Executive Recruiting Firms: How They Build Target Company Lists

Most hiring teams think executive search is “about candidates”. In practice, the work starts earlier, with the market.

One of the most valuable (and least understood) deliverables executive recruiting firms create is the target company list: a structured, evidence-based view of where the right leaders are most likely to be doing the work you need done, right now.

For CROs, CEOs, COOs, and HR leaders hiring in competitive sectors (SaaS, cloud, data, AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital health, industrial AI), understanding how this list is built helps you:

• Pressure-test whether your search partner is truly mapping the market
• Reduce time lost on “famous names” that never convert
• Widen the pool without sacrificing quality
• Make the process more predictable and defensible

What is a target company list in executive search?

A target company list is a curated set of organisations that are most likely to contain executives with the capabilities, context, and operating cadence required for a specific role.

It is not the same as a competitor list, and it is not a vanity list of logos.

A good list connects business outcomes (for example, “build EMEA pipeline from zero to £10m” or “take a platform from Series B to Series D”) to repeatable talent environments (the types of companies that produce leaders who have already done that work).

Why executive recruiting firms build target lists (and why you should ask for one)

When the role is business-critical, the cost of an unfocused search is usually far higher than the search fee.

A target list improves quality and speed because it:

• Creates a shared definition of ‘relevant’ (before you look at any CVs)
• Prevents over-indexing on brand (great companies can still produce the wrong profile for your stage)
• Surfaces adjacent talent pools (where the best “non-obvious” hires often sit)
• Enables proactive outreach to passive candidates who are not applying anywhere
• Strengthens governance by documenting why certain markets and companies were prioritised

It also makes collaboration easier. Instead of debating candidates one-by-one, you align on the market thesis first, then execute.

The inputs executive recruiting firms use to design the list

Before any sourcing starts, strong search partners gather inputs that go beyond the job description.

Role and success context

They look for signals such as:

• The company stage (early scale-up, growth, enterprise transformation)
• GTM model (PLG, sales-led, channel-led, enterprise, mid-market)
• Complexity (multi-country, matrixed stakeholders, regulated environment)
• Mission-critical metrics (revenue target, retention, pipeline, margin, time-to-value)
• Leadership environment (board expectations, investor dynamics, change mandate)

A “VP Sales” title can mean entirely different things depending on whether you are selling £20k ACV SaaS, regulated healthcare solutions, or industrial AI platforms.

Candidate “archetypes”, not just titles

Top executive recruiting firms translate requirements into a small number of archetypes, for example:

• Builder (creates process and team from scratch)
• Scaler (optimises, adds layers, manages through managers)
• Transformer (turnaround, repositioning, restructuring)

Then they ask: where do these archetypes typically come from in this sector and geography?

How executive recruiting firms build target company lists (step-by-step)

There are different flavours of methodology, but the best processes follow a consistent logic.

Define the search universe

The search universe is the broad set of organisations that could plausibly contain relevant executives.

Depending on the brief, a firm may start with:

• Direct competitors
• Adjacent categories (where the same GTM motion exists)
• Ecosystem players (partners, integrators, platforms, vendors)
• “Talent factories” (companies known for producing strong leaders in a function)

This is where specialist sector knowledge matters. In areas like cloud platform engineering, AIOps, or responsible AI, category boundaries are often fuzzy, and a generic recruiter can mis-map the market.

Build a long list using multiple evidence sources

High-quality target lists are rarely built from a single database. They are triangulated.

Common sources include:

• Public company information (annual reports, leadership pages, press releases)
• Funding and growth signals (where relevant)
• Hiring patterns (team build-out, regional expansion)
• Customer and partner ecosystems (who sells into the same buyer)
• Industry events and speaker line-ups (who is leading in practice)

On the compliance side, executive recruiting firms operating in the UK and EU also need to consider privacy and lawful processing of personal data. The UK regulator’s guidance on UK GDPR is a useful reference point for what “responsible sourcing” should look like in practice.

Segment the list so it is actionable

A simple way executive recruiting firms make a list usable is by segmenting it. For example:

• Core targets: highest similarity to your business model and stage
• Adjacent targets: same function, similar problems, different category
• Aspirational targets: where the bar is high but conversion may be lower
• Wildcard targets: deliberately chosen to broaden the pool (often helpful for diversity)

Segmentation matters because it stops the project becoming an endless spreadsheet and creates a clear prioritisation path.

Prioritise with a scoring mindset (even if it is not formal)

Good executive recruiting firms prioritise companies based on “likelihood of fit”, not just prestige.

Typical prioritisation criteria include:

• Role-equivalence (did leaders there own the same outcomes?)
• Stage match (have they operated at your scale and complexity?)
• Go-to-market similarity (sales cycle, buyer persona, ACV, channels)
• Geography and language requirements
• Talent density (is there a cluster of relevant leaders?)
• Conflict constraints (are there off-limits companies?)

This is also where they start to flag practical constraints like non-competes, relocation appetite, and compensation realities.

Calibrate with the client, then iterate based on market feedback

The best target lists are living documents.

Once outreach begins, market feedback reshapes the list:

• If conversion is low in one segment, the firm tests adjacent segments.
• If compensation bands are consistently misaligned, the firm proposes alternative markets.
• If you keep rejecting candidates from a segment, the firm clarifies the “must-haves” versus preferences.

This loop is what turns market mapping into a predictable search process, rather than “sending profiles until something sticks”.

A practical example: why adjacent targets often outperform direct competitors

Imagine you are hiring a senior leader for a digital health business that combines clinical operations, customer experience, and growth.

If you only target direct competitors, you might miss strong operators from adjacent care delivery models (specialist clinics, therapy networks, patient engagement platforms). In that scenario, a target list could reasonably include organisations such as Bridges Speech Center as part of a broader “adjacent care provider” segment, depending on geography and the leadership scope.

The point is not that every search should target clinics, it is that executive recruiting firms should be able to justify why each segment is included.

Geography: how lists change across Europe, the UK, and the US

International hiring adds complexity that should show up in the target list design.

Executive recruiting firms typically adapt lists for:

• Market maturity differences: some categories are more developed in the US than in parts of Europe, or vice versa
• Talent mobility: relocation appetite, travel expectations, hybrid norms
• Regulatory environments: particularly in cybersecurity, digital health, and governance-heavy roles
• Language and cultural selling: critical for enterprise sales leadership

If your scope is EMEA, a strong list will often include both local champions and regional hubs (where talent naturally clusters). It should also reflect where companies genuinely run EMEA leadership, rather than where they simply have customers.

Diversity and bias: what “good” looks like in target list design

Target company lists can either reduce bias or hardwire it.

When firms only mirror a client’s existing network and competitor set, they often recreate the same backgrounds repeatedly.

Better practice includes:

• Building at least one intentional adjacent segment (not based on brand familiarity)
• Testing for “equivalent achievement” (outcomes delivered) rather than “equivalent employer”
• Avoiding over-reliance on a handful of famous employers that dominate visibility
• Using structured assessment to evaluate potential consistently

If diversity is a priority, ask your search partner to explain how their target list design expands the pool without lowering the bar.

Common mistakes when executive recruiting firms build target company lists

These are the patterns that usually lead to slow searches and repetitive shortlists.

The list is too narrow

If the list is essentially “our competitors plus two market leaders”, you will burn weeks competing for the same small group of people.

The list is brand-led, not outcome-led

Big names can be relevant, but only if they produce leaders who have owned the same outcomes in a similar environment.

Off-limits and conflicts are not clarified early

Off-limits policies vary by firm. You want clarity up front, especially in tight sectors.

No iteration based on real market signal

If the target list never changes after outreach begins, the process is likely being run as static sourcing rather than true search.

For a broader view of execution pitfalls, see Optima’s guide on common mistakes in executive search.

What you should receive as a client (the “deliverable”)

You do not need a 300-company spreadsheet to make good decisions. You need a list that is explainable and usable.

A strong deliverable usually includes:

• The segments (and why they exist)
• A prioritised set of target companies per segment
• Notes on why each company is relevant to the mandate
• Early observations (availability, compensation tension, location constraints)
• A plan for expanding or shifting segments if response rates are low

If you are partnering with executive recruiting firms to fill business-critical leadership roles, this is one of the easiest artefacts to ask for early, and one of the hardest for weak providers to fake.

How to collaborate on the target list without slowing the search

The fastest searches are aligned searches.

To keep pace while maintaining rigour:

• Agree the “non-negotiables” (outcomes, scope, must-have experience)
• Separate preferences from requirements (this is where many searches stall)
• Confirm off-limits early
• Commit to a calibration cadence (for example, weekly feedback with specific reasons)
• Use market feedback to make decisions (not just internal opinions)

If you want to tighten the end-to-end process, Optima’s article on how to optimise your executive recruitment process is a useful companion.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many companies should be on a target company list? Enough to create real optionality, but not so many that it becomes unmanageable. Many searches start with a broader universe, then prioritise a smaller “core” list for outreach.

Do executive recruiting firms only target competitors? No. The best lists include competitors and adjacent markets where leaders have solved equivalent problems (often with higher response rates).

How do you know if a target list is any good? You should be able to trace each segment back to the success profile, and each company back to a specific reason it is likely to contain relevant leaders.

Should HR approve the target list, or the hiring leader? Ideally both. HR protects process and governance, the hiring leader validates what “good” looks like in the function.

How often should the target list change during a search? It should evolve as market feedback comes in. If outreach reveals compensation mismatch or low availability in one segment, the list should adjust quickly.

Need a target list built for a business-critical executive hire?

Optima Search Europe supports fast-growing and established firms with tailored executive search and selection across Europe and globally, particularly in GTM, sales and marketing, digital and IT, and business-critical leadership.

If you are hiring a CRO, VP Sales, senior marketing leader, or executive operator and want a clear, defensible target company list (built from real market mapping, not guesswork), speak with Optima Search Europe.