Kevin Hartz

Who they are

Kevin Hartz is Managing Partner at Herd Freed Hartz — a co-founder of the firm who came up through RealNetworks and built one of the Pacific Northwest's most recognized executive search practices from scratch.

Person

Kevin earned a BS in Marketing from Indiana University, then moved into the tech world through RealNetworks — the Seattle-based streaming pioneer — where he worked long enough to co-found its alumni organization afterward, a signal of how seriously he takes community and continuity. He progressed from Senior Recruiter to Recruiting Manager before making the leap to co-found Herd Freed Hartz in 2001. Over 25 years, the firm has completed 1,000+ searches and built a client base that includes 150+ publicly traded companies in the Seattle region. The through-line is anchoring in Pacific Northwest tech from the inside out — he recruited within it before he built a business around it. He's based in the Pacific Northwest, reads broadly (Oliver Burkeman's '4000 Weeks', David Brooks' 'Second Mountain', the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu's 'Book of Joy'), and supports local causes including KEXP, Samaritan, and the Seattle Art Museum. Possibly — the reading list signals someone who thinks about time, meaning, and leadership in ways that go deeper than the typical recruiter's pitch.

Company

Herd Freed Hartz's most recent public highlight is the placement of Craig Irwin as VP Sales at CopilotKit, featured as a client placement on the firm's site — a signal the firm is actively placing talent into AI-native startups, not just enterprise incumbents. Founded in 2001, the firm has grown into a retained executive search operation spanning technology, healthcare, biotech, startups, public companies, and private equity, among other sectors. CEOWorld has named it a top executive search firm in the Northwest, and it serves 150+ publicly traded companies in the Seattle region with a combined market cap of approximately $1 trillion. The firm operates out of Seattle with additional presence in Portland and Alaska.

Market

Herd Freed Hartz competes in the retained executive search segment, differentiated by deep regional roots in the Pacific Northwest tech and biotech ecosystem. The firm's breadth — from early-stage startups to large-cap public companies — positions it across the full company lifecycle, which is unusual in a space where many boutique firms specialize narrowly. The recognition from CEOWorld and its tenure since 2001 give it brand equity in a market where trust and track record are the primary buying criteria.

Network

Network edges aren't available in the current data pull, but Kevin's work at RealNetworks and co-founding of its alumni organization suggests long-standing ties to Pacific Northwest tech. The CopilotKit placement indicates active relationships with AI-native startups in the current cycle.

  • Craig Irwin· VP Sales, CopilotKit (placed by HFH)

How they likely show up

  • Long-tenure signal at Herd Freed Hartz (founded 2001, 25+ years) → thinks in relationship cycles and multi-year reputation, not transactional wins.
  • Progressed from Senior Recruiter → Recruiting Manager → co-founder → Managing Partner within the same domain → deep specialist orientation, not a serial pivotter.
  • Co-founded a RealNetworks alumni organization → invests in networks beyond the transactional; likely values ongoing community over one-off engagements.
  • Reading list (Burkeman's '4000 Weeks', Brooks' 'Second Mountain') → probably brings a reflective, values-driven frame to leadership and talent conversations.
  • Active support of local causes (KEXP, Samaritan, Seattle Art Museum) → identity is meaningfully tied to the Pacific Northwest community, not just the business.
  • Occasional public writing signal on themes including DEI, HR tech, and employee experience → engaged with the broader talent industry conversation, if not prolific on it.

Conversation tips

  • → Ground the conversation in Pacific Northwest specifics — he's been embedded in this ecosystem since RealNetworks and will respond to local market texture over generic national takes.
  • → Ask about the RealNetworks years — they're clearly formative, and the alumni org he co-founded shows he's proud of that chapter.
  • → If the conversation turns to AI hiring, reference the CopilotKit placement — it's a concrete signal of where he's actively working and opens a real discussion.
  • → Don't skip the personal layer — he reads deeply and supports arts and community causes; he'll appreciate a conversation that isn't purely transactional.
  • → Bring a point of view on executive search or talent strategy — he's been in this for 25 years and will engage more with someone who has a perspective than someone just gathering information.

Toolbox

Openers

  • Open on the CopilotKit placement — placing a VP Sales into an AI-native startup is a pointed bet that the firm is moving toward the current wave of AI companies, not just legacy enterprise tech.
  • Reference the RealNetworks alumni organization he co-founded — it's an unusual move that says something about how he thinks about people and community, and it's a natural entry into the story of how Herd Freed Hartz got started.
  • Mention the CEOWorld recognition as top executive search firm in the Northwest — it's on their site, he knows it matters, and it opens the question of what 25 years of relationship-building in one market actually looks like at scale.

Discovery questions

  1. The 150+ public companies you serve in Seattle represent a huge concentration of the regional economy — how has that client base shifted as companies like Amazon and Microsoft have changed the local talent pool?
  2. You placed Craig Irwin at CopilotKit — how different is the search process for an AI-native startup versus a mature public company, and are you seeing that mix of work change?
  3. You co-founded the RealNetworks alumni organization — what did that experience teach you about how professional communities actually hold together over time?

Avoid

Don't treat him as a generalist recruiter or lead with surface-level questions about 'what you look for in candidates' — he's a 25-year specialist in retained executive search with deep Pacific Northwest market knowledge and will engage far better with specificity.

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Sources

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on July 20, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →