The hiring partner consumer startups call first.
Suma finds and places senior executives into consumer startups at pre-seed, seed, and Series A. CFOs, CMOs, Heads of Customer, COOs. Full-time search is our primary work - fractional when the timing isn't right for a permanent hire. We work with a small number of startups at any one time. We don't run your search as a job ad, and there's no retainer - we get paid when the right person joins, not before.
Where are you right now?
Building your leadership team
→ FOR STARTUPSYou need to make a senior exec hire and get it right. We run full-time searches and take on fractional where the timing isn't right for a permanent appointment.
You're a senior executive open to a role
→ FOR CANDIDATESYou've led at scale and want to work with an early-stage consumer business - full-time or fractional.
Raising your next round
→ FOR STARTUPSYou're preparing for or in the middle of a raise and need warm introductions to the right investors.
You invest in consumer startups
→ FOR INVESTORSYou want early visibility on pre-seed and seed rounds before they're widely marketed.
The Suma Thesis
Are you making your first senior hire without knowing what good looks like?
Do you need senior experience but aren't ready for a full-time hire yet?
Are you approaching investors without the right introductions?
Are you at Series A and building a leadership layer for the first time?
Most early-stage startups don't need a recruiter, a consultant, or a venture capital firm. They need someone who's been where they are and can help them make better decisions.
Book a call →Why work with Suma.
The network
We spend time understanding the role first - what the business needs, exactly who you're picturing in the seat. Then we go and find them. Sometimes that's our network. If it isn't, we run a targeted search built around that person specifically, not a job ad hoping the right one applies.
Founder to founder
Simon co-founded Apex Rides, raised £7M, scaled nationally and hired across every function in consumer. He knows what these roles look like from the inside.
Highly selective
We work with a small number of startups at a time. Every search gets our full attention.
You only pay when you hire
We don't charge a retainer. We get paid once the hire's actually made, not for showing up to run a process. That's what keeps us honest about who we put in front of you.
Who we place.
Consumer businesses run on tight margins and investor scrutiny. The right finance hire at this stage isn't just someone who can close the books - it's someone who understands unit economics, runway management, and what a Series A or B investor wants to see. We place finance leaders who've done this before.
In consumer, marketing drives growth from day one. We place senior marketers who understand acquisition, retention, and brand building at early stage - people who can operate without a large team and prove it in the numbers.
Consumer businesses are won and lost on retention. A strong Head of Customer owns the full post-purchase experience - onboarding, engagement, churn reduction, and the feedback loops that actually improve the product. Often the most undervalued hire at seed and Series A.
When the founding team is stretched across product, growth, and fundraising, operations falls through the cracks. We place ops leaders who can build the infrastructure a founder needs to scale.
Sectors we work with
Beyond placements, we can also advise on GTM tech stacks and, where the timing is right, facilitate warm introductions to investors in our network.
Aligned on
outcomes.
We start with a conversation
30 minutes so we can understand where you are and what you need.
We agree scope
If there's a fit, we agree what we're working on before anything starts.
We're paid on delivery
Our fees are tied to outcomes and if we don't deliver, we don't charge.
Ready to talk?
Book a 30-minute call. Just a conversation about where you are and whether Suma can help.
Book a call →