The company behind the Rockstars

Shortlist & Venturesome were created by Recruit Rockstars, the brainchild of top-tier executive recruiter, bestselling business author, and 4-time entrepreneur Jeff Hyman.

Having recruited more than 3,000 people over the course of his career, Jeff has developed a bulletproof method for finding the very best talent, based on data instead of gut feelings. He reveals all his secrets in Recruit Rockstars: The 10 Step Playbook to Find the Winners and Ignite Your Business.

Our journey. In short form.

Recruit Rockstars the book: Published 2017

Based on the MBA course he taught to rave reviews at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, our founder Jeff Hyman wrote the book Recruit Rockstars. This 5-star-rated Amazon bestseller identified the 10 most common mistakes leaders make when hiring, plus the no-nonsense fix for each one.

Recruit Rockstars the company: Born 2018

After 25 years of recruiting, Jeff translated the book’s popularity into a “done-for-you” executive search service. With an exclusive focus on Venture Capital & Private Equity backed companies, the firm dedicated itself to creating investor value by putting a Rockstar in every seat at the top table.

Shortlist: Born 2020

Sparked by a desire to serve more VC & PE firms faster, we created a low-profile beta test of the “Headhunting unbundled” concept.

 

We had to figure out how to efficiently research, find, and contact candidates. To our surprise, we discovered 37 different online locations for finding candidate profiles (LinkedIn is just one of them). Plus, knowing that our product vision was a list of 10 finalist candidates, we knew we needed to start with 100 people who matched the customer’s criteria. So, we built a team and software platform to crack the code.

During our beta test, we formulated hundreds of Shortlists –most of them very successfully– across industries, job functions, and geographical locations. We kept refining our process until we eventually nailed it. 80% of the time, our customer hired someone from the Shortlist of 10 finalists. (Some even hired more than one from the same list!)

Venturesome: Born 2022

The pandemic changed everything about hiring. So, we changed with it.

 

To help job-seekers & growth companies find each other, we created Venturesome. It’s the world’s largest collection of job openings backed by Venture Capital & Private Equity firms. And it doesn’t cost a cent, since we’re sponsoring the whole thing. (You can thank us later.)

Our dream team helps you build yours

Amanda Panarese

VP Candidate Success

Amanda knows jobs. Of all types. So, she's uniquely qualified to lead our candidate sourcing. Following a successful career in marketing, she joined the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business education & advising program. Amanda then led career services for the University of Virginia Alumni Association. Go Cavaliers!

Steve Fram

Chief Technology Officer

Steve’s in charge of anything with a plug. Front end, back end, he does it all. And makes it look easy. He’s held Software Engineering leadership roles with some of Chicago’s biggest tech success stories: Jellyvision, Trunk Club, and PowerReviews. He’s the brains of the operation, even has the degrees from University of Chicago & Stanford.

Jodi Cohen

Data Operations Manager

Jodi never met a spreadsheet she didn’t like. She’s able to tame and whip data into shape. Candidate data is at the heart of Shortlist. And Jodi makes it beat.

Jeff Hyman

Founder & CEO

Jeff launched his recruiting career at Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart, the preeminent global executive search firms. Along the way, he created 4 companies, backed by $50M in venture capital. Jeff hosts the 5-star-rated Recruit Rockstars Podcast. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management and Bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School.

Jeff Hyman

Founder & CEO

Jeff launched his recruiting career at Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart, the preeminent global executive search firms. Along the way, he created 4 companies, backed by $50M in venture capital. Jeff hosts the 5-star-rated Recruit Rockstars Podcast. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management and Bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School.

Steve Fram

Chief Technology Officer

Steve’s in charge of anything with a plug. Front end, back end, he does it all. And makes it look easy. He’s held Software Engineering leadership roles with some of Chicago’s biggest tech success stories: Jellyvision, Trunk Club, and PowerReviews. He’s the brains of the operation, even has the degrees from University of Chicago & Stanford.

Nicole Cox

Chief Customer Officer

For 15 years, Nicole led recruiting operations & scaled Engage2Excel (formerly Decision Toolbox) from startup to one of the nation’s largest recruiting companies. She’s a master of processes & people to deliver on time. Every time.

Amanda Panarese

VP Candidate Success

Amanda knows jobs. Of all types. So, she's uniquely qualified to lead our candidate sourcing. Following a successful career in marketing, she joined the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business education & advising program. Amanda then led career services for the University of Virginia Alumni Association. Go Cavaliers!

Scott Shaffer

Head of Communications

Scott is a growth hacker, copywriter and SEO expert. His super power is engaging candidates who weren't looking for a job, to get them open to having a conversation. 

Megan Carpenter

Candidate Success Manager

As a professional résumé writer & career advisor, Megan has her finger on the pulse of what candidates truly want & need. She’s on the front lines with candidates every day, assessing if they’re the right match for our customers.

Jodi Cohen

Data Operations Manager

Jodi never met a spreadsheet she didn’t like. She’s able to tame and whip data into shape. Candidate data is at the heart of Shortlist. And Jodi makes it beat.

Gabriel Baptista

Fullstack Developer

If the stack is full, it’s got Gabriel’s name all over it. He’s been coding for more than a decade. Front-end, back-end, he does it all. And makes it look easy.

Dan Greenebaum 

Candidate Success Manager

Dan's career has been focused in Career Coaching in higher education helping candidates and companies connect. His passion for making that match and his analytical background help him work with precision to fill our client's Shortlist with the ideal candidates. 

Trina Campbell

Candidate Success Manager

Twenty plus years of human resources & talent acquisition partnered with her educational background in Human Resources and Organizational Psychology Trina brings desirable expertise to the table to help our clients and candidates find the right match. 

Kyle Renick

Sourcing Project Manager

Kyle has a passion for data and an impressive ability to organize chaos (with a healthy sense of humor). He developed and managed large, complex programs in higher education and healthcare, solving problems at a fast—but accurate—pace. When he’s not using his journalism degree from Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School to polish a turn of phrase, he’s turning almost everything into a data point (rumor is, he has as many spreadsheets as he does house plants. That’s a lot of spreadsheets.)

James Hwang

Senior Software Engineer

James graduated from University of Illinois Chicago and published in IEEE for VR research in the Electronic Visualization Department. He previously worked at PowerReviews as a backend engineer and Discover Financial Services as a full stack engineer.