In this episode of How I Hire, Andy Mowat speaks with Mike Weir, CRO of Finalis and former CRO of G2, about his tactical approach to executive hiring at inflection points. Mike shares the specific methodologies he uses to assess leadership gaps when joining early-stage companies, restructure inherited hiring processes mid-flight, and design roles that prevent the expensive cycle of executive turnover. His contrarian insights on posting strategy, interview control dynamics, and pre-emptive problem solving reveal how intentional hiring decisions compound organizational velocity.
Topics discussed:
- Why head of revenue operations is the critical first hire within 30 days of any CRO joining: Serving as brain trust for business fundamentals while functioning as organizational ambassador who keeps leadership accountable to cross-functional stakeholders and long-term planning.
- The precise methodology for inheriting in-process executive searches: How Mike evaluates existing candidates without prior team bias, uses the interview process to calibrate expectations with peer leadership, and reshapes job requirements mid-search when business needs shift.
- The bright-line rule for executive recruitment: C-suite roles never get posted due to competitive intelligence risks and requirement customization needs, while VP-level roles always get posted to access talent pools beyond homogeneous networks—with specific tactics for managing high-volume applications.
- Strategic role architecture decisions: When to hire Chief Sales Officer versus full-stack CRO based on company stage and CEO capacity, including the trade-offs of having the CEO become the final go-to-market decider and required operational depth this demands.
- The "business conversation litmus test" for senior leadership interviews: If candidates cannot engage in strategic dialogue about real company challenges and offer substantive questions within the first interaction, they lack the executive presence required for autonomous leadership roles.
- Mike's pre-structured onboarding methodology: A meticulously mapped 3-week schedule with defined meeting agendas for peer introductions, foundational knowledge transfer, and strategic context—designed to accelerate time-to-impact while securing early wins before complex problem inheritance.
- The preemptive talent management approach: Why Mike negotiates difficult personnel decisions and active performance issues before new executive hires start, preventing them from absorbing political damage and relationship capital loss in their first 90 days.
- Technical assessment frameworks for executive hiring: Using real business scenarios and current decision points as case studies to evaluate thinking processes, stakeholder engagement approaches, and decision-making frameworks rather than theoretical responses.
ABOUT YOUR HOST:
Andy Mowat has built GTM engines for top companies throughout his career. He led Revenue Operations and Demand Gen at four unicorns, including scaling from $10M to $100M ARR at both Upwork and Culture Amp, and helping guide Box and Carta through IPO scale. With a passion for connecting people, Andy has advised executives on their careers for years and launched Whispered to make searching for executive roles less intimidating.
Learn more about about Whispered: www.whispered.com
Interact with AI Andy: www.whispered.com/whisper-search
