Alex Mertes is an esteemed Daversa Partners alum who currently leads the Executive and Leadership Recruiting team at Plaid. She sits down with us to discuss her journey from Daversa to Plaid, key learnings, and biggest takeaways in this SpotlightOn feature.
Daversa Partners & My Evolution As An Executive Headhunter
I think like many people, I very much fell into the world of executive search. At the time I was unclear on what I wanted to pursue in my career, but two things I knew for certain were: I was energized by building relationships with people, and I was willing to work hard. When I was first introduced to Daversa, I didn’t fully grasp that I would end up making a career out of recruiting, but I was ready to work hard and learn the business.
I spent my first 3 years in New York working for partner Geri Allyn in the NYC office. I was very much a generalist which means I became an expert across multiple industries, geographies, functions, and growth stages. You name it, I did it. I love that Daversa has such a broad definition of “Tech” because I was continuously exposed to different facets of the industry. One minute I was working with Postmates, and the next minute I was working with Momentus, a company that does ‘last mile delivery’ for satellites in outer space. I was constantly being challenged and learning something new every time I picked up a new search or client, which is one of the reasons why I fell in love with recruiting.
The last few years of my time at Daversa were spent building and launching the SoCal practice. It was a unique and rewarding time to be part of our team as we grew from four people around a kitchen table to an office of nearly thirty. During that time, I immersed myself in the LA landscape working with companies disrupting industries ranging from content/media, health & wellness, direct to consumer brands, fintech, gaming, frontier tech, and even a bit of govtech. It was exciting to help grow Daversa’s footprint in a new market.
My Journey to Plaid
During my time at Daversa, I didn’t think that I’d ever end up in-house, but when the opportunity at Plaid presented itself, I couldn’t pass it up. I was really excited about the impact this organization would have for a few reasons:
First, I’m bullish about the business. Many parts of the financial services system in the U.S. haven’t been innovated in decades which makes it quite painful for consumers and often excludes underserved communities. There’s a massive opportunity here to democratize financial services by building better infrastructure that enables new technology to exist, and this vision to build a more accessible and inclusive system really resonated with me from my early interactions with Plaid.
Second, I was impressed with the team at Plaid. Not only was everyone incredibly smart and mission driven, but they were also collaborative and low ego. I felt like I had a true partnership with the team and all of those attributes are a reflection of its really special culture.
The final piece that encouraged me to make the jump was Plaid’s CEO, Zach Perret. He is a founder that understands that ‘people’ are a company’s greatest asset, and to have a CEO that believes that doing the people part well is a massive differentiator when scaling a business.
Scaling Executive Recruiting for Plaid
At Plaid, I’m responsible for leading Executive & Leadership Recruiting. Plaid has experienced rapid growth in the past few years, so we needed to find ways to hire quickly while building processes that were going to scale with the business in the coming years.
Being in-house means being a part of the build, and one of the most rewarding parts of my job is getting to see the impact of my work firsthand. While the stakes are really high because I have a lot of skin in the game, finding talented, mission-driven, and empathetic leaders that are game-changing for the business and then helping them scale their teams at Plaid has been incredibly gratifying.
To Those Who Have Just Joined Or Are Thinking About Joining Daversa Partners
Do it, absolutely do it! Daversa is a place that values grit and hard work, and above all, embraces growth. Daversa gives an immense amount of ownership to its people no matter how long you’ve been recruiting, and provides you with an opportunity to accelerate your career. You get out of it exactly what you put into it, and the opportunities are endless. As most folks know, there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to recruiting, and I guarantee that Daversa will help you find your style and what works for you while building great relationships and gaining a ton of confidence along the way.
Having a Growth Mindset
One of the biggest takeaways from my time at Daversa is the importance of embracing constant development. A common trait of the people I respect the most in my career is that they’re never afraid to admit what they don’t know and are constantly asking questions. I attribute so much of my growth during my time at Daversa (and throughout my career) to asking LOTS and LOTS of questions. You can learn something from everyone you interact with, but you have to have the courage to ask.
Additionally, I really admire folks who make an effort to master their craft, and Daversa is made up of these people everywhere you look. They are the ones who take the time to understand how to build a company, and even go the extra mile to deeply understand their clients’ business and needs and turn it into a compelling story. I like to think that great search is part art and part science – mastering your craft in recruiting is the art, and methodical execution is the science. On top of helping you forge your own path in recruiting, Daversa also does a great job of teaching ‘process’ which is crucial for building trust with clients and ultimately having a successful outcome.
Mentorship
If you’ve spent time with Paul, the partners, or anyone who has spent a good period of their career at Daversa, you’ll notice how generous they are with their time. The people there genuinely care about your success, both personally and professionally. I feel really lucky to have had a number of mentors who invested a great amount of time in me over the years and helped me get to where I am today. One person I’m especially grateful to is Geri Allyn. Geri is a TOTAL badass and an absolute rockstar at what she does. I worked directly under Geri for the better half of a decade and was constantly in awe of how deeply she cared for her team and the amount of time she invested to set each of us up for success. She is someone that I’ll always have the deepest respect and admiration for, and I’m so grateful for her ongoing mentorship and friendship over the years.
Leveraging the Daversa Partners Alumni Network
The network that Daversa has built with its alumni is really special. As I transitioned into my new role, I came up against a lot of things I’d never even thought about such as what metrics I should be using for more complex org challenges, building for scale, and so on. Because of the close-knit nature of Daversa, I was able to tap this network and lean on those who had left Daversa and gone to be really successful in their respective careers. This group includes people like Sharah Marwah, Talent Partner at Venrock, Tina Wilson, Chief People Officer at LendingClub, Katie Gowryluk, Head of Recruiting at Butterfly, and Cody Schrotel, VP Talent Acquisition at Colibra. Each of these people were selfless with their time and guidance, and have helped me navigate through the challenges I’ve come up against.
Personal Reflection & Takeaways
In the beginning of my career, I found it really challenging to get comfortable doing things I hadn’t done before or didn’t know how to do. I had the tendency to cling to things I naturally excelled at, and because I wanted the respect of my candidates, clients, and peers, it was easy to focus on that. But through a lot of deliberate effort, I’ve really pushed myself to go out of my comfort zone, and found that every time I’ve been uncomfortable taking something on, that is where I’ve received the most instrumental feedback, built my confidence, and grew the most.
I knew there would be a learning curve when I stepped into my new role at Plaid as there was so much to focus on – building relationships and gaining trust, deepening my understanding of fintech, and embracing the culture. On top of that, I stepped “in-house” for the first time and was learning how a company operates from the inside-out. But I have learned and grown so much, and have some key takeaways from my career thus far:
- Don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know. Even the smartest people aren’t capable of knowing everything. Ask all the questions, don’t be afraid to reach out for help, and be open to learning from those around you. You can still be an expert without knowing everything.
- Bet on yourself. Pursue opportunities, find people you can learn from, focus on impact, and then make the bet on yourself.
- Run towards the projects and work that make you uncomfortable. Seek out mentors and trusted advisors along the way, ask for feedback, and keep trying things until you get the results you’re looking for.
- Hold yourself to a high bar and work really, really hard. You’ll get out of your work what you put into it, so care deeply about the work that you do.