High-stakes placements require highly accountable recruiters.

Jim has built teams, companies, products, and communities. In addition to founding five executive search firms since 1993, including Riviera Partners in 2000 and culminating with JJA in 2007, Jim was co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of venture-backed PeopleMover, Inc.—an enterprise software company that completed a merger with Opus360 prior to its 2000 IPO—and founder, CEO, and Chairman of Micro J Systems, a developer of software solutions for staffing firms and HR organizations.

Known for creating teams that achieve both scale and investor returns, Jim has placed executives for clients including FIGS (NYSE:FIGS), The Honest Company (NYSE:HNST), Juvo+, Jellysmack, Cornerstone on Demand (NASDAQ:CSOD, acquired by Clearlake Capital Group), GreenDot (NYSE:GDOT), RealD Inc. (NYSE:RLD, acquired by Rizvi Traverse Management), and Velocify (acquired by Sallie Mae).

Jim has also formed several influential trade and community organizations: Los Angeles New Media Roundtable (LAwNMower), which focused on the emerging digital media industry; Digital Coast Roundtable, which he launched with then–LA mayor Richard Riordan to promote Los Angeles as a leading center for Internet and technology companies; and ThursdayNights.org, which convenes SoCal’s innovation leaders while donating close to $2M to local youth causes.

Jim has been recognized as Software Entrepreneur of the Year by the Technology Council of Southern California and Top 25 People in High Technology by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Jim has been an active Big Brother since 1992 and is a longstanding member of the Board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica. He earned a BA in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and also studied at the Universitat de Barcelona.

Search specialties: CEO, COO, CRO, Partner, and Board positions

Recent placements:

Recruiting tip:

• Employers: “Don’t be afraid to ask the tough question, take the deal away, and always trust your gut—but then be ready to articulate why you’re passing on a candidate or moving them ahead in the process.”
• Candidates: “Do the research before you show up for an interview and carefully craft deep, challenging, non-pedestrian questions. The interviewer’s takeaway should be, ‘That was the best-prepared candidate I have ever met.”

Interests outside of work: Golf, rugby, wine, BBQ, straight-ahead jazz and outlaw country, and grandkids

Jason has assembled high-performing Technology Products, Data Analytics, and Sales teams for some of the most high-profile companies in LA and Silicon Valley. His placements include CIO and EVP searches for Kitchen United, VP of Analytics for WME, and multiple SVP/VP-level searches for JellySmack and Cornerstone OnDemand. Before joining JJA in 2011, he ran his own search firm and headed and built engineering, products, and sales staffing departments globally for Google and Microsoft and countless fast-growing startups. While on staff at CommerceOne, he helped the company grow from less than 50 people to more than 4,000 and had the best-performing IPO and stock appreciation in 1999 and 2000. At SpotRunner, he came in as employee #80 and help grow the company to over 500 employees. He has a BA in Human Resources Management from Menlo College.

Search specialties: C-level and SVP/VP roles in Engineering/Technology, Data Analytics, Sales, Business Development, and Products

Recent placements:

Recruiting tip: “Don’t shy away from hiring the ‘best athlete’ over the person with the domain experience. Some of the best hires our clients have made were candidates with limited domain or industry experience. Grit and ingenuity are the hallmarks of successful executives and some of the best predictors of success.”

Interests outside of work: Powerlifting, bodysurfing, playing blackjack and poker, traveling, following Steelers football, and cheering for his sons in football and basketball games

Sam has completed nearly 1,000 searches for emerging growth, middle-market, and large-cap technology companies. Before he came to JJA in 2014, he co-founded Diverse Employment, a staffing firm in Seattle, and founded Talent Merchants Inc. in the Bay Area, where he delivered technical staffing for clients including Yahoo!, Cisco, Dolby, Sony, Adobe, TIME, and Amazon’s Lab126. He also co-founded a program that provided training to under-resourced high school students in coding, multimedia skills, and job interviewing. He has worked in-house to provide technical staffing at Oracle, 3COM/US Robotics, Overture, Alta-Vista, LiveOps, and Yahoo!. He received a BS in Political Science and American Ethnic Studies from the University of Washington.

Search specialties: Critical roles from individual contributor through executive level across Engineering and Development, Engineering Management, Product, Program and Project Management, Product Marketing, Analysts, and more

Recent placements:

Recruiting tip: “Employers: Being open to remote or hybrid work solutions will be key to attracting the right candidates. Candidates: Keep in mind that supply and demand can change in a heartbeat. You may be getting 10+ calls a day today, but that can change overnight. Recruiters and hiring managers have a long memory, so stay humble while maintaining your confidence.”