80% of VP Roles Are Never Posted. Here's How to Find Them ft. Andy Mowat (Whispered)

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The best executive roles are never posted, so how do you find them?

Andy Mowat, founder & CEO of Whispered and former exec at four unicorns, joins Josh Schachter to pull back the curtain on how senior go-to-market and CS leaders actually land their next role. After navigating between operating roles and founding companies himself, Andy built Whispered so top executives could share unposted roles and interview intel instead of competing in the dark. In this conversation, he shares the playbook. Whether you're quietly looking while in seat or actively on the market, this episode is a masterclass for job hunt.

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What You'll Learn

- Why 80%+ of VP and C-level roles are never posted publicly

- How VC/PE talent partners differ from executive recruiters, and how to get on their radar

- Why you should build relationships with people who already have the job you want

- Why role specificity beats being "open to any job"

- How to use target lists to unlock loose connections in your network

- Why backdooring to mid-level employees works (you don't need the hiring manager)

- How to treat your job search like an outbound sales funnel

- When comp and role level are actually negotiable

- Why thank-you notes still matter more than you think

- What's happening in the CS hiring market

- Why AI-native companies are heading into a churn wave

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Timestamps

0:00 - Preview & Intro

1:28 - Meet Andy Mowat (Founder, Whispered)

5:28 - How A+ candidates search differently

6:52 - Talent partners vs. recruiters and the 340-person Google group

10:15 - Career clarity, target lists & the power of loose connections

15:20 - Find & connect with the people who have the job you want

16:36 - Timing, recency bias, and building real relationships

18:50 - Why senior roles are never posted publicly

22:44 - Monitoring unposted roles with scrapers and AI

23:43 - Why the front door doesn't work

25:40 - No more referral fees

27:53 - Treat your job search like an outbound sales funnel

30:25 - Write thank-you notes

31:31 - The CS job market and the coming AI churn wave

33:03 - Comp negotiation and why half of all comp numbers are flexible

34:45 - Can you level up in this market?

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Josh is writing a book on building customer relationships. Follow his journey and insights at www.joshschachter.com

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Where to Find the Guest

Andy Mowat (Whispered): https://www.linkedin.com/in/amowat/

Whispered: https://www.whispered.com/

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Where to Find the Hosts:

Josh's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/

Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/