Interesting idea. I think a better explanation is headhunters negotiate compensation on behalf of client companies and ‘go the distance’. In some instances, playing bad cop. Online job sites are so early in the ‘deal’ process and really are just the first 10 yards of a much longer game. Also, corporate executives are less of a flight risk / more of a long term asset with expected value that can be paid now to a headhunter.

I disagree that there is a time cost. Most large company executives are on the 6 month notice, not the 2 week because public markets would eat companies alive for anything less which dictates employee behavior. Evidence is that the new person starts the same day the predecessor leaves. Startups move faster in pretty much everything.

Does the fact that corporate execs have less affect on company value play into the headhunter equation? At a startup, the hire and the team fit has a greater impact, and so there needs to be a direct courting process in order to test out the fit. For example, a team needs to see if they can negotiate with each other, because they will need to make many decisions with a lot of unknowns while working together.

Rob