About Us

Peter Franks

Peter Franks has spent the last twenty years working as a headhunter for technology and games companies. He is the Founder of Neon River, a London-based executive search firm specialising in leadership hiring for technology, software and games companies worldwide. He works with venture capital and private equity-backed businesses as well as larger corporates, helping them to hire senior leaders across Europe, the United States and the Middle East. Typical mandates include CEO, CTO, Chief Product Officer, CFO and other C-level or VP-level leadership roles.

A graduate of Oxford University, Peter began his career in executive search in 2004 as a Research Associate at Renoir Partners, a boutique firm focused on the technology sector. In 2006 he joined Renovata Partners as the third employee, helping the firm grow into an international search business with offices in London, Berlin and New York. During this period he worked extensively with companies in the software, internet and games industries, delivering senior leadership searches and building long-term relationships with clients across the sector.

Peter founded Neon River in 2016 with the aim of creating a modern executive search firm that combines deep sector expertise with a highly hands-on approach to search delivery. The firm works with many of the world’s leading technology and games companies, and has helped clients hire senior executives across product, engineering, marketing, finance and commercial leadership roles.

He is also the Editor of No Latency, an online publication providing long-form analysis of the key systems, people and strategies underlying the technology and games sectors.

Yui Tachibana

Yui Tachibana works across Neon River’s executive search assignments in software, games and technology, contributing to research, market mapping and search delivery on leadership mandates. She brings a broad background spanning consulting, organisational research and talent-related advisory work, with experience in how companies build, engage and retain strong teams.

Prior to joining Neon River, Yui worked in management consulting with EY and at an international market research firm focused on employee engagement and retention.

She holds a BA in Law from Keio University and an MSc in Democracy and Comparative Politics from University College London.

For an industry that is now more than one hundred years old, there are surprisingly few credible online resources about headhunting written by people who have actually worked inside the profession.

Most information about executive search tends to come from two places. Either it is produced by industry bodies and associations, whose publications are often dry and inward-looking, or it appears in trade media outlets that rely heavily on advertising from the firms they cover. In those cases, “Top Headhunter” lists and glowing firm profiles are often little more than paid marketing.

What is largely missing is an insider’s perspective. How does the industry really work? How do search firms actually approach hiring for senior roles? What differentiates good headhunters from mediocre ones? And how should candidates and clients navigate the process if they want the best outcome?

After spending more than twenty years working as a headhunter myself, I realised there was an opportunity to build something that the industry lacked: a resource that explains executive search in a clear, practical way from the perspective of industry insiders.

Better Headhunting was created to fill that gap.

The aim of the site is simple. To demystify the executive search industry and provide useful, real-world insights into the processes, people and firms that shape it. Whether you are a candidate considering a leadership move, a company looking to hire senior talent, or someone curious about how the headhunting industry actually works, the goal is to provide a perspective that is grounded in real experience forged over many years in the industry.

Executive search can be a powerful tool when it is done well. But it is also an industry that is often misunderstood and opaque to outsiders.

Better Headhunting exists to lift the lid on it.