Mission One: The Executive Edge

In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton are joined by David Gardner, a General Partner at London Venture Partners, who opens up about the lessons that shaped his four-decade career, from joining EA at just 17 years old to navigating a public company turnaround during the 2008 financial crisis. Mission One: The Executive Edge is brought to you by Mission One. They ensure founders and senior leaders make the most important hires they’ll ever make across consumer tech, AI, gaming, and entertainment. If you’re building your leadership team or considering your next move to the C-suite, connect with Gerard Miles or Dan Hampton on LinkedIn, or visit missionone.io/contact-us.

How do you actually land your first board seat? In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton are joined by Nick Button-Brown, Chair of the UK Video Games Council, to detail the path from executive to board director. Mission One: The Executive Edge is brought to you by Mission One. They ensure founders and senior leaders make the most important hires they’ll ever make across consumer tech, AI, gaming, and entertainment. If you’re building your leadership team or considering your next move to the C-suite, connect with Gerard Miles or Dan Hampton on LinkedIn, or visit missionone.io/contact-us.

Compensation negotiations are some of the most important conversations in executive hiring, and many senior leaders approach them without a clear strategy. In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, hosts Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton break down the art of compensation negotiation from both the candidate and hiring manager perspectives. They explore how to research your market value, when to disclose salary expectations, and how to structure a counter-offer without damaging the relationship before you even start the job. From understanding equity and bonus structures to navigating the signals you send during negotiation, this episode offers a practical framework for approaching compensation conversations with clarity and confidence. Whether you’re a senior leader evaluating your next move or a hiring manager structuring executive offers, this conversation reveals the strategies that help both sides reach alignment faster and avoid costly mistakes. Mission One: The Executive Edge is brought to you by Mission One. They ensure founders and senior leaders make the most important hires they’ll ever make across consumer tech, AI, gaming, and entertainment. If you’re building your leadership team or considering your next move to the C-suite, connect with Gerard Miles or Dan Hampton on LinkedIn, or visit missionone.io/contact-us.

The final stage of executive hiring is where most companies lose their best candidates. Not because the role is wrong, but because the offer, references, or onboarding were mishandled. In this episode, Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton break down how to run back-channel references without risk, structure offers that actually excite top-tier talent, and use the notice period as a strategic advantage instead of dead time. Mission One: The Executive Edge is brought to you by Mission One. They ensure founders and senior leaders make the most important hires they’ll ever make across consumer tech, AI, gaming, and entertainment. If you’re building your leadership team or considering your next move to the C-suite, connect with Gerard Miles or Dan Hampton on LinkedIn, or visit missionone.io/contact-us.

Great executive searches are won or lost before the first message is sent. In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, hosts Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton continue their hiring miniseries by unpacking how elite hiring teams approach research, target mapping, and outreach - not as a volume exercise, but as a precision craft. They explain why sending fewer, more thoughtful messages consistently outperforms mass outreach, and how deep research into companies, roles, and individual career paths allows recruiters and hiring managers to stand out in a noisy market. From building smarter target lists to crafting outreach that feels human, relevant, and credible, this conversation reframes sourcing as a strategic advantage rather than an administrative task. For leaders frustrated by low response rates or shallow pipelines, this episode offers a clear playbook for finding and engaging the right executives with intention and impact. Mission One: The Executive Edge is brought to you by Mission One. They ensure founders and senior leaders make the most important hires they’ll ever make across consumer tech, AI, gaming, and entertainment. If you’re building your leadership team or considering your next move to the C-suite, connect with Gerard Miles or Dan Hampton on LinkedIn, or visit missionone.io/contact-us.

Every strong hire starts long before outreach, interviews, or offers. In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, hosts Dan Hampton and Gerard Miles open a new mini-series on world-class hiring by showing how to get clear on the specific problem the role must solve, the outcomes you expect in the next 12–24 months, and the kind of leader who can deliver them inside your stage of growth. They unpack how to align stakeholders, how to prevent the “fantasy candidate” list from taking over, and how to build a scorecard that keeps decisions grounded rather than subjective. They also debate the true value of job descriptions, when they support clarity and when they quietly derail strong searches. For any leader looking to start searches with clarity, confidence, and fewer missteps, this conversation offers a grounded guide to getting the first step right.

Leadership at scale demands clarity, consistency, and care. In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, host Gerard Miles sits down with Jonathan Knight, Head of Games at The New York Times, to explore what it takes to lead creative teams, build high-performing cultures, and make thoughtful hiring decisions in fast-moving industries. From his early years at EA and Zynga to shaping the global success of NYT Games and Wordle, Jonathan shares practical insights on leadership communication, organisational alignment, and future-focused hiring. He explains how repeating a clear vision turns strategy into shared language, why every company needs to reframe “politics” as collaboration, and how to hire for what candidates will do, not just what they’ve done. For executives shaping teams or careers, this conversation offers a grounded guide to strategic leadership, team culture, and authentic growth inside complex organisations.

Approaching the executive job search takes precision from sharpening your story to activating the networks that actually move opportunities forward. Even the most seasoned leaders lose traction when their narrative is unclear or their outreach is passive. In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, hosts Dan Hampton and Gerard Miles continue their three-part series with Part 2: Approach to the Job Search. They reveal how to position yourself in the market, craft a standout LinkedIn presence, and build a four-channel networking system that keeps you visible before roles even surface. Whether you’re ready for your next move or simply keeping your options open, this episode is a masterclass in showing up strategically and staying top of mind for the right opportunities.

Interviewing isn’t just about surviving a few tough questions; it’s about knowing your audience, backing your story with real metrics, and asking the kind of questions that make you memorable. Even seasoned execs get rusty, and hiring managers can trip themselves up with clunky, repetitive processes. In this episode of Mission One: The Executive Edge, hosts Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton share the secrets of great interviews, from tailoring answers and framing metrics to asking the right questions and running a process that doesn’t scare candidates away. Whether you’re in the hot seat or leading the panel, this is your playbook for interviews that actually work.

Mission One: The Executive Edge goes deep into how you can hire the best teams and secure the best jobs for yourself. Hosted by Gerard Miles and Dan Hampton, co-founders of the boutique global executive search firm, Mission One, the show reveals the insider view on how senior leadership hiring really works. With decades of combined experience, Gerard & Dan have led on some of the top searches in the world of Entertainment and Consumer. Together, they share candid stories and practical strategies that give you the inside track; your executive edge.