Finding candidates is easy.
Knowing the right one is not.

Talent + Capital for Breakout Technology Companies

Executive Search

For more than twenty years our team has helped Founders, entrepreneurs, and investors to recruit operating leadership to venture- and PE-backed AI, B2B SaaS, and tech-enabled companies nationwide.

We help Boards identify CEOs and we help CEOs recruit their functional leaders (think: CFO, CRO, CMO, CPO, CTO, etc). We also help these same functional leaders find their key lieutenants (think: VP, Director, “Head Of”, etc).

Collectively we’ve closed more than 500 retained executive searches for some of the most innovative companies backed by some of the best investors in the technology industry. Below are just a few our team worked with prior to Surtona. Please get in touch for more.

  • Automated Investing + Savings Platform

    Investors: Tiger Global, Greylock, Index, Spark, DAG Ventures

    IPO December 2025

  • Distributed Energy Fuel Cells

    Investors: Kleiner Perkins, NEA

    IPO July 2018

  • Marketing Automation Platform (NYSE: KVYO)

    Investors: Summit Partners, Lone Pine Capital, Owl Rock, Accel

    IPO September 2023

  • Online Home Design Platform

    Investors: Sequoia, ICONIQ, KPCB, NEA, Zeev Ventures

  • Ad Verification + Measurement Platform

    Investors: August Capital, Vista Equity Partners

    Acquired by: Novacap ($1.9B)

  • Consumer Wellness + Weight Management 

    Investors: Sequoia, Silver Lake, Temasek, RRE

  • GPS Hunting Maps

    Investors: Summit Partners

  • YouTube for Physicians

    Investors: CONFIDENTIAL

  • AI-Powered Retail Demand Planning 

    Investors: LFX Ventures, Counterpart.vc

  • Open Source AI Business Intelligence

    Investors: NEA, Insight, Expa

  • Insurtech for Startups

    Investors: Ribbit, Redpoint, YC

  • Data + Marketing Services

    Investors: NASDAQ: ACXM Acq By:

    Interpublic ($2.3B)

  • Subscription Billing Management 

    Investors: Summit, ICONIQ, Bain Capital Ventures

  • Product Information Management

    Investors: Summit, The Jordan Co (TJC)

  • Sensor-Based Authentication Platform

    Investors: a16z, NEA

    Acq By: Proove

  • Identity-Based Live Event Ticketing + Analytics

    Investors: Upfront, a16z

    Acq By: Ticketmaster

  • EdTech Fundraising Platform

    Investors: Silversmith Capital

  • Mobile Mesh Networks + Off-Grid Connectivity

    Investors: Union Square Ventures, Founders Fund

  • Photonic-Based Quantum Computing

    Investors: Redpoint, Founders Fund, Blackrock, Atomico

    Acq by Forterra 

  • Medical Revenue Cycle Management

    Investors: Summit Partners, General Atlantic

    Acq By: Waystar

your talent partner. with aligned interests.

We are a boutique by design. Four People. All Partners. All focused on AI, B2B SaaS, and other companies commercializing scientific breakthroughs.

Nothing is farmed out. We leverage AI workflows to automate the mundane so you get an experienced partner making the calls, assessing talent for you, and driving better outcomes faster.

We also have a fund and occasionally invest in companies we work with - aligning financial interests and cementing partnership around talent acquisition.

If you agree talent is the cornerstone of value creation, please get in touch to learn more about our sixty+ years of collective experience closing hundreds of Board, CEO, and VP searches for fast-growing tech companies nationwide.

Aligned, accountable, and a valuable prospective partner on your cap table.

Contact Us →

Investments

We like when incentives are aligned. So when appropriate, we make equity investments in companies we work with. Sometimes the relationship is built on recruiting before we invest. Other times we invest first and subsequently help with talent acquisition.

Our focus is Pre-Seed to Series B rounds where we can add value assembling the right team. To-date we have invested in companies spanning Enterprise AI, MarTech, Robotics, and Dual-Use Materials Science.

Below is our current portfolio. If your company is at an inflection point, where both talent and capital are key ingredients to the future, please contact us to learn more.

retail demand planning

Invent.ai’s AI-powered decisioning platform enables global retailers to fine-tune demand planning, pricing, inventory management, and assortment operations

Agentic Semiconductor Design

ChipAgents is redefining how semiconductors are designed and verified with an AI-native approach to EDA

customer Acquisition marketing

PassCloud supercharges customer acquisition with discounts and promotions that can be stored in any digital wallet, with full attribution, redeemable at any time, without divulging any personal information

Autonomous robotic Pharmacies

The world’s first fully-automated robotic pharmacy, providing around-the-clock fulfillment of ~90% of the most commonly prescribed drugs, with fully-compliant chain of command, and no onsite pharmacist required

next-generation ERP

DOSS’ Operations Cloud gives physical product companies a suite of AI-native back-office applications spanning supply chain, procurement, order management, warehousing, inventory management, fulfillment, finance, and accounting

dual-use Advanced Materials

The world’s first atomic imaging device with sub-angstrom precision - making the potential of AI-powered materials development a reality

AI-Powered Trust & Safety

Precognition Labs enables consumer-facing companies to automate 90% of their human-powered Trust & Safety operations with 98% accuracy - at scale

foundation model for the grid

Developing the foundation model to accurately predict the current and future state of the electric grid - one of the most valuable physical assets in the world

Our Team

Join Our Team
Join Our Team

JOHN
ALLAN

PARTNER

John is a Partner focused on supporting the talent needs of fast-growing AI and enterprise SaaS companies.

He spent the last two years as Co-Founder & COO of a stealth-mode AI security startup in Silicon Valley.

Earlier, John spent almost twenty years in executive search at Kindred Partners, where he led their SaaS, DeepTech, Consumer, and early AI work.

Raised in Cincinnati, John loves everything physics and graduated from Butler University, where he was a two-sport athlete.

TOM
NIEMAN

MANAGING PARTNER

Before launching Surtona, Tom led executive search firms Fortis Partners and Signal Partners.

Earlier he was a Partner at Ramsey/Beirne Associates, a pioneering tech industry search firm. He began his career at DHR International.

Originally from Chicago, Tom graduated from Dartmouth College and now lives in Los Angeles. He is a (very) late-round draft pick of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and clings to a few memories of being good at hockey.

JOSH
UEBERROTH 

PARTNER

Josh is a Co-Founder and partners with Founders, Boards, and investors to recruit executive leadership teams for AI, B2B SaaS, fintech, consumer, and tech-enabled companies nationwide.

Prior, Josh was at Signal Partners and its predecessor, Fortis Partners. 

He began his career in sales at WillScot Mobile Mini (NASDAQ: WSC).

Based in Philadelphia, Josh earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and History from Arizona State University. 

ELIHU
WHITNEY 

PARTNER

A Co-Founder, Elihu is responsible for leading executive searches for CEOs and their direct reports, as well as optimizing the firm’s research and analytics capabilities. 

Previously, he spent nearly six years at Signal Partners and prior was an Equity Research Associate at ROTH Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank.

A Los Angeles native, Elihu earned a BA in Economics from UCSB and a Master of Finance from USC. When he’s not recruiting you can find him in the ocean or at the gym.