We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Klein Jason Latin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel Klein, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Leaving a secure job with good pay, benefits, and a supportive community is a significant decision, particularly when it’s about starting a new venture such as executive recruiting. We both took a major risk by leaving our past job with great pay, support from colleagues, and benefits to go out on our own and start our own business with none of these things. The 3 biggest risks that we considered were: Financial Risk, Job Security and Market Risk.

Financial Risk: Starting a business often requires an initial investment. There’s the risk of not achieving a return on this investment and potentially even losing money. Unlike a steady paycheck, your income can be uncertain, especially in the early stages of the business.

Job Security: Established jobs, especially ones with good pay and benefits, offer a level of security. In the entrepreneurial world, there are no guarantees. The business might succeed, stagnate, or fail.

Market Risk: The executive recruiting field is competitive. It’s possible that the market might not respond favorably, or there could be unforeseen competitors or changes in the market dynamics that affect the business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Daniel Klein background: ([email protected])

I was born and raised in Westchester, New York and graduated from Harrison High School. I went on to Indiana University, where I met and roomed with Jason Latin (my current business partner). A mutual friend put us in contact in a facebook groupchat and we decided to room together without actually meeting beforehand. I decided to transfer to the University of Miami after 1 year at Indiana and graduated from the University of Miami School of Business. I decided to stay in Miami after graduating college and now reside here.

Jason Latin background: [email protected]

I was born and raised in Roslyn, a small town on Long Island, NY. I graduated from Roslyn High School in prior to enrolling in University at Indiana. There I met Daniel and earned my college degree. Having an entrepreneurial mindset I made the tough decision, to move to Miami, even though my family remained in NY.

Our past experience:

We embarked our career journey at the same executive recruiting firm, where we specialized in legal and compliance placements for top asset management firms.

After years at the firm, we decided together to take the risk of giving up our financial and job security to start our own business. It was a very tough decision because we both really enjoyed our time at the firm and the people we met along the way. We are both very grateful for the opportunity.

Our decision to start our own executive search firm was made solely for our own personal career ambitions. We knew this was the right time in our life to take a risk and pursue our dream of starting a business.

JL Klein Executive Search:

Our firm quickly made its mark, largely due to our hands-on approach, deep understanding of the industry, and relentless dedication to our clients’ success. We currently focus mainly on filling legal and compliance roles but we also work in other industries such as administrative, technology, accounting and investor relations. We thrive in identifying, scrutinizing, and placing high-caliber professionals that perfectly fit our clients’ distinct requirements and company cultures. Our commitment extends way beyond filling vacancies; we strive to establish enduring partnerships with our clients by offering the best customer service at each stage of the recruitment process.

Our main specialities: Legal & Compliance.

Legal: At JL Klein, we are committed to delivering top-tier legal executives who can guide organizations through the complex regulatory environment, mitigating risk and ensuring their continued success.

Some of the Legal roles that we recruit for:
-paralegals
-Associate Counsel
-General Counsel
-M&A Law
-Employment Law
-Chief Legal Officer
-40Act Law

Compliance: At JL Klein Executive Search Firm, we are experts in recruiting outstanding compliance executives specifically for top asset management firms, financial services firms and law firms. These firms operate in a highly regulated industry, where adherence to laws, regulations, and ethical standards is not just expected but imperative.

Some of the compliance roles we work on:
-Compliance Associate
-Marketing Compliance Officers
-KYC/AML Compliance
-Chief Compliance Officer
-1940Act Compliance Officer
-Investment Advisers Act Compliance

Location:
We have an office located at 1688 Meridian Ave, Miami Beach, Florida.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We met in an Indiana University facebook group chat while we were both in Highschool. We both needed a roommate and we decided to room together our freshman year of college without meeting each other beforehand. We became best friends and have had a very strong relationship since. We probably didnt even know what executive recruiting was. Not even the best fortune teller could have predicted that we would be running a top “legal and compliance executive search firm” trusted by many top asset management firms and law firms.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

This business is all about having a good reputation. At JL Klein, we focus on managing our clients in a way that provides them with the best service. We answer emails/calls from our clients no matter what time it is. We strongly vet each candidate before sending to our clients and provide our clients with as much useful information as possible. We keep everything very confidential. It is also important to note that we treat candidates the same way. The term “ghosting” is used a lot in recruiting and that is when a recruiter does not answer a candidate or provide them with proper feedback. We make sure to answer ALL candidates and provide them with all feedback whether it is for a resume or feedback from a client on a job that they applied to. The way to build a strong reputation in this business is to focus more on how to satisfy your clients and less on just trying to get a “fee”.

JL Klein strives to establish enduring partnerships with our clients while offering unparalleled customer service at each stage of the recruitment process.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jl-klein.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlkleinsearch/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jl-klein/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jlklein_search
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jl-klein-executive-search-miami-beach