# Operator-CEO Recruiting Playbook

The single most constrained resource in the 8-year aggressive growth plan. At peak (Years 3–5), Tech Sequence Holdings must recruit **6–7 operator-CEOs per year** — one approximately every two months, across SaaS, fintech, infosec, healthtech, edtech, agri-tech, proptech, AI/data, creative, services, and gov-tech sectors. This document specifies the program, infrastructure, compensation model, and process required to sustain that pace.

This is a working document. It will evolve as the recruiting function matures and as TS Holdings learns which sourcing channels, retention practices, and compensation structures actually work.

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## Why this is *the* binding constraint

Capital can be raised. Sectors can be researched. Customer pipelines can be built. **Operator-CEOs cannot be manufactured** — they take 10–15 years to develop and Vietnam's pool of tier-1 operators is finite. Three constraints stack:

1. **Pace**: 6–7 hires/year at peak is one every ~2 months. Most Vietnamese tech companies hire 0–1 CEO per decade. There is no existing infrastructure to support this volume — TS Holdings must build it.
2. **Quality threshold**: an operator-CEO who fails at Series A costs ~18 months and $1–3M. Even a 20% failure rate compounds badly — accepting weak candidates to hit launch dates is worse than slipping the launch.
3. **Sector breadth**: SaaS CEO ≠ fintech CEO ≠ cybersecurity CEO ≠ healthtech CEO. The talent pool is not interchangeable. Cybersecurity CEOs in particular are extraordinarily rare in Vietnam.

The plan assumes this constraint can be solved. If it can't, the timeline slips from 8 years to 12–15.

---

## The hire profile and annual volume target

| Year | New entities | CEO hires needed | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | 4 | 3 (founder personally CEOs 1) | 3 |
| Y2 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| Y3 | 7 | 6 (1 spin-out CEO already in-house) | 16 |
| Y4 | 6 | 4 (2 from M&A retain incumbent CEOs) | 20 |
| Y5 | 5 | 3 (2 from M&A) | 23 |
| Y6 | 5 | 3 | 26 |
| Y7 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
| Y8 | 4 | 2 | 30 |

**Total over 8 years: 30 CEO hires.** Plus replacements for failures (estimate 30–40% over the period = ~10 additional hires), so **~40 CEO hires total** over the 8-year window.

Acquisition CEOs are typically retained for 18–24 months then transitioned or remain — the M&A integration playbook (D19) handles this separately.

---

## The talent pool: where Vietnamese operator-CEOs come from

There are seven concentrated sources. Source mix should be roughly balanced — over-concentration in any one channel creates pipeline fragility.

### 1. Vietnamese tech-leader alumni networks (~40% of hires expected)

Companies whose alumni form the core sourcing pool:
- **FPT Corporation** (Software, IS, Telecom, Trading) — deep operator bench, especially at VP/Director level looking for next-stage opportunity
- **VNG Corporation** — Zalo, ZaloPay, VinaGame alumni
- **Vingroup tech arm** (Vinhomes IT, VinFast, VinSmart, OneMount) — post-restructuring exits, large recent diaspora
- **Tiki, Sendo, Lazada Vietnam** — e-commerce operators with marketplace + ops experience
- **Momo, ZaloPay, VNPay, ShopeePay Vietnam** — fintech-experienced operators
- **Sea Group Vietnam, Grab Vietnam** — regional-trained operators with cross-border experience
- **Be Group, Hahalolo, Tiki Mini App** — mid-stage tech operators
- **Sky Mavis, Coin98** — crypto/Web3 (relevant for some plays)

Action: **maintain a CRM of 200+ named candidates from these sources** by end of Year 1. Senior CEO Recruiter (see infrastructure below) systematically maintains relationships, including quarterly informal touchpoints.

### 2. International Vietnamese diaspora returnees (~20%)

Vietnamese citizens or Việt Kiều with 10+ years of Silicon Valley, Singapore, Australia, or London tech experience, considering return to Vietnam for higher-impact roles. This pool has been growing since ~2018 (geopolitical pressure on Asian talent in US tech, return-to-Vietnam trend).

Sourcing channels:
- LinkedIn-targeted outreach (Việt Kiều with Vietnamese surnames at US/SG/AU tech companies)
- Vietnamese alumni networks at Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Harvard, NUS, NTU, Melbourne, Sydney, Imperial
- VietChallenge, Vietnam Innovation Network, RVC (Returning Vietnamese Community) events
- Sponsorship of "return to Vietnam" events and content

Strengths: technical depth, international standards, English fluency (matters for foreign investor relations). Weaknesses: cultural reintegration risk, local network gaps, family/life logistics.

**Mitigation for diaspora hires**: always pair with a Vietnamese co-founder or Chief of Staff with deep local network. Build a "soft landing" support package (housing, schooling for children, work permits for spouse, cultural reintegration mentorship).

### 3. Big 4 / management consulting senior partners (~15%)

- McKinsey, BCG, Bain Vietnam senior partners and principals
- KPMG, Deloitte, PwC, EY Vietnam partners (especially advisory/consulting partners, not just audit)

These are operators with broad cross-sector exposure, financial sophistication, and existing relationships across Vietnamese enterprise. Common pattern: 40–50 years old, partner-level, looking for last career chapter as an operator.

**Best fit**: TS Services entities (consulting, managed services), TS Health (especially if from healthcare advisory), TS Land (especially if from real-estate advisory).

### 4. Former founders, post-exit or post-failure (~10%)

- Founders who sold to incumbents (Sendo to FPT, JupViec/JupBao, Toong, etc.) and completed earn-out
- Founders whose previous companies failed but with strong reputations
- "Serial founders" — those building their 3rd or 4th company

**Best fit**: entities requiring deep founder-DNA (TS Block product line spin-outs, vertical SaaS plays). These hires demand high equity (40%+ founder-shareholder cap table essential).

### 5. Sector-specific executives from incumbents (~10%)

- TS Block needs ex-SBV-regulated execs (Vietcombank, BIDV, MB Bank, VPBank fintech arms; payment companies)
- TS Health needs ex-hospital-system CEOs or healthtech VPs (Vinmec, Hoan My, FV Hospital, Medlatec)
- TS Education needs ex-EdTech operators (TopCV Academy, Funix, Topica, MindX, Mclass)
- Argus (cybersecurity) needs ex-A05/MoPS or military cyber officers + tech sophistication — **rarest combination, requires specific search**
- Hogcare needs ex-MARD or agri-corporate (Masan MeatLife, Vissan, Vinamilk supply chain)
- TS Land needs ex-PropTech (MeeyLand alumni, batdongsan.com.vn, Homedy, RealEstate.com.vn)

**These hires take 6–12 months from outreach to close.** Build pipelines 12+ months ahead of incorporation target dates.

### 6. Group MD pipeline (~5%)

Once Group MDs (operating-group leaders) are in place by end of Year 2, they become a recruiting channel for their group's entity CEOs. The TS Services Group MD recruits the TS Tech Consulting CEO replacement, etc.

### 7. Internal promotion — entity #2 to entity #1 CEO (~5%)

By Year 4–5, mature entities have COOs and VPs of significant tenure who can step up to CEO at new entities. Internal promotion is the strongest signal for cultural fit and ramps fastest.

---

## The CEO-in-Residence (CIR) program — core mechanism

The single most important mechanism. Without it, the pace is not achievable.

### Structure

- **Standing program of 4–6 CIRs at any time** (scales to 6–8 by Year 3)
- **3–6 month engagement** per CIR
- **Retainer**: $5–10K USD/month (calibrated to candidate seniority and opportunity cost)
- **Non-exclusive** — candidate can advise other companies or work on their own ideas in parallel
- **Provides access to**: TS Shared Services, TS Holdings' founder, group MDs, portfolio company CEOs, M&A targets, market intelligence, office space

### What CIRs do during their engagement

- Refine the business plan for a target entity
- Help recruit the founding team they would inherit
- Conduct customer discovery and validate the wedge
- Evaluate M&A targets if relevant to the entity
- Assist active portfolio companies in their sector (mentorship, advisory)
- Build relationships with TS Holdings' other CEOs and the founder

### Conversion outcomes

Realistic conversion rates from CIR to full CEO role:

- **30–40% convert** to CEO role at a TS entity within 6 months of engagement end
- **20–30% become operating partners** at TS Investment Services (when it launches) or advisory roles
- **20–30% take roles outside TS** but become long-term advisors / champions / referral sources
- **10–20% are paid out without further engagement** (no fit found)

**The non-converters are not failures** — they extend TS Holdings' reputation and network in the Vietnamese tech community. CIR program is a brand asset, not just a hiring funnel.

### Why CIR works at this pace

- Spreads the vetting period across many candidates without committing to incorporation
- Removes the "we'll find a CEO later" trap (the trap is fatal — see Failure Modes below)
- Generates business-plan refinement in parallel with capital and customer development
- Surfaces personality and capability issues *before* incorporation, when reversal is cheap
- Builds founder + group MD personal relationship with candidate before formal commitment

### CIR cost model

- 6 standing CIRs × $7.5K/month average × 12 months = **$540K/year** in retainers
- Plus support: office, recruiting staff time, founder time
- Total annual cost: **~$700–800K** (rises to $1M+ at peak)

This is significant overhead. Justified because:
- A single bad CEO hire costs $1–3M (failed entity wind-down, salary, equity vested, opportunity cost)
- One CIR prevents one bad hire → program pays for itself
- Beyond that, every successful conversion accelerates a launch by 3–6 months → compounds the 8-year plan

---

## Recruiting infrastructure

### Senior CEO Recruiter (full-time hire, Year 2)

The single most important non-CEO hire in the entire structure.

- **Role**: dedicated to operator-CEO recruiting across the portfolio. Not generalist HR. Not founder-time-burning informal recruiting.
- **Profile**: 10+ years executive search experience, ideally at a Vietnamese or regional firm (Robert Walters, Michael Page, IGNITED Asia, ACES, NavGate, Talentnet, Adecco Vietnam, Spencer Stuart SEA). Vietnamese national.
- **Compensation**: $80–150K USD base + bonus tied to successful CEO conversions (12-month survival, not just placement)
- **Reports to**: founder, with dotted line to Group MDs
- **Mandate**: maintain CIR program, manage active search engagements, build pipeline CRM, manage executive search firm relationships, run CEO onboarding

### Executive search firm relationships

**Tier 1: Retained relationships** (1–2 firms with first-look on major searches)
- Likely candidates: Spencer Stuart SEA, Korn Ferry Vietnam, or a top Vietnamese firm (IGNITED Asia is a frequent choice)
- Annual retainer: $50–100K
- First look on tier-1 searches (CEO of TS Block, TS Health, large international hires)

**Tier 2: Project-based relationships** (4–6 firms used for specific searches)
- Robert Walters, Michael Page, ACES, NavGate, Talentnet, Adecco
- Standard contingent search: 25–33% of first-year compensation
- Used for sector-specific or mid-tier roles

**Tier 3: Specialized boutiques**
- Sector-specific search firms for cybersecurity (rare), healthtech, gov-tech
- One-off engagements, premium fees

### Pipeline CRM and intelligence

By end of Year 1, build and maintain:
- **200+ named tier-1 candidates** across sectors with refresh cadence (quarterly touchpoints, not annual)
- **CRM tooling**: Bullhorn, Mercury, or comparable (TS People product line could build internal tooling later)
- **Intelligence gathering**: who's leaving where, who's looking, who's recently exited
- **Reference graph**: which TS Holdings CEOs / advisors / investors can vouch for which candidates

### Brand investment in TS Holdings as an employer of choice

TS Media is a deliberate recruiting asset. Content investment:
- Founder thought leadership (podcasts, interviews, written articles)
- Portfolio CEO profiles (success stories, transparent challenge stories)
- "Why TS Holdings" employer narrative
- Annual TS CEO Summit (internal, but with selective external attendance)
- Conference sponsorships (Vietnam Web Summit, Tech in Asia Vietnam, regional events)

This sounds soft but it matters at this scale — the best operator-CEOs choose where to work based on platform reputation, not job descriptions. Make TS the platform of choice for ambitious Vietnamese tech operators.

---

## Compensation: the founder-shareholder cap table variant

The single largest lever for attracting tier-1 operator-CEOs.

### The standard TS model (current plan)

- TS Holdings 85%, ESOP 10–15% (per D3)
- Operator-CEO gets a slice of the ESOP — typically 1–4% of entity equity
- Works for: entities where founder has high conviction and committed capital, where TS brand carries recruiting weight, where operator wants the platform more than maximum upside

### The founder-shareholder variant (proposed for ~50% of entities)

- TS Holdings 20–25%, **operator-CEO 40–50%**, ESOP 15%, external investors 15–25%
- Operator-CEO takes founder-level economic risk and reward
- Works for: hard-to-recruit roles, sectors where TS brand has weak draw, mature founders who would otherwise build independently

### Which entities get which model

| Standard model (TS 85%) | Founder-shareholder (TS 20–25%) |
|---|---|
| TS Tech Consulting | TS Block / TS Pay (CEO must be ex-fintech with options) |
| TS Managed Services | TS Land (PropTech operators have many options) |
| TS Shared Services (internal) | Argus (cybersecurity executives are extremely rare) |
| TS People | Hogcare (agri operator commitment requires real equity) |
| Mira | Intelomics (if pursued — biotech requires founder-level equity) |
| TS Studio / TS Media | TS Health (hybrid clinical + tech CEOs are scarce) |
| Most Tier-3 commercial entities | Most international expansion entity CEOs |

**Rule of thumb**: if you can't find 3 qualified candidates for a role under the standard model after 60 days of search, switch to the founder-shareholder model. Don't keep searching with the wrong offer.

### Cash compensation

Calibrated to Vietnamese tech executive market (2026 estimates):

- **Tier-1 entity CEO (TS Block, TS Health, TS Data Services)**: $120–180K USD base + $40–80K target bonus + equity per above
- **Tier-2 entity CEO (most SaaS ventures)**: $80–120K base + $20–40K bonus + equity
- **Tier-3 entity CEO (smaller entities, services)**: $60–90K base + $15–25K bonus + equity
- **CIR retainer**: $5–10K USD/month, no other comp until conversion

Benchmarked quarterly against actual Vietnamese tech market — fast-moving market, especially for fintech and AI.

### Performance milestones tied to compensation

- **Year 1 (post-launch)**: customer wedge validated (10+ paying customers or $250K ARR for SaaS; equivalent for other models). Failure: 6-month grace period, then re-evaluate.
- **Year 2**: Series A raised, $1–3M ARR (SaaS) or equivalent maturity. Failure triggers honest re-evaluation conversation.
- **Year 3**: Series B raised or strategic clarity (acquihire, merger, wind-down). No ambiguity at this point.

### D&O insurance and personal protection

Per [government-customer-compliance.md](government-customer-compliance.md):
- D&O policy from Vietnamese carrier (PVI, Bảo Việt, AIG Vietnam, Allianz Vietnam) — primary
- International D&O — excess coverage if appropriate
- For Tier-1 entities: also state-secrets-handling protection, exit-ban risk awareness
- Indemnification from entity for Người đại diện theo pháp luật role

This is part of the offer, not an afterthought. Tier-1 entity CEOs especially negotiate for this — providing it preemptively shortens negotiation.

---

## The recruiting process: sourcing → CIR → trial → role

### Step 1: Sourcing (continuous)

- Senior CEO Recruiter maintains 200+ candidate CRM
- Quarterly portfolio review identifies upcoming CEO needs 12+ months ahead
- For each upcoming need, 8–12 named candidates identified
- 3–5 enter active conversation per role

### Step 2: Initial vetting (4–6 weeks per candidate)

- First conversation: Senior CEO Recruiter
- Second conversation: relevant Group MD
- Third conversation: founder (1-on-1, 90 minutes minimum, in-person preferred)
- Reference check: minimum 5 references, including former boss, peer, direct report, board member, investor
- Background check: criminal record (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp), media search, conflict-of-interest declaration

### Step 3: CIR engagement (3–6 months)

- Candidate becomes paid CIR
- Specific scope of work: refine business plan for target entity, validate wedge, evaluate M&A targets
- Weekly check-ins with Senior CEO Recruiter, monthly with founder
- Mid-engagement (Month 2–3): formal go/no-go discussion
- End-of-engagement: decision on CEO role, advisory role, or amicable conclusion

### Step 4: CEO role formalization

- Offer letter signed before any entity incorporation
- Founder-shareholder cap table negotiated (if applicable)
- Performance milestones agreed and documented
- D&O insurance and indemnification documented
- Onboarding plan (next section) shared
- Public announcement coordinated with TS Media

### Step 5: Onboarding (first 90 days)

- **Days 1–14**: orientation to TS Holdings ecosystem, meet all Group MDs and portfolio CEOs, review Shared Services capabilities
- **Days 15–45**: deep customer/market discovery, hire first 2–3 team members (CTO, head of sales, head of operations as fit)
- **Days 46–90**: business plan finalized, first board meeting, fundraising plan locked, hiring plan for next 12 months
- **End of 90 days**: formal review with founder + Group MD, course-correct if needed

### Step 6: Ongoing support

- Monthly 1-on-1 with founder (60 minutes)
- Quarterly Board meeting
- Quarterly all-CEO offsite (peer support, cross-portfolio learning)
- Annual 360 review (entity board, team, peers, founder)
- Annual CEO Summit (3-day deep dive on strategy, capital, talent)

### Step 7: Off-ramp protocol (when needed)

If CEO is not performing:
- **4-quarter trial** with explicit performance milestones
- If trial fails: structured transition over 60–90 days
- **Severance**: 6 months base + accelerated vesting on time-based equity
- **Founder retains transition equity**: prevents departed CEO from competing in the same sector for 24 months
- **Replacement plan**: Group MD or Senior CEO Recruiter has named successor identified before transition begins

---

## Failure modes and mitigations

### Failure mode 1: "We'll find a CEO later"

The single most common and most fatal failure pattern in aggressive growth portfolios. Founder believes a CEO can be recruited *after* incorporation, fundraising, or initial team hiring. Reality: post-launch recruiting takes 6–12 months while burn accumulates and the entity drifts.

**Mitigation**: explicit policy that no entity incorporates without a signed CEO offer. Documented in [D17](../notes/decisions.md) extensions. Enforced by Senior CEO Recruiter as a gate, not a suggestion.

### Failure mode 2: Single-source dependence

Over-reliance on one search firm, one network, or one referral source creates pipeline fragility. When that source dries up, recruitment stops.

**Mitigation**: tier-1 retained search firm + 4–6 project-based firms + diaspora outreach + Big 4 sourcing + sector specialists. No more than 30% of any year's hires from any single channel.

### Failure mode 3: Pace pressure compromising quality

Hitting launch dates with sub-tier-1 CEOs because the calendar demands it. Compounds badly — one weak CEO becomes 18 months of stalled entity becomes wasted capital becomes pressure on next hire.

**Mitigation**: explicit policy that launch dates slip rather than CEO quality. Annual portfolio review includes "did we hold the quality line" as an explicit metric. Founder's calendar incentivizes patience.

### Failure mode 4: Cap-table greed

Insisting on 85% TS Holdings ownership across the board, which dries up the recruiting pipeline for half the entity types.

**Mitigation**: founder-shareholder variant for ~50% of entities. Reviewed at each entity's pre-launch gate.

### Failure mode 5: Cultural fit failure on diaspora hires

International-returnee CEOs without local network/cultural fit fail at high rates (~40% in first 18 months in observed Vietnamese tech cases).

**Mitigation**: diaspora hires always paired with strong Vietnamese co-founder or Chief of Staff. "Soft landing" package for first 6 months. Explicit cultural-fit assessment in vetting.

### Failure mode 6: Founder over-stretching CEO support

At 30+ CEOs, founder cannot provide meaningful monthly 1-on-1 time to every one. CEOs feel orphaned, performance suffers, churn rises.

**Mitigation**: Group MD layer absorbs the bulk of CEO support. Founder time concentrated on top 3 entity CEOs + Tier-1 strategic situations + capital allocation. CEO peer community (quarterly offsites, Slack channel) provides additional support.

### Failure mode 7: Compensation drift

Vietnamese tech executive market moving faster than TS comp policy. Best candidates accept other offers because TS comp lags.

**Mitigation**: quarterly benchmarking against actual Vietnamese tech market (FPT, VNG, Vingroup tech, fintech players, regional comparables). Comp policy reviewed annually, adjusted as needed.

---

## Capacity and budget summary

| Year | CEO hires needed | CIR program | Recruiting overhead | Total annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | 3 | 2 active CIRs | $80K (initial Senior CEO Recruiter ramp) | ~$220K |
| Y2 | 7 | 4 active CIRs | $200K (full recruiter + 1 search firm) | ~$700K |
| Y3 | 6 | 6 active CIRs | $300K (recruiter + 2 retained firms + search firms) | ~$1.0M |
| Y4 | 4 | 6 active CIRs | $350K | ~$1.1M |
| Y5 | 3 | 6 active CIRs | $350K | ~$1.1M |
| Y6–Y8 | 2–3/yr | 5 active CIRs | $300K | ~$900K/yr |

**Cumulative recruiting investment over 8 years: ~$8M.**

Justification:
- 40 successful CEO placements at ~$200K each (all-in cost incl. CIR retainer, search fees, comp, infrastructure)
- Prevented failures: estimated 8–10 bad hires avoided at $1.5M average cost = $12–15M saved
- Brand value: TS Holdings becomes the platform of choice for Vietnamese tech operators (compound value)

This is a real budget line, owned by Shared Services, sustained even in lean years.

---

## What the founder commits to personally

The recruiting machine works only if the founder makes it work. Specifically:

- **2 days/month minimum** on CEO recruiting (interviews, references, CIR conversations, offsite participation)
- **Top 3 entity CEOs**: weekly 1-on-1, 30 minutes minimum
- **All entity CEOs**: monthly 1-on-1, 60 minutes
- **Quarterly all-CEO offsite**: full 2-day participation
- **Annual CEO Summit**: full 3-day participation
- **No public criticism of CEOs**: ever. Tough conversations happen privately.
- **Equity offer authority**: founder personally signs every CEO equity offer above 5% — non-delegable.

Founder unwilling or unable to commit this time → recruiting machine fails → 8-year plan slips.

---

## Related documents

- [year-1-deployment-plan.md](year-1-deployment-plan.md) — Y1 launch slate where the first 3–4 CEO hires happen
- [aggressive-8-year-growth-plan.md](aggressive-8-year-growth-plan.md) — once committed, the full year-by-year plan
- [government-customer-compliance.md](government-customer-compliance.md) — additional CEO requirements for Tier-1 entities (Vietnamese citizen, criminal record, D&O, succession plan)
- [../notes/decisions.md](../notes/decisions.md) — D17 (Tier-1 entity legal-representative requirements); future D18 (CEO-first incorporation rule) will formalize the gating discipline this playbook depends on