places senior talent at VC-backed startups across four explicit practice areas — AI/ML, Engineering, Security, and GTM — and serves clients from pre-seed through Series C+. Delivery is partner-led: a single senior partner runs each search from intake to close, supported by 90-minute working sessions, written candidate narratives, and a 90-day post-placement pulse check. Named portfolio backers referenced in client materials include Sequoia, a16z, YC, Bain Capital Ventures, Lightspeed, Decibel, Rock Health, and Trail Mix Ventures.

The firm offers three engagement models: contingent recruitment (transaction-fee on placement), embedded recruiter (fixed monthly retainer with a three-month minimum), and retained executive search (three-tranche billing for senior leadership roles). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; revenue is generated through placement fees calculated as a percentage of first-year base salary on contingent work, monthly retainers on embedded engagements, and multi-tranche payments on retained searches. Distribution is entirely direct, driven by inbound website contact forms, a 30-minute partner discovery call, and content marketing.

Operationally, Foundr is small, with approximately six operators, recruiters, and researchers based across a San Francisco (Mission Bay) headquarters and a Denver (Cherry Creek) office, and it reaches clients in the US, UK, and broader Western Europe. The firm publishes a quarterly insights blog and compensation benchmark reports derived from its own closed searches. No public funding, acquisition, or partnership activity is disclosed, and the website reports zero hires placed in the 2025-26 period while stating it is now booking Q2 2026 searches.

Name

foundr

Legal name

FOUNDR TALENT LLC

Website

https://foundr.xyz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Foundr is a boutique San Francisco-based talent search firm placing senior operators, engineers, security, and GTM leaders at VC-backed startups across AI/ML, Engineering, Security, and GTM practice areas via contingent, embedded, and retained engagement models.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search & Recruiting Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Functional Leadership Search (HR/Finance/Legal/Marketing/Sales/Ops) (BPACAAAB), Sales, Marketing & Customer Success Direct Hire (BPACAFAD), Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Technical recruiting
• Startup talent acquisition
• Contingent recruitment
• Retained search

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Contingent Recruitment: Placement fee based on percentage of first-year base salary, billed only when a candidate signs an offer. Most flexible model with no retainer or commitment required.
2. Embedded Recruiter: Fixed monthly retainer engagement. Senior recruiter embedded into client team for a fixed period. Requires 3-month minimum commitment. Built for companies hiring 5-20+ people per quarter.
3. Retained Executive Search: Exclusive single-search engagement for senior leadership positions (C-level, VP, first-of-function hires). Billed across three tranches throughout the search process. Weekly written progress reports included.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Foundr is a private recruiting firm that sources and places AI/ML, engineering, security, and go-to-market talent into VC-backed startups. The firm offers three engagement models: Contingent Recruitment (success-based placement), Embedded Recruiter (fractional in-house recruiting), and Retained Executive Search (exclusive senior leadership searches). Founded in 2024, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco with a Denver office and operates with a 5–6 person partner-led team.

Product overview

Foundr operates as a recruiting services firm offering three core engagement models: Contingent Recruitment (success-based placement), Embedded Recruiter (fractional in-house talent function), and Retained Executive Search (exclusive senior leadership searches). The firm specializes in four practice areas—AI/ML, Engineering, Security, and GTM—each staffed by partners with operational experience. All engagements include written candidate narratives, senior-to-senior outreach, and 90-day pulse follow-ups. Foundr also publishes quarterly compensation benchmark reports derived from their closed searches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Contingent Recruitment Success-based recruiting engagement in which Foundr sources, vets, and places candidates for AI/ML, engineering, security, or go-to-market roles at VC-backed startups; the firm is paid a fee only upon successful placement.
• Embedded Recruiter Fractional in-house recruiting engagement in which a Foundr recruiter operates as an extension of the client's team on a recurring monthly basis, providing ongoing talent acquisition support for VC-backed startups.
• Retained Executive Search Exclusive senior leadership search engagement for VC-backed startups hiring C-suite and other senior executive talent, backed by a retained fee structure and Foundr's partner-led search methodology.

Quantifiable outcome

• Founding engineers hired in under 3 weeks
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stott and May: UK-headquartered search firm specializing in technology, product, and engineering hires for venture-backed and scale-up businesses. Closely comparable business model and target customer segment to Foundr, with broader geographic reach in EMEA.
• Storm4: Specialist tech and climate tech recruitment firm targeting venture-backed and growth-stage companies. Comparable niche focus and VC-backed customer base, with particular overlap in engineering and AI/data placements.
• Riviera Partners: Tech-focused executive search firm placing engineering, product, design, and GTM leaders into venture-backed and growth-stage companies. Most directly comparable to Foundr's senior-partner-led, tech-startup-focused search model.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a substantial executive search and talent acquisition practice. Comparable on retained executive search, talent assessment, and HR advisory, though operating at much larger scale across all industries.
• Spencer Stuart: Global executive search and leadership consulting firm with deep technology and venture coverage. Comparable on retained executive search and senior leadership placement, with substantially broader industry coverage and scale.
• Egon Zehnder: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with deep tech and venture practice coverage. Overlaps with Foundr's retained executive search for C-level and first-of-function roles at scale-stage and venture-backed companies.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with a large technology and venture practices. Comparable on the retained executive search side of Foundr's offering, though much broader in scope and significantly larger in scale.

Emerging players

• Pangea.app: Fractional talent platform connecting startups with vetted independent professionals across product, engineering, design, and marketing. Comparable in serving early-to-growth stage startups with curated, embedded-style engagements.
• A.Team: Talent platform focused on placing vetted product, engineering, and design teams into venture-backed startups on a fractional or project basis. Comparable target customer (VC-backed startups) and overlapping value proposition of high-touch, curated talent sourcing.
• Glint: Tech-focused recruitment firm placing engineering, product, and design talent into venture-backed startups. Comparable business model targeting the same VC-startup customer segment as Foundr.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/talentfoundr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foundrtalent

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about foundr