Meagan Strout

About

I build businesses. I've spent the last decade in recruiting, and the last six years launching and operating my own companies. My work centers on venture capital firms, family offices, founding teams at early-stage startups, and CEOs at growth-stage and public companies navigating periods of exponential change. I founded Tack Advisors in 2020 with $80K in angel funding. The firm has since closed 100+ retained searches across the US, UK, and Canada, generated $3.5M+ in cumulative placement revenue, and grown its network to 24,000+ candidates. Along the way, I launched eaRISE, where we grew paid membership 360% in six months, and The Shortlist, a talent platform built specifically for non-investing VC talent. My operating philosophy is people, process, profit — in that order, always. Investing in the people side first — candidates, clients, and team — makes it easier to build the right processes, and profit follows. I most enjoy conversations with operators thinking about how to scale a team without losing what made it work in the first place, founders building their first operations function, and anyone thinking carefully about what AI changes, and doesn't change, about how we work.

Experience

Education