Versori Voices: Jody Saunders🗣️

Welcome to Versori Voices – our weekly series spotlighting fresh perspectives and real-world innovation. Each edition delivers practical insights, strategic thinking, and a behind-the-scenes look at how impact is made, straight from the people driving change

This week we are spotlighting Jody Sunders, Co-Founder and CEO at Atara Partners, executive search partners for tech startups and scale ups.

Q: What is the most common challenge that tech founders are facing right now?

A: Right now, the biggest challenge is balancing the need to grow with the discipline to do it sustainably. Founders are under pressure to prove traction, raise capital, and build teams, all in incredibly uncertain economic times. The bar is higher than it was a few years ago, investors expect clearer paths to revenue and founders need to build operationally sound businesses much earlier. That makes hiring the right leadership talent critical. Get it wrong, and you burn both time and trust. Get it right, and you unlock real leverage.

Q: Of all of the industries that you service, which struggles with integrations the most? And why do you think that is?

A: I’d have to say Fintech. It’s an industry built on stitching together legacy systems, regulatory frameworks, and rapidly evolving customer expectations. Every integration, whether it’s banking infrastructure, payments, or identity verification, carries compliance risk and technical complexity. Founders often underestimate just how hard and time-consuming those integrations can be. It’s also why many Fintech’s over-hire in engineering before hiring the operational and product leaders who can help them scale cleanly.

Q: How do you see the tech landscape evolving over the next 12 months and how can founders prepare?

A: We’re moving into a phase where capital efficiency and clarity of vision are valued more than ultimate headcount or product hype. Founders will need to show they’re solving real problems, not just building impressive tech. AI will continue to reshape how products are built and how teams operate, but it’s still early days in terms of real business impact. I’d advise founders to get closer to their customers than ever before. If you deeply understand the problem you're solving and stay laser-focused on execution, you'll be in a strong position regardless of the funding climate. It’s one of the many reasons we’ve built our Founders Circle Community, to allow Founders to share their learnings in our ever-changing landscape.

Q: What's one piece of advice that's stuck with you throughout your career?

A: Back the people, not just the idea! You can have the smartest business model in the world, but without the right people in the right seats, it doesn’t matter. That advice shaped how we built Atara and runs through all the work we deliver for our clients. We work with founders who know that leadership is make-or-break, and we help them build teams that can truly scale with the business.

To be featured in a Versori Voices article, reach out to sophie@versori.com!