Shawn Brown

I partner with founders, executives, and investors to identify and recruit exceptional AI, engineering, and leadership talent. Over 15 years, I've recruited technical talent across Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Etsy, Andreessen Horowitz, and venture-backed startups—from foundational engineering hires to senior executives. Today, through Search Foundry, I work directly with founders and leadership teams on high-priority searches across AI/ML, software engineering, data, security, product, GTM, and executive leadership. My work is particularly focused on difficult, high-judgment searches where the market needs to be mapped before the candidate profile is obvious. That includes: • Zero-to-one and foundational hiring • AI and engineering talent mapping • Senior and executive search • Competitive talent intelligence • Candidate calibration and search strategy • Building targeted pipelines for difficult-to-fill roles I operate as an embedded talent partner rather than a transactional recruiter—working closely with leadership on role definition, market realities, candidate quality, compensation, and search strategy. My background includes recruiting through Google's hyper-growth period, building engineering teams at Amazon and Microsoft, hiring Data Scientists, Machine Learning talent and Software Engineers at Etsy, and supporting technical and leadership searches at Andreessen Horowitz. At Search Foundry, I now bring that experience directly to startups and growth-stage technology companies.