People are the greatest differentiator at a high-growth startup. It's often the team that makes a difference in whether you will succeed or fail. Our team directly recruits and hires top-tier talent from across the country for our companies. Meet Michelle Watts: Talent Acquisition Partner and TechPoint Tech 25 winner.
Securing Top Talent From Individual Contributors to Executives
At High Alpha, Michelle works closely with our founders—alongside the squad—to attract, build, and retain top talent for pivotal, strategic roles. Unique to other venture studios, Michelle recruits entry-level to C-Suite talent at rapid speed. Within her first year at High Alpha, she assembled the starting teams for twelve of our companies, single-handedly hiring a total of 144 professionals in one year.
Filling The Pipeline With Diverse Talent
After working in tech for nearly a decade, Michelle understands the initial hires at a startup are crucial. She represents our portfolio companies to identify the ideal candidate–even when their unique experience may not be an obvious value add at first glance.
The first ten employees to join your organization will have the most significant impact on your business. You must look beyond what’s on paper and find the person who will do anything for your organization and bring an entrepreneurial approach to their function, even if they are more non-traditional.
Michelle Watts, Talent Acquisition Partner
Michelle's personal career path, starting in social work before intentionally transitioning into tech, fuels her deep understanding that diversity comes in many forms. Leveraging her role, she keeps an eye out for opportunities to bring exceptional and often overlooked candidates to the forefront.
“I will take a meeting with anybody, even if they’re not the right fit. It’s worth giving that person the time.”
She also dedicates her time to performing resume reviews to help aspiring candidates break into the tech ecosystem. Diverse perspectives propel innovation, and Michelle is committed to unearthing non-traditional talent that sets our companies up for a competitive advantage.
Creating A Seamless Hiring Process
When she’s not building a robust pipeline of quality candidates, she is heads-down screening and interviewing applicants—saving our founders countless hours, so they are only interviewing the most qualified candidates. She also advises founding teams on interviewing best practices and takes the lead on all communications with candidates during the hiring process.
Final Thoughts
Ideas don’t build companies; teams do, and founders need someone they can trust will find the diamonds in the rough. With Michelle in their corner, our company founders hire exceptional people in highly impactful roles.
