About
Michael Scissons is a New York–based entrepreneur and the Founder of Perform Search, an…
Articles by Michael
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Being the best hiring manager comes down to a simple formula.
Being the best hiring manager comes down to a simple formula.
Last year, I did something crazy. I pivoted into the world of recruitment and launched Careerlist, a modern recruiting…
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Why Companies Fail at Recruiting
Why Companies Fail at Recruiting
The current talent acquisition market is a tremendous industry, valued at around $125 billion per year in the United…
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Michael Scissons shared thisPerform Search Summer Soirée delivered. Perfect weather, live music, BBQ on the water, and a room full of some of the sharpest investors and operators in consumer, media, and entertainment. Hard to beat. Big thanks to Dave Peacock and David S. Kidder for co-hosting and making the night what it was. Grateful to everyone who came out. See you at the next one.
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Michael Scissons posted thisSince February, the approach to executive talent has shifted forever. Up until then, you could progress gracefully, slow down on learning, be more hands-off trusting in what you learned when you were starting out, and trust that up-and-comers would figure out the new stuff. That has changed. In almost every function, you now need to be very hands-on, learning a new generation of AI tools, and have a clear vision of how AI will transform your role, your team, your way of working, and your industry. The #1 call from the last 12 weeks has been to replace leaders who aren't doing this.
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Michael Scissons shared thisAlways love Perform Dinner Club LA. Forty-four seats. Lielle. Chef Marcus Jernmark doing things with Nordic technique and California ingredients that I haven't stopped thinking about. No agenda, no pitches, just a remarkable group of leaders from consumer, media, and entertainment gathered around a table for a few hours. Thank you to everyone who made the trip out and spent the evening with us. The conversation was as good as the food, which is saying something.
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Michael Scissons shared thisNo question it's all changing. B2B marketing orgs are moving faster than most. Adapt or die. You have to move dollars to working media and sales. AI is building the scale that cash used to buy. I don't see VPs of Marketing reporting to AI at scale near term. Maybe in smaller tech-first players. Not at the enterprise level yet. Jason M. Lemkin is driving to the future faster than most and testing in the open for all to learn from.Michael Scissons shared thisSo we’re hiring a seasoned human marketer to report to 10K our AI VP Marketing. Some folks think this is trolling, or not real, or for attention. No. They just are … behind. 10K already: - Manages all our campaigns and more and more of our outbound - Integrates all our data sources, with data on every single member of our community from 10+ years (400,000+), and generates our top 10 marketing ideas of the week and top 3 every day - “Joins” our team meetings and posts the first Slack update each single day - Tracks its own accountability in real-time to goals, and all of our accountability on revenue goals - Manages, in part, eight figures of revenue In essence, 10K already drives 80% or so of our marketing initiatives. Together — together — with Amelia and me. We are “on the loop” together … if not always “in the loop”. 10K is just part of the team. Albeit, the highest executing one. So we are just hiring a human to work for and with 10K to execute all our campaigns, ideas, outreach, etc. 10K already has better ideas here, data-driven, 7 days a week, than the humans do. And it executes a lot of them itself, but it can’t do it all. So it’s not that crazy. And you still get to work with the humans on the team! It’s just 10K drives the plan, the executables, goals, etc. Together with the humans. It’s a small team. For some, that sound uncomfortable. For some, it may even some like a threat To those that just want to execute without politics, drama, etc. … and know AI workflows … it just might be the new dream job. And the new dream boss. I think so.
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Michael Scissons shared this👋 AtlantaMichael Scissons shared thisOur first-ever Dinner Club event in Atlanta did what Perform does best: bringing together leaders and innovators across industries for an agenda-free evening of meaningful connection. Creating intentional spaces for people to connect beyond the typical networking setting truly came to life thanks to everyone who joined us. A huge thank you to our guests and sponsors for making the evening such a success. See you next year, Atlanta.
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Michael Scissons shared thisWe are pleased to share that Jenna Behrer is joining Perform Search today as Managing Director of our Consumer Group. Jenna brings more than 15 years of experience building and leading consumer brands. She joins us from Dr. Praeger's, where she served as Chief Growth Officer. Prior to Dr. Praeger's, Jenna spent nearly seven years at The HEINEKEN Company. She built the Americas Innovation Hub, served as General Manager of HEINEKEN's first cross-functional Innovation Accelerator, and led an 11-person Innovation & Activation team across the U.S. portfolio. Earlier in her career, she spent six years at PepsiCo, including a London-based role leading Quaker innovation across nine countries in Western Europe. It's a rare combination: large-cap CPG rigor, founder-stage growth instincts, and an international perspective that's increasingly relevant to the clients we serve. Jenna has operated at every level of the consumer org chart. She has hired the leaders, built the teams, and delivered the results. That operating credibility is the standard we hold for partners at Perform, and Jenna meets it in every dimension. Consumer is one of three core verticals at Perform Search, alongside Media & Entertainment and Technology. Jenna will lead our work placing CEOs, CMOs, , CROs, Chief Growth Officers, and commercial leaders for the consumer companies defining what comes next. She also shares our conviction that connection is the foundation of this business, and she'll be an important voice in the continued growth of the Perform Dinner Club. Please join myself, Kristin Sheridan, Andrew Snyder, and the entire Perform team in welcoming Jenna. Welcome to Perform, Jenna. We're glad you're here.
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Michael Scissons shared thisLoved being back in Chicago. Great night with the Perform Search Dinner Club at Adalina Prime, bringing together some of my favorite people, new friends and old alike. One room at the intersection of top operators and investors. Perfect weather, amazing food, and even better people. Connection is our business. Huge thanks to Dave Peacock and the Advantage Solutions team, plus David S. Kidder , for their endless community support. Great to see Melissa Werneck, Todd Kaplan, Gustavo Bastos de Souza, Mollye Santulli, Paul Chibe, Danielle Glines, Gannon Jones, Eric Osman, Marc Grabowski, Joe Chura, Jessie Abrams, Kristin Sheridan, Andrew Snyder, Pamay Bassey + so many others that Linkedin won't allow me to mention.
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Michael Scissons shared thisGabrielle Stahl just kicked off a great search with Levolor. Hiring a Senior Director of Field Sales to lead their 65+ person national field team. It's a big one: full ownership of field sales performance, a seat at the commercial strategy table, and real runway to grow into broader leadership. Think GM of the field, not a caretaker. If you're interested, connect with Gabbi she's leading this search and would love to hear from you.Michael Scissons shared thisI'm partnering with Sanjiv Chhatwal to find a Field Sales Leader at Levolor! Apply here if interested.
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Michael Scissons shared thisCongratulations to Michael Schwindle, MBA on joining VASA as Chief Financial Officer. Perform Search was proud to partner with VASA on this search. Excited to see the impact ahead. Michael brings more than three decades of financial and operational leadership across leading global retail and consumer brands, including Vera Bradley, Claire’s, Fleet Farm, Payless, Harry & David, and Guitar Center. He has consistently driven profitability, margin expansion, and operational transformation in complex, high-growth environments. As VASA continues its national expansion, his experience in financial strategy, capital allocation, supply chain, and retail operations will be instrumental in supporting disciplined growth and long-term enterprise value creation. News here: here: https://lnkd.in/gEmGawCC
Michael Scissons commented on a post
4mo
None of the auto responses feel right... go get em. Love that you are back.
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Michael Scissons liked thisWe just hit 5,000 Burger King stores! June was an incredible month at PAR. Reaching 5,000 BK locations is a massive milestone, and I believe it represents the single largest cloud POS go-live in restaurant history. Someone please correct me if I am wrong! Kudos to the entire team for making this happen and for maintaining such an impressive pace. BK's CDO is thrilled with the work, which is a huge compliment coming from our largest customer. Way to go, everyone!
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Michael Scissons reacted on thisMichael Scissons reacted on thisOne year ago today, my sister Caroline Klein broke the internet with the article she requested that I post after she died. Her message inspired us to live fully and unapologetically. She said, “Keep asking yourself 'why not?' and 'why wait?' and pursue all of your dreams with an unapologetic determination. We only have one life to live, and it's on you to live it to the fullest. So please, try to see every day as a license to LIVE, not just pass the time." Today, I’m re-reading her words and asking myself … did I do it? And the answer is a full YES. My passion for Little Saints poured into us becoming the #1 beverage on the Inc. 5000. But I did more than work! I went cave jumping in the Bahamas, traveled to Mexico City and Paris, started playing tennis and golf again, saw more live music than I ever have, and spent as much time as possible with my body in the ocean and in lakes. I escaped the Miami heat to spend most of the summer in Montauk LIVING. If you were inspired by Caroline’s words, did you live more this year? I would love to hear your stories 🙏
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