About
An operator's view of why go-to-market hires succeed or fail.
Tipped exists because the hiring decisions that determine whether a SaaS or AI company reaches its next round are usually made with the least reliable information.
300+
GTM placements over five years
40 / 60
Split of placements across the US and EMEA
25%
Of placements at executive-search level
10 days
Average to identify the ideal candidate after intake
Background
Tipped was founded by a technology sales leader who spent a decade building and hiring GTM teams.
That background includes leading sales at Optimizely through the $40m to $140m ARR journey, establishing Sensor Tower's EMEA business as its first hire in the region, and leading Western EMEA for ByteDance/TikTok's AI Lab.
Several hundred hiring cycles came before Tipped existed. Since founding, the company has been responsible for more than 300 placements.
- Managed GTM organisations of roughly 10–40 people across sales, customer success and marketing.
- Participated in several hundred hiring cycles before Tipped existed.
- At least 11 former team members have since progressed into VP+ sales leadership roles in SaaS.
Method
The method comes from the operator side: understanding which characteristics cause GTM hires to succeed or fail inside high-growth companies, rather than matching keywords on a CV.
That matters more in 2026 than it did in 2019. GTM roles are becoming materially more technical, particularly inside AI companies, where sellers are expected to hold a credible conversation about implementation, evaluation and agentic workflows.
How a search runs
01
Intake
A working session on the role, the number, the buyer, the product and the profile that actually succeeds in your environment. This is where most searches are won or lost.
02
Market map
A mapped shortlist of the specific market, not a database pull. You see who exists, where they sit and what they cost before candidates arrive.
03
Shortlist
Assessed candidates with a written rationale against the intake. Across searches, the ideal candidate is identified within an average of ten working days.
04
Close
Offer structure, compensation benchmarking and candidate management through to start date, including relocation and first-hire-in-market situations.
Engagement models
- Contingent search
- The default for SDR, Account Executive, Customer Success and most individual-contributor GTM roles. You pay on a successful placement.
- Retained search
- Where exclusivity, confidentiality or committed capacity matter — typically senior and executive appointments such as CRO and VP Sales. Structured in stages against the search.
Fee levels are shared directly rather than published. Ash Takher — Founder.
Selected clients
- Cursor
- Planhat
- Branch
- Unitary AI
- Sweep
- Anima Health
- FullStory
- Acoustic
- Optimizely
- VertoFX
Ready to talk about the hire?
Tell us the roles, the markets and the stage. You will get a straight answer on whether we are the right partner, and a market view either way.