In an entrepreneurial business, the most important thing, the thing that creates the most excitement and value and interest in the business is the big picture — where are we going? Really engaging people in that big picture is important to success.— Marc Cenedella, in an interview with The New York Times‘ Adam Bryant.
Marc Cenedella’s passion is helping people find jobs. He’s spent the last seven years as the founder and CEO of TheLadders.com and most recently co-authored the best-selling job search book, “You’re Better Than Your Job Search” It’s that passion and business sense that led him here.
With his years of experience in the online recruitment space, Marc noted a gap when it came to online recruitment and high-end employment — no service existed that catered exclusively to $100K+ job seekers. With that, the first executive job-search resource was born: TheLadders.
Over time TheLadders has grown exponentially, with more than 4 million members and was recently named The Most Valuable New York City Startup by Business Insider.
TheLadders has received numerous industry awards and accolades, including
- Best Employment Website (2009, Webby Awards)
- Best Companies to Work for in New York (2009)
- Customer Service Department of the Year – Finalist (2009, Stevie Awards)
- Sales Department of the Year for Computer Services (2009, Stevie Awards)
- Top 25 Most Valuable Digital Start Ups (2009, Silicon Alley Insider)
- The Most Valuable New York City Startup (2010, Business Insider)
TheLadders was also awarded the Corporate Community Impact Award by StreetWise Partners, which recognized the company’s volunteerism to help low-income adults and youth secure good jobs and achieve economic mobility.
Widely considered an expert in the job space Marc started his career as an entrepreneur and worked his way through the ranks. Prior to founding TheLadders and his role as HotJobs.com — where he orchestrated the nearly $500 million sale of HotJobs.com to Yahoo! — Marc was an Associate Vice President at The Riverside Company, a New York-based private equity firm. 
Earlier in his career, he founded, grew and then sold an international trading company focused on the export of US-made pet food to Japan. While doing business in the east Marc gained a great appreciation for Japan’s emphasis on superior customer service — a lesson he has always, and continues to apply to TheLadders business.
TheLadders headquarters is located in downtown Manhattan, where Marc and his wife are also longtime residents.
- 1988 – Marc receives a B.A. in political science from Yale University.
- 1995 – Marc establishes Forbes Pacifica Trading Company, exporting U.S.-made pet food to Japan.
- 1998 – Marc receives an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was named a Baker Scholar, the top academic honor at HBS.
- 1998 – Marc becomes the Assistant Vice President of private equity firm The Riverside Company.
- 2000 – Marc becomes the Senior Vice President of HotJobs.com.
- 2002 – Marc orchestrates the sale of HotJobs.com to Yahoo!
- 2003 – Marc launches SalesLadder (the precursor to TheLadders.com)
- 2010 – TheLadders is named The Most Valuable New York City Startup
- 2010 – Marc co-authors “You’re Better Than Your Job Search,” with TheLadders Editor-in-Chief Matthew Rothenberg.
- 2011 – TheLadders opens to all job seeking professionals.