As the great CEO exodus continues, companies are now having to look for replacements in their C-suites amid a tight labor market. TrueBridge connects companies to a network of high-quality executives, who are looking for the flexibility and variety that short-term, interim and fractional work provides. Founder and CEO Dave Beuerlein joined Cheddar News to discuss how the company is disrupting how companies hire top executives. 

Opening Bell

TrueBridge Connects Companies To High-Quality Executives

joining me now is David Burr line ceo of True Bridge. Dave. This is pretty interesting. I don't know that I've ever heard of a company that does something like this and what a time to kind of do it right. Just break down for us. How true bridge helps companies find these top executives, especially in this tight labor market. Yeah, great question. And thanks for having me, Alicia, nice to meet you. It's a fascinating time. And and the reason you haven't heard about it much, it hasn't existed that much in the past. But if you think about things that you talk about every day, the great resignation work from home, the record number of senior level job openings, the economic uncertainty that we're facing all those things make this the right time for the need for interim and fractional talent, which is what true bridge provides. So what we do is we work with companies, we get to know great executives. I can talk to you more about that as well too. But we get to know the great executives, we know what makes them interested, what makes them strong, what makes them good for clients. And then we know what our clients are looking for and we make that match. We put them together and we allow companies to access great talent much faster than they could in any other way. Well, let's back up for a second because I'm curious to get your take in terms of why you think we're seeing this kind of great executive resignation. Why are we seeing a growing number of top top executives step down? What are your, your your thoughts there and the main considerations that are contributing to that? Yeah, I've talked to a lot of people about that really over the course of the last couple of years and there's no doubt that over the last several years, companies have gone through a level of organizational challenge that they just haven't seen before. People have been asked to solve problems that no one ever thought they would ever deal with before. How you're going to handle the issues that surrounded the pandemic now, how do you handle on top of that while you're still getting through that the economic uncertainty that we're facing today? So there they've gone through a lot and there's a lot of executives who now have been there, they have done that, they achieved amazing things. And what they're saying right now is what I'd like to do now is I'd like to get a chance to refresh a bit. I'd like a chance to take on great challenges, take on work where I can have real impact. They're not trying to retire. They're trying to have great impact, but perhaps not in a way that is committing to another five or seven years in another full time role. Yeah, it's more of the short term interim interim and even fractional work, which is interesting because that's something else, I don't know that I've fully heard of? And I don't think it's recognizable to a lot of people. So what's that? What is fractional work and how has the pandemic and great resignation affected the demand for it? Yeah, no, it's a great question. I haven't heard of it either, to be honest with you. The last couple of years I have been over in the venture capital world and I was working with my portfolio companies around finding great talent for them and what they would consistently say to me is that, dave, we know you want us to hire amazing talent, but we're not big enough to be able to afford them and we can't really keep them busy full time, even if we could, but if we could get two days a week, three days a week of an A plus player, that would be so much more valuable than five days a week of a solid but a B player. And so that's what a fractional leader is, someone who has been there and done, that has lived through the growth basis. These companies are seeing and really is probably a step above what some earlier stage company really deserves on a full time basis, but they're eager to come in and share the wisdom share the experiences that they've had and help these companies grow and it's just it's a win win situation for everyone. The execs get to see these amazing startup companies, amazing early stage companies, high growth companies. So it's not just the, the startups and these companies get access to talent that they would not get to see any other way. So you kind of touched on my next question because I was gonna ask really about, you know, what one of the benefits that are companies that companies are seeing and hiring a fractional executive, I'll pivot them to this. How does a company choosing a fractional executive? Um, you know, feel about whether that that affects investor confidence and has it? Yeah, I don't think, I think what it shows is a commitment to getting great talent because it can happen in several ways. One and make sure that a company which may be reluctant to go get a, you know, to go hire a full time, let's say chief marketing Officer or chief financial officer because they're a little bit worried about the uncertainties coming around rather than leave that position vacant. What they now do is they are able to bring somebody on and they're able to show the investors we get it. That's important. We need to get those people on board and we're committed to getting just amazing talent to do that. So it helps show that they're doing it. It also fills the roles quickly because the alternative to perhaps bring on a full time role in today's tight labor market as you've talked about, is it those roles could take 345 months to fill our job and the value of our businesses, we have to have our networks ready to go so that we solve these roles in a matter of days, not months. Fair point there. The other side of this labor market or at least a newer trend in this labor market is that we're starting to see companies talk about downsizing more and more amend the continued fears about a recession and a broader pullback. What's your outlook then, you know, considering that on the demand for fractional executives, do you think that it's going to elevate? Yeah, it's a great question. Uh, we started the business, did a lot of the due diligence around this business during the high growth phase where it was really about, we just can't find talent. How do we get great talent and faster? What we have learned in conversations over the last six or eight weeks in particular with our partners in the venture capital and private equity world in particular, is that this model is also incredibly attractive to the times of uncertain time uncertainty. So a lot of earlier stage companies are really protecting their cash right now. They're a little bit worried about their burn rights. They want to be very careful on who they hire, which they should be valid point, but rather than leave those positions open. What our partners in the venture in the private equity world are telling their companies, okay, we get it, you don't want to commit to that long term, but get some talent in there now, who can help you keep moving, keep going ahead. So I really do believe that we're going to see for a different reason then, perhaps during the high growth stages, even an uncertain time, huge demand for this for this service. When you break it down like that, it certainly makes sense. And it's really interesting because I can imagine the investor that wants companies right now amid a pullback evaluations, kind of being under pressure to be a bit more lean, but then have top talent and what's the solution? Something like this? Thinking out of the box. You want to see that as an investor. So fascinating stuff. Really glad to have you on Dave Burr Line Ceo of True Bridge.