CTO recruitment agency fees: how to compare a startup search proposal

State the product stage, engineering team, decision authority and whether the CTO will be hands-on. A search for a technical owner of a small product and a search for the leader of several engineering units need different evidence and market coverage.

A cheaper proposal may include less assessment or a narrower search; a larger number of profiles does not prove a stronger result. Ask providers to describe the deliverables and the questions your team still needs to check.

Fixed fees, percentages of an agreed compensation base and staged payments are ways to compare proposals. This is not a claim that EXZEV offers every model for every role. EXZEV confirms the scope, fee structure and payment milestones in a written proposal for your position.

Illustrative arithmetic: if a hypothetical provider charges 20% of a stated annual base of 100,000 units, the fee is 20,000 units. Neither the percentage nor compensation in this example is an EXZEV quote or a recommended market rate.

The useful question is what belongs in the calculation base and whether taxes, additional assessment or other costs are separate. A percentage without a base and a payment trigger is not enough information to compare offers.

Ask for the role profile, search boundaries, candidate assessment, client responsibilities and the format of progress updates. Clarify what is checked before your interviews and what evidence accompanies a profile.

Also agree how feedback changes the search and what happens if the budget, location or role changes. Any replacement, trial or refund provision needs written conditions; do not infer it from a generic marketing statement.

• Search geography and mandatory experience.
• Assessment criteria, assessor responsibilities and unresolved questions.
• Interview coordination and the hiring decision owner.
• Feedback expectations and changes to the brief.
• Fee base, payment milestones and any separate costs.
• Pause, cancellation and replacement terms if offered.

Use questions tied to the function you are delegating. The aim is to assess how the person connects technology, people and business, not to memorise an executive interview checklist.

• Which technology decision changed a business outcome, and what alternatives did you consider?
• How did you allocate engineering capacity when priorities conflicted?
• What authority and information did you need to make those decisions?
• How did you develop technical leaders instead of retaining every decision yourself?
• What did you change after an incident or unsuccessful hire?
• What would you need to understand before accepting our CTO responsibility?

Bring the product, team, expected responsibility, location constraints, compensation budget and planned search timing. If something is undecided, name it explicitly. A provider should explain how the uncertainty affects scope rather than pretend it does not matter.

A company inquiry is a starting point for qualification and a brief. EXZEV does not publish a universal CTO fee on this page; the written proposal is the source of the actual commercial terms for your search.

• Check whether the role should be a CTO →
• Read about the company search process →