We build great teams
We transform talent acquisition into your competitive advantage.
Let talent accelerate growth, not limit it.
Creating a talent strategy is hard work, Executing one? Even harder.
You’re here to innovate. Let us build the vital talent infrastructure and team to fuel your growth.
Human Capital has the expertise and the operational capacity to roll up our sleeves, lay the framework, and lead the way to a stronger team that propels your business forward.

We know it because we’ve done it all, and we have the time and resources to deliver.
Our experienced team of talented leaders has helped startups recruit and retain great people, build systems for scale, and define their cultures. We’ve navigated the challenges of (real) hypergrowth—across orgs, industries, and the globe—for some of the fastest-growing, most successful companies around:

Now they're here to help craft your talent strategy—fully equipped with teams of talent operators to make it a reality.
We do the hard work with you.
Our partnership means that we’re an extension of your own talent arm—maybe we’re even your first people people.
Whether you’re pre-seed or pre-IPO, our detailed diagnostic process helps us assess where you’re at, learn more about where you’re heading, and develop a customized talent solution to get you there.
Embedded hiring support to grow your company
Holistic org coverage: eng, product, ops, exec, sales
Talent team construction, mentorship, & development
We've created tangible impact for our founders and their companies.
Able
Fresh out of stealth, founder and CEO Diego Represas needed to make some key hires, establish recruiting fundamentals, and build out their talent operations capabilities to support the growth ahead. Within three months, we helped Able double in size (from six to twelve employees), cement their recruiting goals and processes, and hire their first recruiter—propelling them into the market.
Athelas
After securing their Series B, this rapidly-growing medtech startup needed to scale up their recruiting activities across their sales and technical teams. We helped build their recruiting process and systems from the ground up, enabling them to hire thirty-five people in six months.
Commure
Following their Series C and an acquisition that doubled the size of their company, Commure was looking for support across strategic executive hiring, internal team growth, and change management in order to improve organizational stability. We partnered with their executive team to align their ambitious goals against operational headcount plans, and manage the senior recruiting team to help hire key engineers, adopt uniform recruiting processes, and integrate the right tools to fire up their talent engine.
Studio
After hitting unicorn status following their Series B last year, Studio needed support to meet the demands of their anticipated growth—building out a recruiting organization, headcount planning, training, and operations. Within five months we helped them create hiring best practices and trainings, while adding thirty-nine employees to their team—with a special focus on critical, time-sensitive roles.
Our talent operators.
We’ve helped impressive startups define their cultures, recruit and retain great people, and build systems to scale and evolve.

Jim Baaden

As Chief Operating Officer, I’m responsible for the firm’s suite of services that supports our engineers and portfolio companies. I’m also responsible for the teams at Human Capital that enable us to do our best work: People, Engineering and Operations.
I’ve spent my entire career in talent—from placing engineers at the earliest dotcom startups to leading the Global Talent Acquisition team at Uber. Roles with Salesforce and Korn/Ferry along the way gave me the foundation and tools to approach the talent function with a balance of operational excellence and business acumen.
I’m a people person, but not an extrovert. I’m fascinated by the intersection of our dreams, fears, ego and humility. I love experiencing new cultures and learning how people’s beliefs and customs have been shaped.
What was your favorite project, class, or topic in school?
Math. My mother was a middle school math teacher for almost 50 years.
What are some of your favorite books?
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
I worked with an executive many years ago who was always talking about the beginner’s mind. Applying that perspective truly changed me professionally and personally.
“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. ” ― Shunryu Suzuki

Adelia Curtis Duarte

As someone who moved around a lot from an early age (I took my first international flight as a 3-month old!), I quickly learned the value of making connections with people, and over time recognized the importance of maintaining and nurturing those relationships. That trait would prove invaluable in the talent space and foster a career passion in recruiting.
I’ve spent the bulk of my career in high growth tech startups, seeing both the highs and lows of scale, market fit, and—perhaps most critically–hiring decisions. From starting out at Opower when it was a private, 30-person company, to helping Uber scale from 600 employees to 30,000, to leading Reddit’s recruiting team through the company’s fastest stage of hypergrowth—doubling the organization—I’ve had the opportunity to work with and build incredible teams.
My role at Human Capital is to partner with founders and leaders in building their own world class teams while also applying our learnings effectively across our portfolio to create maximum impact. I’m excited to lead a phenomenal team who brings this vision to life.
Outside of the office, you can find me exploring the east coast seasons with my husband, daughter, and schnoodle, or curled up with a good book.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
A mentor of mine once summed up success in our field as “Communicate, Hustle, Communicate, Deliver.” That framework has stayed with me ever since, especially the emphasis on communication.
What’s inspiring you lately?
My 19 month-old embraces every day with a wonder and enthusiasm that’s infectious. I appreciate her desire to learn new things about the world around her and hope to emulate her appreciation for everything around her. As a result, I can only imagine what the next generation of entrepreneurs will create.
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Mike Moriarty
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I am my father’s son, someone who cares about others deeply and gives first. I knew out of college that I wanted to help people, like my Dad, but did not know in which career path I could do that best. I started my career in finance helping folks create a plan to achieve their financial goals. I learned a lot about running my own practice but also knew this field was not for me.
The recruiting life chose me, I did not choose it. I started at Google as a contract sourcer. I learned how to find, court, and close top engineering talent and ended up being converted to full-time. I rose the ranks at Google redefining the way sourcers and recruiters use data to own and tell their story to business leaders. My wife and I helped open the Austin, TX office for Google. My claim to fame is hiring 100 sourcers in 5 weeks! I then moved onto Dropbox building the sourcing and tech staffing function at Dropbox from the ground up. Most recently I was the Global Head of Recruitment at Dropbox, helping to lead a team of 130+ Dropboxers developing and innovating cutting-edge staffing practices and outcomes.
I love to build systems and high functioning recruiting teams. I am very excited to do this for our portfolio companies.
What are you doing when you're not working?
I am most likely hanging with my wife (Nikki) and two young sons (Miles and Joseph). We enjoy making forts, building castles out of legos, and most recently riding our “big boy” bikes.
What’s your favorite book?
The last book I read (OK, I listened to it) was Atomic Habits by James Clear. I love the idea of reverse engineering your results and focusing on improving by 1% every day.
What would you be doing if you weren't working at Human Capital?
If my wife would let me, I would try to join a mini golf tour and play golf for a living. Since I’m a 7 handicap, that will never happen.

Alicia Glick

I partner with our portfolio companies to build out high-functioning engineering teams. I love collaborating with engineers–we think, communicate and solve problems differently, and I value that perspective.
Before Human Capital, I was at a recruiting startup that partners with venture firms to build out the companies they invested in. Now in venture myself, it’s all come full circle!
Outside of work, you can find me walking over 13,000 steps a day, listening to podcasts, and exploring my neighborhood in Brooklyn across the myriad of coffee shops, restaurants, and parks.
What was your favorite class in college?
The first class I stepped into was Organizational Behavior, which focuses on the impact of environmental, technological, and interpersonal relationships between individuals, teams, and organizations. I loved that I could combine the psychology of human behavior with how people interact to build high functioning teams. It was the first class I had ever taken that actually felt as though I could leverage those learnings outside of the classroom.
Why did you join Human Capital?
I joined Human Capital because the business model makes sense—and it’s a critical value add to our portfolio companies. The impact comes not just from capital, but from enabling long-term growth and business sustainability. Although I have years of experience working with engineers and founders at incredible startups, I’m excited to dive into venture for the first time.
What’s inspiring you lately?
Learning and listening amongst strong women in venture and tech. Hearing their stories, challenges and wins.

Amanda Scales

As a hardcore introvert, it was a bit of a shock to everyone – including me – that I landed in a role that had me talking to strangers all day. But after college I quickly realized how much meaning I got out of the recruiting world. Putting nervous candidates at ease, listening attentively to their stories, and providing guidance along the way had me hooked from the start.
Since those early days, my career has been all about growing teams and building the infrastructure to do it at scale. This has ranged from startups of 1000 employees during hypergrowth, to the operational excellence needed by complex organizations of 30,000 employees — and every stage in between. I was fortunate enough to experience it all, including the highs and lows, over my eight years helping scale Uber.
Across my time in recruiting leadership and program management, I learned at an atomic level how process, tools, and behavior combine to make a recruiting engine run well, and ultimately produce a culture that exceptional people want to be a part of. I’m thrilled to partner with leaders on their own company-building journeys in my role on the Talent Operations team at Human Capital. I help them bring effective hiring infrastructure to life.
In my downtime, you can find me hiking or running on a Colorado trail, fly fishing with friends, playing classical piano, or working on my novel.
What was your favorite subject in school?
Although I adored school from start to finish, my two favorite subjects became clear in high school: psychology and economics. These classes were scheduled back-to-back, and learning about both the bizarre, irrational and the measured, rational sides to how people think was fascinating. I loved that juxtaposition. Before pivoting into the startup world, I worked in labs focused on social psychology, human judgment, and decision-making research — and was actually on a PhD track in that space.
Who do you look up to?
A dear friend and former manager of mine is a constant inspiration to me. As a first-generation immigrant, she built her vibrant life from the ground up, starting with a big vision and unparalleled work ethic. Today, her kind, supportive leadership style, optimism, and commitment to excellence make everyone around her better – both personally and professionally. I aspire to have a similarly transformative impact on others and a bold story to tell about my life, too, and count myself so lucky to have learned from her.

Amy Brandt

Throughout my career I’ve focused on building strong teams and helping people around me reach their goals. As a Principal at Human Capital, I partner with founders to build their engineering organizations, and with engineers to elevate their careers. I invest my heart in what I do, care deeply about people I work with, and invest for the long term.
I grew up in a big Vietnamese family that immigrated to the United States together and settled down in Los Angeles in a tight radius (10 cousins lived on my block!).
I love that Silicon Valley is a small community where everyone knows everyone.
What are some of your favorite books?
My favorite is Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke. A few others include: Less by Andrew Greer, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, Atomic Habits by James Clear, and The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
Relationships make the world go round. Friendships, loose acquaintances, and quality connections are how you come across unique opportunities that can be career defining.
In school, what was your favorite project, class, or topic?
Urban Design! It inspired me to think critically about how city character and public spaces are shaped. It also inspired me to live abroad for two years in Berlin, Germany and Cape Town, South Africa.

Andrew Rising

Growing up as an only child in the Midwest, I always gravitated towards community. Whether in athletics, business, or in service to our fellow man, I aimed to be a part of something larger than myself. This manifested into my professional career by recognizing how world class organizations are built and then using that knowledge to inform my journey of scaling businesses.
Before Human Capital, I spent time building product and engineering teams at Google, Addepar, and Redpoint Ventures. After my first stint in venture, I started a company that was eventually acquired by Human Capital. It was an obvious next step once I learned about the mission, the caliber of talent at HC, and the deep ambition to succeed.
My mom likes to say I’m a professional emailer and friend maker and it’s probably the most accurate description of what I do at Human Capital. But I also partner with our founders to develop organizational strategy. When I’m not writing Shakespearean prose to world-class engineers, you can find me playing hockey, golfing, hiking with my wife and dog (Frankie), or grilling hot dogs.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
An investor I look up to once said: “The keys to success in business are actually pretty simple. Get the other person to like you. Get them to trust you. Prove to them that you aren’t dumb.” And while this isn’t necessarily profound, it does reinforce the notion that success and relationships are deeply intertwined.
What’s an accomplishment you’re proud of?
I’m in the top 0.5% of Fall Out Boy listeners on Spotify.

Becca Gelb

Solving business problems via people resonates with who I am and what I care about. It’s why I chose a job in executive search straight out of college, and it’s why I’ve remained in the talent world throughout my career.
As someone who’s energized by different environments and problem sets, I’ve loved being able to experience companies at various stages of their growth cycles, and across different roles within recruiting. Most recently, I led the Global Recruiting Team at Pinterest, and before that worked at Uber and AppNexus, where I oversaw various teams ranging from tech recruiting to sourcing to diversity recruiting. Over that time, I lived and worked in New York City, London, and San Francisco.
As an Operating Partner at Human Capital, I partner with founders and recruiting leaders to build and scale their organizations. I care deeply about what I do and am inspired by working with those who chase big dreams.
After years of being a nomad, I’m now settled in the East Bay and am so lucky to have a wonderful husband, two (very high-energy) boys and a goofy dog named Bernie.
Who do you look up to?
I look up to my grandfather, a first-generation immigrant who was raised in the Bronx and became a school teacher. He was tough as nails on the outside but cared deeply about his work and his students. If I can make a fraction of the impact that he made, I’ll consider myself incredibly successful.
What was your favorite project, class, or topic in school?
In college, I did an extended study program in Japan that had a huge impact on me. It included 2 courses–one on the history of the atomic bomb and the other on the history of Japan. After the semester wrapped up, we travelled with our 2 professors to Japan to apply our learnings firsthand. The experience sparked my love for Japan and more generally for immersing myself in new cultures and places.

Brennan Biddle

I’m a small town American kid that grew up in the cornfields of Illinois and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I was the first person in my family to ever own a passport, and now I’ve lived in four different countries. I currently live in the most diverse city in the world — Toronto!
Before jumping into the startup world, I worked at Capital One Labs — where I learned how fulfilling it can be to operate as an embedded technical recruiter, and also that a small, scrappy team can make an outsized impact on a business.
I’ve gone on to be the first full-time recruiter for a few different startups, and even had the privilege of riding one of those experiences through an IPO. I’m now hooked on working with early-stage companies and founders to build foundational teams!
I’m a proud husband and dad. Outside of work, you can find me traveling with my family or chasing my toddler and dog around the yard.
Why did you join Human Capital?
I live by the motto “always put people first!” I believe great products and companies are made possible by hiring and retaining incredible talent. Human Capital’s mission and focus on people aligns perfectly with my personal and professional beliefs.
What were some of your favorite hobbies as a kid?
While other kids were watching Disney movies or cartoons, I grew up watching sports. All summer long, I would watch every Cubs day game, and anxiously wait for my dad to come home so we could play catch. Sports gave my father and I an endless supply of bonding opportunities. Fast forward to today, and nothing makes me happier than teaching my toddler son how to play.

Cam Martin

I was instilled with the values of working hard and treating people with respect at an early age. From K-12, I maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA–not because I was the smartest–but I chose to work hard to finance my own college education. I wanted to take that burden off my parents. One of my proudest accomplishments is attending Virginia Tech, where I played Football (go Hokies!) on a full scholarship.
My dream was to play in the NFL, but after a knee injury that dream was cut short. Along the way, I learned that I love coaching, building plans, and executing those plans successfully–hence, my recruiting career was born!
Eight years ago, my wife and I drove from Charlotte, NC to Austin, TX. Neither of us had ever been to Austin, let alone Texas. I worked for Google for almost four years and helped to build out the Code Jam, TopCoder, Front End, and Mobile Channels recruiting teams. Most recently, I helped build the sourcing function for DBX that took the company through IPO and beyond.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the brightest people in recruiting and I’m excited to continue learning and growing with the industry’s best here at Human Capital.
What’s inspiring you lately?
My life is dedicated to my beautiful wife, Priscilla, and our two girls,Penelope and Perry. Outside of the office, you can find us exploring the local ATX food and music scene, or somewhere outdoors with our 85 pound Aussiedoodle. They inspire me to be the best version of myself each and every day.
Who do you look up to?
My parents. We didn’t grow up with a ton of money, but my parents never let their circumstances change the way they treated people. I learned the value of consistency, integrity, and work ethic from them. The lessons I learned from them have helped shape me into a better husband, father, and employee.

Carmen Saenz

As a Principal, I help founders build highly functioning teams. I love digging in to understand the innovative products and services developed by the incredible founders and their teams at our portfolio companies.
Previously, as the first recruiting hire at fintech startup Clear Street, I helped scale the company to over 250 people. I deeply value the connections I’ve made at Clear Street and throughout my career and look forward to expanding my network in my role at Human Capital.
In my spare time, I’m an amateur botanist and I enjoy keeping up with tech startup news.
What’s your favorite quote?
“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed. Harmed is the person who continues in her self-deception and ignorance.”
-Marcus Aurelius

David Kite

I’ve worked in a relatively broad range of environments over the course of my career, but two things remain consistent across my experiences: I gravitate toward the People space, and data is at the core of both my work and decision-making process.
After several years in management consulting, I found my way to Uber where I focused on recruiting analytics, data infrastructure, and broader people analytics. Most recently, I led a Workforce Strategy team at Facebook/Meta—where the size of the organization roughly tripled over just a few years—supporting recruiting, managing headcount and workforce planning, establishing recruiting and HR analytics, working on systems and automation, and implementing flexible and remote work strategies.
Outside of work, you can find me hanging out with my partner Wil, our two dogs, Helen and Hugo, picking up new hobbies (most recently, woodworking), or taking on projects around the house.
What was your first job?
My first job was as a waiter and a sushi chef at Japanese restaurants. I worked part-time at a few places while in high school, and it was a great opportunity to practice my (since lost) Japanese-speaking abilities!
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
I remember my father saying that we're made up of pieces of everyone we know and interact with. I’ve found that I can learn something from everyone, which helps me approach life as a continuous learner with an open mind.

Drake Ong

I believe that everything happens for a reason. I was fortunate enough to graduate during one of the toughest economic downturns of my generation. Hitting a brick wall right after college forced me to drop all expectations and pursue paths I didn’t know existed. As fate would have it, I was launched into an international career of executive search and talent acquisition over the next 12 years. Splitting my time between Southeast Asia, New York, and San Francisco, I found myself most comfortable working in multi-cultural and ambiguous environments within hyper-growth startups during their most dramatic inflection points. Today I continue to leverage my passion for connecting with people and finding the best way to help companies achieve their goals.
When I’m not in the office, you can find me competing in amateur golf tournaments or studying flight schedules, fare codes, and analyzing algorithms to maximize potential on frequent flier miles.
What were some of your favorite hobbies as a kid?
At the early age of 6, my dad started teaching me the game of golf. When I turned 12, he brought me into his weekly competitive group and told me he would stake my bets. If I lost, he would cover my losses and I would make it back up through chores, but if I won, I got to keep the money. I quickly realized this was my main source of income and my game determined whether or not I was going out with my friends later in the week. Little did I know, this arrangement was a life-long lesson teaching me the discipline to focus on every shot and never give up. Looking back at it now, the game taught me compassion, humility, grit, the value of a dollar, and to never give up.
Why did you join Human Capital?
I joined Human Capital because I believe I can have the widest impact by leveraging my past experience to help startups accelerate through their early-stage growth challenges. I believe a company’s success is enormously reliant on talent the company is able to hire. Some of the most brilliant ideas are wasted due to the inability to hire. I also believe Human Capital has some of the best and most hard working minds in the industry and I’m proud to be a part of an exclusive group that has witnessed firsthand the evolution of the tech industry.

Hayley Hibbens

Since graduating from Chico State with a degree in communications, I’ve worked in a variety of different environments — a concierge at The Ritz-Carlton, a reservationist in Bodega Bay, a leasing agent at an apartment complex in San Francisco, and most recently a recruiting coordinator at Robinhood. Looking back on these experiences, it is clear that each of my past roles shared a common goal - to create a positive and memorable experience for the client.
Here at Human Capital I have the opportunity to partner with portfolio companies to assist in streamlining their hiring processes. My goal is that each candidate walks away from the interview process feeling taken care of, regardless of the outcome.
Outside of work, you can find me roaming around the city of San Francisco - probably going to the park during the day and a concert at night! If I’m not in the city, I’m back in Petaluma with my family and adorable mini dachshund – Sunny.
What was your favorite subject in school?
Believe it or not, my favorite subject in school was Math! I actually applied to Chico State as a Math Major, but ended up switching multiple times before ending up at Communications. (A far jump, I know!) I think my favorite thing about math was that there was always a definitive answer - a completion of the puzzle – that I found really exciting. I find that I get that same excitement as a coordinator - helping to put all of the pieces together!
Why did you join Human Capital?
I think the biggest selling point for me with Human Capital has been the people. Everyone here is extremely intelligent and so kind! I could tell during my interview process that they were all so passionate about this company and what they are creating. That’s definitely what pushed me over the edge in wanting to join!

Henry Cheung

My dad taught me to hustle and to always be helpful, while my mom taught me how to think creatively. These lessons have flowed into all aspects of my life.
After graduating from Wesleyan, I was a high school math teacher through Teach For America, then a management consultant at Oliver Wyman, then the Director of Strategy for Weld North Education. Along the way, I learned how to communicate, manage projects, and grow companies–while working with the most amazing people.
At Human Capital, I give our engineers, our portfolio companies, and our teams leverage so that they can do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. I do that by developing hypotheses and frameworks, quantifying strategic options, and assessing their efficacy in an organized, analytical fashion.
When I’m not working, I love finding and eating ice cream, lifting things up and putting them down repetitively, brainstorming startup ideas with friends, and traversing scenic terrains.
What was your favorite project, class, or topic in school?
Growing up, I loved math because I was good at it. I was on the coolest team in high school— the math team, of course—where I got to tackle some pretty neat problems. But it wasn’t until college that I discovered the true beauty of the subject: articulating arguments through logical proofs. With so many uncertainties in life, math gave certainty—and through that, beauty. Uncertainty isn’t bad, but sometimes, having something concrete is nice.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
“Nothing worth having comes easy” - it doesn’t! There are no shortcuts. Putting in the elbow grease (and perhaps a little bit of luck) has always rewarded me.

Jenica Candelaria

I'm a Southern California native with the mind and heart of a scrappy entrepreneur who lives for technological innovation. After graduating from college in Northern California the core of who I was had shifted, and I set off to San Francisco with big hopes and little clue as to where life would take me.
Fast-forward 12 years and I’ve spent a little over a decade helping build and scale high-growth companies ranging from Seed to Enterprise stage all while navigating the ebbs and flows of the ever-changing, harmonious-yet-volatile tech industry.
After several years in recruiting consulting, I found my way to Slack where I helped build their product, design, and engineering teams and eventually moved on to lead an organization of 30+ recruiters, sourcers, and recruiting managers. During that time I learned the true meaning of inspiring trust, unlocking performance, creating clarity, and building a high-performing, autonomous team.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
Trust the journey. Don't let the fact that you don't know where you’re going or what you’re doing stop you. We start everything from a place of not knowing and through the doing we learn. Life keeps leading us on journeys we would never go on if it were up to us and we outgrow what we once thought we couldn't live without and then we fall in love with what we didn't even know we wanted. Don't be afraid. Have faith. Find the lessons. Trust the journey.
What are some of your favorite books?
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. It's rare you come across a book packed with such good content that you hang on every word and re-read passages in order to digest it. Whether its vulnerability, resilience, shame, or courage — each topic urges you to pause, reflect, and analyze how you’ll use the knowledge to create change for yourself and the individuals who surround you. This book has made a huge impact on how I show up in both my personal and professional life, and still empowers me to create the next, better generation of myself.
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Kam Jamshidian
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My parents' backgrounds as university professors deeply influenced my upbringing. From the time I was young, I always seeked opportunities to mentor and connect with others. Today, I am lucky enough to bring this skillset to the recruiting chair, where I mentor candidates and connect with incredible companies every day.
I started my recruiting career at TEKsystems, where I partnered with engineering leaders to build technical teams for Apple Pay, Facebook Workplace, and Intuit Quickbooks. Through this experience, I fell in love with the world of technology and my impact on engineer’s lives. From there, I decided to challenge myself in the startup world. I joined Brex in early 2021 and had the time of my life scaling the company from 500 to >1000 employees. Brex taught me the importance of moving fast without compromising a high technical bar.
At Human Capital, I partner with our portfolio companies to help unlock their full potential. My aim is to connect top-tier talent with the most exciting technological challenges of our time. Great people are the lifeblood of innovation, and I am grateful to be a part of their journey.
Outside of work, I’m usually on the sidelines coaching my youth soccer team, exploring Northern CA’s food and wine scene, or traveling to a peaceful destination.
What’s inspiring you lately?
Great Podcast Hosts (Guy Raz and Lex Fridman are a few of my favorites). A great host has the ability to put themselves in the shoes of their listeners and ask though-provoking questions - even about unfamiliar topics. This has inspired me so much that I have considered starting a podcast of my own one day.
What are some of your favorite books?
The book that has impacted me most is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. I read this book for the first time about 10 years ago and it vastly shaped my communication style. A simple but impactful topic that this book taught me is to “make others feel important - and do so sincerely.” Some of my other favorites are "Tuesdays with Morrie", "Shoe Dog" and "Ego is the Enemy"

Kara MacDonald

Like most people in the industry, I fell into recruiting. As a child, I always gravitated towards interacting with people and acts of service. From operating the front counter at my father's hardware store to spending summers in college traveling to Ecuador to volunteer, I became energized through helping people.
My career started at LivingSocial, where I experienced firsthand the art of 'fail fast' and helped grow the company to over 5,000 people at its peak. It prepared me for the enormous growth that was taking place at Uber, where I spent over five years building out their operations teams from the ground up. Not only did I get to develop my skills there, but I also met some of the most amazing and intelligent people along the way.
I learned that the more I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, the more I'd continue to learn and grow personally and professionally, and that was something that became a north star for me in anything I do.
At Human Capital, I'm working alongside our teams to help identify and attract some of the best talent in the market so we can continue to do what we do best—build relationships and unlock potential.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
I'm incredibly lucky and grateful to have some fantastic mentors. One taught me that the only person who can hold me back is myself—which helped me overcome some of the barriers I had unknowingly created.
Who do you look up to most?
It may sound a little cliche, but it's my father—who built a retail hardware business from the ground up. By providing exceptional community service and going above and beyond for every customer that walks into the store, he built a business that's lasted over 40 years—and has withstood other big brand competitors. This amazing example of true grit has helped shape who I am.

Kevin Serwatka

I've always wanted to find a connection to helping other people in what I do in life. I've found that in the service industry, as a tennis coach, tutoring middle schoolers, taking care of my grandmother, and then pursuing a degree in Healthcare Administration. Shortly after graduating, I realized the hospital life was not for me, though. Thankfully, a good friend suggested I move into talent acquisition and referred me into my first recruiting job.
I started out hiring engineers to help hospitals upgrade their electronic health records to be compliant with the Affordable Care Act's guidelines. I fell in love with connecting to people, helping connect them to the next step in their career, and helping build out companies. From there, I've been fortunate enough to work at Google, Facebook, and Robinhood. At the heart of all those companies are engineers building amazing products, solving complex problems, and providing products that millions and billions of people use regularly.
As a Senior Principal at Human Capital, I'm excited to partner with our portfolio companies to help enable them to build products, services, solutions, or the next ground-breaking technology that ultimately helps others! I'm very grateful for the path that life has presented me and am excited to use my experience to pay it forward and help our portfolio companies.
Who do you look up to?
My late grandmother. She escaped a concentration camp in WWII and still managed to be one of the most loving and caring people I’ve ever known. If she can find ways to see the positive in people and treat others with love and respect, then we all can too.
What was your favorite class in college?
Philosophy changed my life. It taught me to challenge my thoughts, find different ways to look at situations, and to understand that perception may or may not be reality. I like to think having that mindset can really help you understand where someone is coming from, build relationships, and challenge your assumptions.
Why did you join Human Capital?
That’s easy—the people. When I saw the people joining Human Capital, a flame was lit. The more I did my research and learned about the venture space, the fire grew. Human Capital is unique in our talent offering to portfolio companies and I couldn’t be more excited to be at the heart of that. What else is more exciting than being at the center of and helping build the next wave of innovation?!
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Maggie Duvall
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Faced with a tough job market, after college, I moved to South Korea for a job opportunity despite being unfamiliar with the language or culture. This experience taught me the value of taking risks and the importance of being able to form connections in new environments. These same lessons have proven to be invaluable throughout my startup recruiting career ever since. I specialize in building high performing teams at rapidly growing startups. I’ve been on leadership teams during critical moments of both expansion and contraction. These experiences have made me an effective advisor in a range of business environments. I’m driven by a desire to build best-in-class teams, and businesses that thrive, even in challenging times.
In my role at Human Capital, I'm embedded within startups to quickly assess their environment and partner with leadership to build a plan to solve their hiring needs.
Outside of work, you can find me spending time on Lake Michigan with my family, reading, and exploring new cultures through travel and New York City’s amazingly diverse dining options.
What’s the last book you read?
I love books that explore personal evolution and social science topics. Some of my favorites are Becoming, Educated, Untamed, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, Evicted and Trick Mirror: Reflections On Self Delusion.
Why did you join Human Capital?
From my experience working with a number of early stage companies, I’m familiar with the mistakes and difficulties many leaders face when trying to build their team. Human Capital provides a great opportunity to put this prior experience to good use through partnering with our portfolio companies to avoid these common pitfalls and ensure talent is never the bottleneck for growth. I find the enthusiasm of founders and candidates in the startup space to be contagious!

Matt Stephenson

Upon moving to the Bay Area, it was hard not to notice tech companies altering the skyline, and it sparked a desire to get involved in something transformative. Recruiting was my foot in the door, but I thought it would just be a stepping stone back into sales. Or at least that was the plan…
I instantly fell in love with the aspect of connecting people to opportunity, but there’s a part of it that has never sat well–I’ve always felt an aversion toward introducing myself as a recruiter. The negative connotations of spamming, missing calls, going dark, hard closes, and slimy negotiation tactics are not who I am.
Throughout my career in recruiting I’ve strived to deliver a higher quality experience to both candidates and companies alike. To me, this is essential for building long-term relationships and healthy organizations. You simply can’t be reckless in this space and expect to attract, grow, and retain the talent to build a game changing company. This journey started at Google where I grew to lead technical and non-technical sourcing teams, continued at Shift during their Series A, and eventually at Plaid–where I led technical recruiting and recruiting operations to help them grow from 400 to over 1,000 employees.
As an Operating Partner at Human Capital, I get to walk alongside founders and recruiting teams–helping them instill healthy hiring practices and an authentic approach to talent acquisition. My team helps build tailored strategies fit for the stage of a company’s growth to discover, engage, and convert the talent that will bring their vision to life.
What was your first job?
To almost nobody’s surprise, I started working at a bike shop when I was 14. I wanted the job so badly that my Mom told me to just go down and offer to sweep the floors and take out the trash. That got me an interview (and eventually an offer) for an above minimum wage job at a whopping $5.25/hr (not limited to sweeping and taking out the trash!). I got to build and sell bikes–my high school dream job, which reframed how I’ve looked at ‘work’ ever since. If you’re not having fun while doing it, what the hell are you doing? And yes, I think about how nice that industry discount would still be almost every day.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
As a leader, no matter how good your people are, you have to accept that they won’t stay on your team forever. If you think you can keep someone forever, not only are you limiting their own growth, you’ve created a key-person risk for the inevitable day they surprise you.

Michael Sanders

I’ve always been driven by a desire to build authentic, sustainable relationships with people. I believe that if you listen to others, treat them with respect, value their opinions—and share some good hearted humor—you can gain a relationship for life.
As a Senior Principal, I leverage my experience, skills, and interests to help our portfolio companies build high-functioning teams. Part of my role is bringing together exquisite talent with phenomenal startups, because at the end of the day, humans are at the heart of all successful companies. I’m proud to play a part in that equation.
Prior to joining Human Capital, I spent over eight years at Uber and Google helping build out a variety of talent functions across business groups—including Uber ATG. I’ve seen firsthand how pivotal the human aspect of talent is, both as a manager and individual contributor.
In my spare time, you may find me chasing our little one around the couch, smoking an epic brisket, or trying to brew the perfect cup in a V60.
What’s inspiring you lately?
The joy I see in our 18 month old toddler. Life moves rapidly and seeing the happiness a child has in simple things, like staring at a fish tank, is refreshing. She constantly reminds me how important it is to slow down and live in the moment.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
Someone who may or may not be on the Human Capital team once told me to “control the controllables.” Outside factors will naturally come your way, but it's vital to concentrate on what you can control and not get discouraged.
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Phillip Mitsuoka
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Born and raised in San Francisco, I’ve always been interested in the technological advancements and innovations taking place here. Finding my way to technical recruiting has allowed me to play a part in this amazing industry.
My career has been focused on building exceptional teams and helping people navigate towards the things that are most important to them. As a Principal at Human Capital, I’m fortunate to be supporting founders and engineers who are working to build the world of tomorrow.
Outside of work, I’m an avid Bay Area sports fan, reader, and a lover of the outdoors. From hiking the coastal redwoods to backpacking in the high Sierras, I have no shortage of adventures at my doorstep!
What was your favorite project, class, or topic in school?
My favorite topic was History. I have been fascinated with the story of who we are and how we came to be. From reading about Medieval castles to the global effects and ramifications of the Cold War, I have found that there is so much in our past that helps us understand the present.
What is the last book you read?
The last book I read was Cabbages and Kings by O’Henry. I came across this in an antiques shop and had to add it to my personal library. A tale of political intrigue, love and betrayal, and national revolution taking place in a fictional nation in Central America – it was a very engaging read. However, the coolest thing was that this edition is over 100 years old!

Pujan Joshi

As the son of a small business owner and an HR professional, the thrill and challenge of entrepreneurship and the energy and excitement of working with people was ingrained in me at an early age. I’ve always wanted to pursue something entrepreneurial and people-oriented that would impact the world in a positive way.
After completing my undergraduate education at the University of Illinois, I started my career at Deloitte in their Human Capital Consulting practice where I built a strong foundation of business skills and supported a variety of engagements that touched all things HR and Talent – organization design, change management, workforce strategy, and more.
At Human Capital, my role involves taking all of these skills and experiences and using them to support the work of our Operating Partners day-to-day with our founders, at organizations that we believe will fundamentally change the world.
Both inside and outside work, I love learning and trying new things. I enjoy running (I recently completed my first marathon), cooking (I’m learning how to cook more Indian food to connect with my roots), and traveling (Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam are next on my list!).
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
Control what you can, and learn from what you can’t. We spend too much time and effort in our lives worrying about things that are outside of our control — sometimes we just need to let life play itself out and prioritize learning as much as we can from every experience.
What is the last book you read?
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates — this book is a great crash course on climate change and has great detail on causes, impacts, and potential solutions.

Sara Hutchinson

My journey started as an academic counselor for freshman in the College of Engineering at Boston University. I was passionate about the programs and support models (both personal and academic) we provided to the students. My transition into recruiting felt natural as I was able to continue to evolve relationships and have impact on both candidate and business goals and advancement.
My introduction to tech started at Salesforce when the company was just 4,000 employees. Starting as a recruiter, I transitioned into management eventually leading the Infrastructure Engineering and Security hiring. These technical hires were critical to the product foundation as Salesforce scaled to 75,000 employees. I continued on to Grand Rounds to lead the Talent Acquisition team, which involved building out and scaling this mission-driven organization. Most recently, I led the Tableau Global Recruiting team through a critical time of growth and transition following their acquisition.
My role as an Operating Partner at Human Capital gives me the opportunity to partner with founders and their leaders to set up infrastructure and scale their teams. By understanding their most critical needs in the various stages of growth we can create a strategy for a path forward.
Outside of the office you can find me skiing, hiking, wine tasting and spending time with family and friends on the east coast.
What are some of your favorite books?
The last book I read (of course!) was Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor. Other favorites include The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller and Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.
What's inspiring you lately?
Working at Human Capital is inspiring me! I'm learning about the VC world and how to leverage my experiences to have an impact with our portfolio companies. I'm excited to be working with my new teammates and learning every day.

Vince Volpe

Variety is the spice of life, and this rings true for me as an Operating Partner with Human Capital. I lead a team of brilliant Talent Consultants to help founders and their companies scale. Whether it's going from 3 to 6 within an autonomous vehicle company, or 50 to 100 within a healthcare tech organization, my goal is to connect engineers with the companies where they can have meaningful impact—both on their personal careers and on the businesses they help build.
It’s still all about the people, and building lifelong relationships is paramount. We aim to inform engineers of emerging disruptors, updates on our portfolio companies, and arm them with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their careers and futures.
Prior to joining Human Capital, I spent 8 years at Google and Uber, building large scale sourcing and recruiting functions of over 40+ employees across the most cutting edge technologies on the market. Whether it was Self Driving Cars, E-Bikes and Scooters, or Flying Cars, or any other innovative idea, our team helped match exciting businesses to great technical talent.
I like to think of myself as a jack of all trades— and I rarely say no to something new. I’ve done extra curricular activities ranging from extreme sports like solo skydiving, to more patient work like growing and maintaining an herb garden. Professionally, I enjoy doing the analytical and systems focused work that makes teams more efficient and effective.
What piece of advice most impacted your career?
Be an expert in the things everyone else avoids. If this is a weakness for a large group of people, then it’s likely to be found across multiple organizations with similar functions. This creates a unique set of skills that can help advance your career quickly.
What’s inspiring you lately?
My family is my inspiration. I’m an only child from a very small midwestern family, and we’re extremely close. Being able to discuss the various successes, trials and tribulations with them throughout my life has kept me grounded. Now that my own family is growing, I want to be the same calming force for them. In order to do so, I need to continue to learn and grow as a person.