Hire Better. Faster. With Confidence.
Verata gives talent professionals the intelligence and backchannels to diligence executives thoroughly, identify board candidates efficiently, and never rely solely on search firm presentations again.
Trusted by talent teams at leading PE firms including 3 of the top 10
Search Firms Control Too Much of Your Hiring Process
Executive search firms present candidates with polished decks and curated references. But they're incentivized to close placements, not to surface concerns. You need independent verification—and independent candidates.
- ?“How do we verify what the search firm is telling us?”
- ?“Who can give us unvarnished feedback on this candidate?”
- ?“Where are the executives the search firm hasn't found?”
- ?“How do we find board candidates we can actually reach?”
You need tools that give you independent intelligence—backchannels through your own network, candidates from your own relationships, and data you can trust.
Independent Executive Intelligence
Verata gives talent professionals the tools to conduct thorough, independent diligence on any executive candidate.
Executive Diligence Through Backchannels
References are marketing. Backchannels are truth. Every executive candidate provides references who will say great things. Real diligence means finding the people they didn't list.
- Overlap analysis showing exact co-tenure periods
- Relationship type identification (supervisor, peer, direct report, board)
- Multiple independent sources for triangulated feedback
- Network path visualization (how you reach each reference)
- Conflict identification (current relationships that might bias feedback)
“We almost made a very expensive hiring mistake. Verata showed us a backchannel we would never have found otherwise. That one insight saved us 18 months and a failed placement.”
Talent Partner
$3B AUM Firm
Diligencing Search Firm Candidates
Trust, but verify. Search firms do valuable work. They also have inherent conflicts.
- Complete career history with all tenures and transitions
- Every potential reference in your network (not just provided ones)
- Historical headcount and revenue at each company they led
- Paths to former colleagues who'll give unvarnished feedback
- Red flags the candidate might prefer to minimize
Deal Advisor Identification
The right expert for every deal. Deal advisors provide sector expertise, customer relationships, and operational insight that strengthens your investment thesis.
- Industry experience (same sector as target)
- Functional expertise (sales, operations, technology, finance)
- Company-specific knowledge (former employees of target or competitors)
- Transaction experience (involvement in relevant M&A)
- Degree of connection to your firm and relationship recency
Board Member Identification
Board-ready candidates, network-accessible. Finding qualified board candidates is straightforward. Finding qualified candidates you can actually reach is the real challenge.
- Current/former CEO, CFO, or public company board experience
- Relevant industry expertise and functional specialization
- 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree connection to firm professionals
- Connection through portfolio company executives
- Shared educational background and former colleague relationships
Proactive Candidate Pipeline
Don't wait for search firms. Build your own pipeline. The best executives aren't actively looking.
- Saved searches by role type, sector, and seniority
- Network monitoring for relevant career moves
- Company tracking (know when executives at target companies become available)
- Alumni tracking (stay connected to executives who've touched your portfolio)
- Relationship nurturing prompts (suggested re-engagement with valuable contacts)
What Talent Partners Are Saying
“Verata fundamentally changed how we diligence executives. We now have independent backchannels for every candidate, not just the ones the search firm provides. The quality of our placements has improved dramatically.”
Talent Partner
$2.5B AUM Firm
“Finding board members used to be a 6-month project. Now we can identify qualified, reachable candidates in an afternoon. One recent board search took us two weeks from start to placement.”
Operating Partner
Growth Equity Firm
“Search firms hate that we have Verata—because we can actually verify what they're telling us. For us, that's a feature, not a bug.”
Head of Talent
Mid-Market Buyout Firm
Feature Summary
| Use Case | Traditional Approach | Verata Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Executive diligence | Provided references, limited backchannels | Complete overlap mapping, network-based references |
| Search firm verification | Accept presented candidates | Independent research, alternative sourcing |
| Deal advisor sourcing | Ad hoc outreach, personal networks | Systematic search with connectivity filtering |
| Board recruitment | Search firm or limited personal network | Qualified + connected candidate identification |
| Candidate pipeline building | Reactive, search-firm dependent | Proactive, relationship-based |
Hire with Confidence
See how Verata helps talent professionals conduct deeper diligence and find better candidates.
30-minute demo • See your actual network mapped • No commitment
Frequently Asked Questions
Verata complements search firms rather than replacing them. Search firms are great at broad market outreach and candidate screening. Verata adds independent verification (backchannels through your network), alternative sourcing (candidates search firms might miss), and efficiency (board searches in weeks, not months).
Our overlap analysis uses verified employment dates from multiple sources, giving you precise co-tenure periods. We distinguish between "same company" (weak signal) and "same team/function" (strong signal) to help you identify the most valuable references.
Absolutely. Most talent teams use Verata across their portfolio—for C-suite hiring, board placements, and functional leadership roles. Your Portfolio Extension subscription gives portfolio company executives access for their own hiring needs.
Verata shows you who knows whom—but you control the outreach. Many talent partners find that knowing the relationship context helps them approach conversations more sensitively. You can ask about leadership style rather than specific candidates, for example.