COMMERCIAL JUDGMENT. HUMAN CONNECTION.
From opportunity
to traction.
You see the potential. Let’s figure out what moves it forward.
Hands-on market development, fractional commercial leadership, strategic partnerships, and select executive search. Led by Dana Hillman.
Experience for the moments when the path isn’t obvious.
THE WORK BEFORE THE PLAYBOOK
The hardest part is knowing what
comes first.
You can have promising technology, capable people and a real opportunity—and still need a clear path to customers.
Who buys? Why now? Which relationships matter? Do you need a commercial leader, a partner, or a key hire?
Hillman Partners helps turn those questions into decisions, conversations and concrete next steps.
HOW I HELP
Different needs.
A common purpose.
Build the relationships, direction and team that give an opportunity somewhere to go.
01
Zero-to-one &
market development
Turn an emerging offer into its first working commercial approach: who to target, what to say, and how to create the first meaningful conversations.
—Customer and market discovery
—Positioning and early customer outreach
—New-market entry and initial sales motion
02
Fractional commercial
leadership
Bring in experienced leadership for part of the week, with clear responsibility and time to do the work—not just advise from the sidelines
—Commercial priorities and execution
—Sales and business development guidance
—Support for founders and growing teams
03
Strategic relationships & partnerships
Find the people and organizations whose interests align with yours. Build a reason to work together, then help move the relationship forward.
—Partner and channel development
—Strategic conversations and introductions
—Commercial opportunities across organizations
04
Select executive search
Recruit for critical roles where skill, culture and the less obvious human qualities matter. A focused search starts with understanding the business.
—Executive and key commercial hires
—Role definition and candidate assessment
—Judgment beyond the résumé
Something that doesn't fit a box?
A stalled opportunity. A confusing market. A commercial question that needs another set of eyes. Start with the situation—we can define the assignment together.
FIND YOUR STARTING POINT
What needs to move forward?
You don’t need a perfectly written brief.
Start with the challenge.
THE APPROACH
Clear scope.
Real involvement.
01
Understand the situation
The opportunity, the constraints, the people involved, and what you’ve already tried.
02
Choose the next move
Agree on priorities, responsibilities, deliverables and what useful progress looks like.
Every engagement starts with what your business needs to accomplish.
03
Get to work. Learn. Adjust.
Stay close to customers and partners. Use what the conversations reveal to sharpen the approach.
Built around the assignment
A focused project, an ongoing fractional role, or a selective search. Scope, fees and expectations are agreed before work begins.
MEET DANA HILLMAN
Business is still human.
Technology. Business. People.
I've spent my career where those three meet.
My background spans executive recruiting for technology startups, sales leadership, cybersecurity and business development. More recently, that work has extended into food-production infrastructure and institutional partnerships.
The common thread is making sense of an unfamiliar opportunity, understanding who matters, and getting the right people into a productive conversation.
I bring a recruiter’s curiosity about people and a commercial leader’s focus on what happens next. I like complex technology. I care about clear language, honest relationships and work that holds up after the pitch.
Outside my business work, I write thrillers as PD Hillman. Explore my books at danahillman.com.
START A CONVERSATION
What are you
trying to make happen?
Tell me where you are, what you’re working toward,
and where you could use help.