Client Testimonials
What our clients say
“As a small company, Rich & Julie’s contribution, without a doubt, was paramount in us landing the most qualified and outstanding candidate. They immediately focused on learning about the company, the management team, and building a thorough and detailed profile for a critical leadership position. I have never experienced a more thorough process that what we experienced from Allen Partners. We could not be more satisfied with their approach and results. I highly recommend them to other CEOs.”
Bill Facteau
President & CEO, Earlens
“We trusted Julie and Rich with a mission critical hire. We needed a skilled Marketing & BD executive with deep experience in the peripheral vascular space. We needed someone who could come up to speed rapidly, integrate well into our existing team and help us prepare for commercialization of our technology. Julie took the time to understand who we were as a team and as individuals. She developed a detailed understanding of our needs, and she and Rich worked hard to find the best candidates. The search resulted in a great hire who fits well and has hit the ground running.”
Bruce Shook
Former President & CEO, Intact Vascular (Philips)
“You guys are rock stars. I had faith in both of you after I spent the time understanding your purpose, process and commitment. Understanding your process is essential to recognizing your competitive difference. I could not be more thrilled that our top candidate will be joining our portfolio company. He will make an immediate impact and be “instant heat.” We are grateful for your partnership!”
Stacy Enxing Seng
Operating Partner, Lightstone Ventures & Independent Director
“Frankly, I found it stunning how much work Julie put into gaining a thorough understanding of our corporate culture, precise needs, and the characteristics and qualifications of the potential candidates. We certainly felt like we received a great return on our investment with Allen Partners.”
Dennis Wahr, M.D.
President & CEO, NuVaira
“We settled on Allen and Partners because of the personal touch. This is still a business of people, and the way that you comport yourselves in the space was the defining and differentiating factor. We had tremendous confidence that your experience in the space gave us that de facto voice and look into these characters. And that’s what gave us great comfort. We didn’t feel like we had to do any second guessing or double checking along the way. It was sort of like, okay, this is covered.”
Dale Grogan
Managing Partner, Michigan Capital Network
“What differentiates Julie and Rich is their commitment to understanding who we are as a company and team and what is important to us. They spend a lot of time with the candidates ahead of time, so when they present the top 2-3, I know we’ll have the right one. This has been my experience working with them across four successful companies.”
J. Robert Paulson, Jr
President & CEO, Sonex Health
“My experience with a lot of boutique search firms is that they don’t start with what you need, they start with what they have. They are out there, seeing resumes, seeing who needs a job, who wants a job, who’s looking. That’s their orientation and start point, versus looking at what the company needs and then going out and finding it. What we liked is that you two are highly experienced, and you bring a lot of search experience. It’s not being pushed down to junior folks, so you bring to bear all the years of experience that you have and trying to find the right folks. And you have a MedTech orientation that works for our specialization.”
Carter Mcnabb
Managing Partner, RC Capital
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Julie for about 15 years and that spans over 3 companies. When a candidate finally gets to me, I rarely interview more than two people. To get the results that she has gotten, it does reinforce the fact that we are paying for true perfection in an industry that isn’t known for that kind of precision. I am convinced more than ever that the characteristics and subtleties clearly make a difference – the edge between success and failure is razor thin. You’ve got to invest in people with experience who can do more, have greater capabilities, exert leadership, and want to do it. I believe that hiring that kind of person may only come from working with a partner who knows how to tease those things out, and I rely on Julie for that.”
Jim Bullock
Former President & CEO, Zyga (RTI Surgical)
“I am so thrilled to have my first choice in the chair. We had great candidates, but our top candidate is the perfect fit. We could not have done it without your strong work. Thank you for all of your support and helping to bring this home!”
Karen Long
Managing Director, KCK Group
“Rich and Julie are consummate professionals. They communicate clearly, run a well-oiled process, and have led and managed multiple searches for me without compromising quality. I have known them for over 15 years and have relied on their counsel, advice, and recruiting approach on numerous occasions. They consistently deliver the best results no matter the search we ask them to lead and they always exceed my expectations.”
Nestor Jaramillo Jr.
President & CEO, Nuwellis
“Rich and Julie have been trusted partners since 2015 as we’ve built our commercial leadership team. They operate with high integrity, communicate clearly, and do what they say they will do. I have relied on their professionalism, character, and values-based approach that has guided me in making critical hiring decisions and team development.”
Louis LaFlamme
Former President & CEO, Opsens Medical (Haemonetics)
“I was impressed by their thoroughness in getting to know us and our culture, educating candidates on who we are and where we are going, and ensuring the fit was the right one—for both us as a company and for our final candidate.”
Stewart Strong
President, Teleflex Interventional
“A big part of representing the company well is telling the story. Candidates can quickly dismiss good opportunities if they don’t appreciate what the opportunity is. Rich and Julie do a great job of that. Working with them closely and hiring 50+ great people across 3 successful companies: Endocardial Solutions, Hemosphere & CardioInsight, I found the retention rate is absolutely superior.”
Pat Wethington
Former President & CEO, CardioInsight (Medtronic)
“Julie spent a full day meeting our team to gain a full appreciation of our culture & operating philosophy at Ulthera (Merz). She dug in to find qualified candidates based on my needs. After passing over that threshold, she evaluated fit and chemistry based on my team dynamics & culture. This resulted in a fabulous VP of Marketing who has proven to be a valuable addition to our team.”
Matt Likens
President & CEO, GI Dynamics
“A small company cannot succeed without every player wearing multiple hats, pulling oars all the time. Allen Partners has been able to identify that type of person for us. Their willingness to spend time with us on the front end, to get to know our needs, means that we get high quality candidates faster and with less demand on the executive team’s time. The efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring process is the most important part of deciding to work with a firm. Julie & Rich have demonstrated efficiency but most importantly effectiveness.”
Denis Harrington
President & CEO VentureMed
“Only after they understood and helped craft our strategy did they begin the search for the right talent to join us. It is because of their approach that we could attract such executive talent to our company.”
Jay Fulkerson
Former President & CEO, HPS
“In spite of a best-in-class device, we didn’t have anyone on board with the appropriate experience to take our technology into the market place. We approached Allen Partners seeking a unique individual with the ability to join us as CEO to manage the process of commercialization so that we could obtain FDA clearance and begin selling product to the medical community. Julie and Rich Allen have a well-developed procedure for understanding the client’s needs and culture, and matching candidates to each and every one of those requirements. They laid out a plan to bring only the most qualified individuals to our attention. They did so, on time, on plan and on budget. To say their process led to a success for our little company is a vast understatement. Our new CEO, the first and only candidate we interviewed, is referred to as our ‘Wunderkind.’ He has built the company up from the ground, re-focusing on a much better first market opportunity than our original goal, has raised double the previous investment in the company, brought true industry and medical thought leaders onto our Board of Directors and our Medical Advisory Board, and moved the company from a LLC to a C-corp, in less than 3 years. We are on track to obtain a FDA clearance in the next 18 months and finally succeed in bringing this life saving technology to market. We are truly grateful for the Allens’ contribution to bringing about this success story. NovaScan Inc. is proud to say we are a success story illustrating what Allen Partners can do to help your company succeed. We recommend them without reservation.”
Bill Gregory
Founder & former Chairman/CEO, NovaScan
Executive Search Partners For Medtech Companies