About the firm · Pleasanton, California

most search firms run twenty crossings at once. we run yours, and only yours, until the leader is safely on the other side.

Ferryman Talent was built on a stubborn idea: that a single executive hire deserves the whole of a recruiter's attention, not a slice of it. We take one operations or finance search at a time, price it as a flat fee, and stay through the first ninety days.

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“They turned down our search twice because they had another one live. When they said yes, we understood why — we had all of them.”

Series B SaaS PE-backed manufacturers growth-stage fintech founder-led services firms
An executive recruiter reviewing a printed candidate scorecard by late-afternoon light
A single ferry crossing a river toward a city at dusk
Why the name

The ferryman doesn't sell you the boat. He gets one passenger across the water, safely, and doesn't push off until they're aboard.

The story

a firm shaped around one number

Ferryman Talent started with a resignation letter — the founder's own, handed to a contingency shop that measured recruiters by how many searches they could juggle.

The math there is simple and unkind: the more roles you carry, the thinner your attention spreads, and the better a fast, forgettable placement looks against a careful one. Growth-stage companies felt it most. They were handing real authority to a first proper COO or CFO, and getting a stack of lightly-screened résumés in return.

So we inverted the model. One active search per client, from the intake conversation to the signed offer. A flat fee agreed up front, so a larger compensation package never quietly inflates our invoice. Written scorecards instead of warm-introduction shrugs. And ninety days of onboarding check-ins, because a hire that signs and a hire that lands are not the same thing.

We're a small Pleasanton firm by design. The market here — the East Bay and Silicon Valley operating talent — is one we know street by street, and it's close enough that intake can happen across a table rather than a screen.

What we hold to

four things we won't trade away

These aren't values on a wall. They're the constraints that make the one-search model actually work — and the reasons we sometimes say no.

01

evidence over instinct

Every finalist arrives rated against the scope we agreed, argued in full sentences. You should be able to defend a hire to your board without reaching for a gut feeling.

02

the fee is fixed first

We agree the price before the search begins and it doesn't move with the candidate's salary. Incentives that reward inflated offers have no place in our billing.

03

one seat at a time

Your search is never third in a queue. We take a single engagement per client and see it through, which is also why our calendar is honest about when we're free.

04

present at the landing

The offer signing is the middle of the story, not the end. We stay through the first ninety days so a promising hire becomes a leader the team trusts.

Who does the work

the same hands, from intake to offer

There's no research pod handing you off to a closer. The person who scopes your role is the person who reads the market, writes the scorecards, and sits in on the final conversation.

Founder & lead search partner

who runs your search

A single search partner owns the engagement end to end — the intake, the market map, the vetting, and the recommendation. When you call, you reach the person who has read every résumé in your shortlist, not an account manager reading a status note.

Vetting & scorecards

how candidates are read

Every finalist is interviewed against the exact competencies we scoped with you, reference-checked, and written up in plain language. The scorecard is the document your board actually reads before an offer goes out — no adjectives, just how each person maps to where you're going.

What working together looks like

the crossing, stage by stage

From the first conversation to the day a new leader is genuinely settled — here's the water we cover together.

intake & scope

We sit down — at our office, your boardroom, or on a call — and define the seat: the mandate, the competencies that matter, and what success looks like at day 180. The flat fee is agreed here, in writing.

Week one

market map & sourcing

We build a picture of who's out there — active and passive — across the East Bay, Silicon Valley, and further where the role warrants it. You see the map, not just the names that reply to a message.

Weeks one to three

vetting & the shortlist

Four to six finalists, each interviewed, reference-checked, and rated against your scope in a written scorecard. Most operations and finance searches reach this stage within four to six weeks of intake.

Weeks four to six

offer & the landing

We help structure and close the offer, then stay for ninety days of onboarding check-ins with the new leader and the team. Permanent searches carry a six-month replacement commitment, at no additional engagement fee.

Week ten onward
Ready when you are

tell us about the seat you need filled

Send the role, the stage you're at, and when the hire has to be in place. You'll hear back within one business day — usually with a first read on how the search would run and what it would cost.

Request a search Call (925) 408-2985
Find us 3061 Badger Dr
Pleasanton, CA 94566
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Talk to us (925) 408-2985
hello@ferrymantalent.com
Open for intake
Mon – Fri8:30am – 4:00pm
Saturday10:00am – 3:00pm
SundayClosed