Jake Huber

Scaled 3 unicorns🦄 & teams from 0→250+ | 125+ founders read my newsletter to scale their teams smarter 📈🧠

At Uber, I scaled my team from 0→50 people <1yr.

Now I help Seed & Series A+ startup founders scale their teams. Here's how ↓

I learned how to scale teams the hard way.

At Uber, I grew our team from 0→50 in under a year. 

At Industrious, we launched 10 locations and I built a 30-person team. 

At Veho, we 4×’d headcount (70→285) and increased weekly inbound applicants +495% in 6 months. 

Those wins all had one thing in common: a great recruiter embedded with the team—and simple, repeatable systems.

Before that, my first startup failed. I didn’t know how to hire, train, or manage yet. If I could go back, I’d tell “Past Jake” to stop duct-taping recruiting and bring in real help—without signing up for agency commissions or a full-time hire too early.

That’s why I built Venture Scaler.

🚀 Venture Scaler = A Startup-Friendly Way to Hire

We place an expert, senior recruiter (ex-Uber/Dropbox/Spotify, etc.) directly on your team—fractionally. Hourly. Month-to-month. No commissions. No long-term contracts. We run the full search like your in-house recruiter so you can stay focused on building product and talking to customers.

How It Works (It’s simple on purpose):

1. Perfect-Fit Profile Guarantee: We align on 5–10 candidate profiles before outreach so we don’t waste cycles.

2. End-to-End Execution: Sourcing, screening, coordination, and candidate experience handled.

3. Tight Comms: Weekly check-ins + async updates so you always know pipeline, blockers, and next steps.

4. Flex Up/Down: Add hours when you’re sprinting; pause when you’re not hiring.

Why founders pick us:

4× Faster to Hire: UpSmith’s first sales hire closed in 5 weeks after a 5-month stall.

~90% Cost Savings vs Agencies: Honey Homes saved ~$230k in two months of hiring.

Scale at Speed: At Veho we 4×’d the team and built an engine for inbound talent.

If you’re Seed or Series A, need to make a few critical hires, and don’t want to overbuild headcount or pay 25% fees, this model was built for you.

💬 Hiring right now? DM me here or visit venturescaler.com. I’m happy to share my hiring playbooks (the same ones we used at Uber/Veho) or dig into your roles and recommend a plan.

Learn more: https://venturescaler.com

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P.S. Outside of work and scaling startups:
👯‍♀️ I’m a girl dad x2
🏕 A backpacker/camper
🎭 Trained at UCB in improv comedy
💍 Secretly proposed to my wife using Uber: https://youtu.be/uRi_B5CxWZ8

Startup Mentor

“Jake is an incredible sounding board that provides tactical tips, resources and introductions to help navigate crisis’ and challenges. He has an innate ability to level with you on any subject. During my three months with Jake I looked forward to every call as we hashed through 5-10 topics at a time spanning from affiliate & growth strategies to recruiting and mindset.”

~April Dominguez, CEO & Founder of Handsome

First Round Fast Track by First Round Capital matches seasoned startup leaders with early-stage founders and team members within a unique mentorship community. First Round Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on building a community of technology entrepreneurs and companies.

I wasted 3 weeks interviewing a candidate only to have them reject my offer over salary 🤦

And it wasn’t even a small amount. We were worlds apart.

I never made that mistake again.

Here's how you can avoid it:

Have the compensation conversation EARLY.

I'm talking first call with the recruiter or hiring manager. Get it out of the way upfront.

Why this works:

- Saves everyone's time if there's a huge mismatch
- Shows candidates you value transparency
- Allows you to gauge interest/excitement level
- Gives you time to get creative on comp if needed

My go-to script:

"I like to have an open conversation about compensation expectations early on. What I'd hate is to go through this whole process only to realize we're worlds apart on comp. So what are your expectations in terms of base salary?"

Then be prepared to share your budgeted range as well.

Pro tip: Frame it as "aligning expectations" rather than "negotiating." You're just making sure you're in the same ballpark.

What's your take - should comp be discussed early or saved for the offer stage?

Drop a comment with your view. Curious to hear different perspectives on this!

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🤝 Need hiring help? Let's chat! DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

Scaled teams from 0→250+ at 3 unicorns🦄 | Early Uber | Startup Founder & Operator

Recruiting agencies are bleeding startups dry.

Most charge 25% of first-year salary as commission.

Hire 4 people at $100K each? That’s $100K in fees.

Congrats—you just gave away Employee #5's salary to an agency.

Founders at Seed and Series A can’t afford that kind of burn. And you also don’t need a full-time recruiter yet.

That’s where a fractional recruiter comes in to save your runway.

Here’s why our model at 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 works better for early-stage teams:

1. A-player recruiters hire A-players
↳ Our team comes from Uber, Dropbox, Spotify. You’re not just renting offshore juniors, you’re renting experts with playbooks.

2. Keep your runway
↳ We helped our client (Honey Homes) hire 13 people in 2 months and saved them $230K vs agencies. That’s basically 2-3 hires “for free.”

3. Flex with your needs
↳ Ramp up during a hiring sprint, scale down when roles are filled. Our model is month-to-month and low risk.

4. Pay for time, not commissions
↳ Hourly recruiting means you only pay for the hours worked. No hidden fees.

Pro tip: Every dollar you don’t spend on recruiter commissions is a dollar you can reinvest into growth.

At your current stage, does paying 25% per hire actually make sense?

👉 DM me if you want to explore the “anti-agency” way of hiring.

“We kept losing our top candidates right before the finish line.”

That’s how a founder started our first call.

They were running a 6-round interview process.

Each candidate met seven different people across three weeks. By the end, the team was exhausted, and the best candidates had already accepted other offers.

Classic startup trap: thinking more interviews = better hiring decisions.

It’s actually the opposite.

Our fractional recruiter stepped in and ran a quick audit.

We realized every stage overlapped and half the interviews asked the same questions.

Here’s what we changed:

1. Consolidated six rounds into three, each with a clear focus area.

2. Built an interview scorecard so decisions were based on evidence, not “gut feel.”

3. Trained the team on closing tactics—how to sell the opportunity throughout the process, not just at the end.

The next three offers? All accepted.
Same team. Same talent market. Completely different results.

The founder told me afterward:

“I can’t believe we made hiring feel like a second full-time job—for the candidates.”

That’s the difference structure makes. A fractional recruiter turns chaos into momentum.

How long is your interview process right now?

DM me and I’ll tell you exactly where most startups lose candidates before they even realize it.

“Our People team is literally just me... and I’m drowning.”

That’s what a Series A Head of People told us on our intro call.

She was managing everything: recruiting, onboarding, payroll, benefits... everything.

Oh, and she still had five open roles to fill across engineering, ops, and GTM.

Her calendar looked like a Tetris game that never ended.

Every founder’s dream—“we’ll hire HR early”—had turned into one person juggling 12 jobs.

So we plugged in a fractional recruiter to take the hiring load off her plate.

Here’s what happened next:

Week 1: We built a sourcing plan for all five roles, complete with target company lists and outreach templates.

Week 2: We handled all outbound sourcing, first-round screens, and scheduling—freeing her to focus on onboarding and culture work.

Week 3: We delivered qualified candidate slates for every role and prepped hiring managers for final interviews.

By the end of the first month, two offers were out, one already accepted, and (most importantly) she finally got her calendar back.

When we wrapped, she told me:

“I finally got to do the strategic part of my job instead of living in my inbox.”

That’s the power of a fractional recruiting team—you don’t need to scale your HR headcount to scale your hiring.

If your People team is wearing every hat right now, you don’t need another HR generalist.

You need backup.

DM me and I’ll show you how we give teams like yours their time (and sanity) back in week one.

Recruiting agencies are terrible for startups.

🤩 What startups want:
→ Interviews with high-fit talent
→ Flexible month-to-month plans
→ Transparent, affordable pricing
→ Expert recruiters with startup exp.

😿 What startups get:
→ Most candidates are poor fit
→ Exclusivity, binding contracts
→ Expensive commissions per head
→ Offshore recruiters with low exp.

That's why we created Venture Scaler—the exact recruiting service that we, as founders, would actually want to work with.

Our recruiters worked at high-growth startups like Uber, Dropbox, Lime & Spotify

We've hired hundreds of people for dozens of clients.

Our recruiting team all has a median 7+ years of experience.

Whether you're hiring for the first time or trying to scale your team—we can help.
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👉 Need help with hiring? Let's chat! DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

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Is it just me, or does hiring feels like a second job when you already have a FT job, lol?

If you’re a department leader, you know the loop:

- You’re trying to hit goals.
- Unblock your team.
- Ship product.
- Close deals.

And now you’re also expected to be a recruiter, coordinator, and full time inbox monitor.

I’ve been there.

Earlier in my career, I owned hiring while running a team and it was exhausting.

Not because I didn’t care.

Because recruiting expands to fill every empty crack in your day.

Here’s what the “hiring manager black hole” looks like from the inside:

- You finally get a slate of candidates.
- Then your calendar explodes.
- You tell yourself you’ll send feedback tonight.
- Tonight turns into tomorrow.
- Tomorrow turns into “can we push to next week?”

Meanwhile the candidate thinks you’re not interested, or the company is disorganized.

...And they move on.

The painful part: you didn’t lose them because you’re a bad leader.

You lost them because nobody owned the process end to end.

A simple fix that respects your time:

1. Set a 24 hour feedback rule: Not because it’s fun, because it keeps momentum.

2. Batch interviews into 2-3 days a week, or a specific block each day: No constant context switching.

3. Schedule debriefs in advance and assign an owner: Decision time should not be a scavenger hunt.

4. Give one person full ownership of scheduling, follow ups, and pipeline hygiene: So you can focus on evaluating and closing.

This is exactly where a fractional recruiter helps.

At Venture Scaler, we run the machine so hiring managers can stay in their lane: leading their team and making great decisions, not chasing calendars.

If you’re a hiring manager, what part feels most like the second job: scheduling, feedback, or selling the role?

DM me if you want to take this recruiting work off your team's plate.

We helped Veho scale their team 4X from 70→285 people & increase their applicant pipeline by 500% in 6 months.

When we started working with Ita, they were already at 70 people and didn’t have any internal recruiters. Not even a HR/People Ops person.

(Honestly, they should have had one like 40 people ago)

We placed two of our expert recruiters to work with his team to hire across multiple depts including Ops, Eng & Product.

One of our recruiters worked directly with their Head of Driver team, and the other worked directly with their CTO.

It was like they were part of their team, acting like the in-house recruiters they needed so badly.

And the Veho team loved it.

This is the origin story of the “rent-a-recruiter” model we use today.

But the thing I’m most proud of is this:

We were able to help Veho “replace” us. 

We hired their VP of People Ops and multiple full-time internal recruiters.

I’m so proud that we got to be a small part of their growth story during those early years.

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👉 Need help with hiring? Let's chat! DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

Does your growing startup need a r̶e̶c̶r̶u̶i̶t̶e̶r̶ Erin?

The founders who work with us—they get it.

They get how we’re different and a better fit for them:

- Startup-friendly flexible terms
- Expert recruiters (like Erin)
- Zero commissions

Our client results speak for themselves:

- 6x more applicants
- 90% cost savings
- 4x faster hires

And not only that, they talk about us with their founder friends.

Fun fact: Marisa came from a referral from another one of our clients!

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👉 Need help with hiring? Let's chat! DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

graphical user interface, text, application

Have you felt this pain before? Needing somebody in the seat so badly, but not finding the right hire after months of searching.

Maybe you're in a similar situation as Wyatt?

He was getting good intros from his investors and network.

But Wyatt was still struggling to find the right person for his first sales hire.

He wasn’t getting the right fit.

And he had a small team without an internal recruiter to support him.

And that's where Venture Scaler came in...

We matched Wyatt up with an expert recruiter and got tight on exactly the right profile for the person he needed in the role.

We started scouting and outbound sourcing immediately (which they weren’t able to do much of before) and started setting up interviews within the week.

We helped Wyatt find his “dream hire” in less than 6 weeks.

👉 Struggling to find the right candidates? Let's chat! DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

“I’m doing payroll at night... and recruiting during lunch.”

That’s what a Series A People lead told me on a call recently.

She was the People team of one.

Hiring. Onboarding. Benefits. Payroll changes. Manager questions. Policy stuff.
Plus six open roles that the business needed yesterday.

And the scary part wasn't the open reqs.

It was the slow creep toward burnout.

Because when your only People leader is spread that thin, two things happen:

1. Hiring becomes reactive.
2. And retention becomes an afterthought.

So we plugged in one of our fractional recruiters to take sourcing and screening completely off her plate.

Here’s what we did in the first two weeks:

1️⃣ Built role scorecards with each hiring manager so everyone agreed on the persona up front.

2️⃣ Created targeted sourcing lists per role, not “spray and pray.”

3️⃣ Ran all outbound outreach, first-round screens, and candidate comms.

4️⃣ Delivered weekly shortlists with clear signal, not resume piles.

Suddenly she wasn’t living in her inbox trying to keep candidates warm.

She was back doing the work that actually protects the company:
Onboarding, manager coaching, culture, and keeping great people from leaving.

Her message after Week 2:

“I forgot what it felt like to close my laptop at 5.”

That’s the point of fractional recruiting.

You don’t need to hire a full-time recruiter to get full-time recruiting coverage.
You just need the right support at the right moment.

If your People leader is drowning right now, what’s it costing you?

DM me and I’ll show you how we plug in fast without adding long-term headcount.

I've wasted $300k on bad hires. Here are 5 red flags I now look for:

1. Frequent job changes without growth 

Occasional moves are fine (esp with all the layoffs the last 2yrs), but a pattern of short stints is concerning. It often signals performance issues or missing quotas in sales roles.

2. Misalignment with company stage

Someone who's only worked at large enterprises may struggle in an early-stage startup environment. Look for relevant experience.

3. Lack of preparation

Did they research your company? Do they have thoughtful questions? Preparation shows genuine interest and initiative.

4. Rudeness or poor communication

How candidates treat everyone in the process, from recruiters to interviewers, is telling. Rudeness is a major red flag.

5. Misalignment with mission/values

Can they articulate why they want to join your company specifically? Passionate, aligned candidates will stand out.

What other red flags do you look for when hiring? Share your thoughts in the comments!

🤝 Need hiring help? DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

Forget signing bonuses - here's how we got 95% of candidates to say "Yes"

Simple: We celebrated the job offer (don't sleep on this).

It's the final push that cements a candidate's decision to join your startup.

3 ways to do it right:

1. Personal emails from the interview team

Have everyone who interviewed the candidate send a quick note saying how excited they are. Shows the candidate is already part of the team.

2. Virtual meet & greet

Set up a casual video call for the candidate to meet more of the team. Builds excitement and connection before day 1.

3. Personalized welcome package

Send company swag, a handwritten note, or small gift to their home. Makes them feel valued from the start.

The goal? Create so much excitement that backing out becomes unthinkable.

Remember: Your job isn't done when they accept the offer. Keep the momentum going until their first day.

What creative ways have you celebrated new hires? Share yours below!
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👉 Need help with hiring? Let's chat! DM me or check out 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥 in my bio to learn more.

Juicer Energy, Inc.

Heading up operations at the most innovative EV charging infrastructure company out there.

Don't blink.

Head of Operations

Wolfe-Jones, Co.

I coach and advise a select few founders, COOs, and Ops leaders.

Ops Coach & Consultant

Climate Mayhem

We got to talk to and learn from some of the most innovative founders and operators in the climate tech space! Check it out as we dove into the passion and challenges involved in building things to save the world. While also talking about then intersection of climate conscious and capitalism.

Co-Founder, Co-Host

ASSURANCE IQ

Built our first org wide development programs that included manager development, executive development, and internal coaching program.

I lead the teams and programs that ensured our people systems and data supported all our amazing talent.

I implemented our first People Analytics discipline.

Director, People Systems & Analytics

First cross-business unit operations lead. 

Scaled the company from 120 employees to over 2,000

I built and ran the teams that onboarded, trained, supported, and engaged all agents across all 4 of the business lines. 

In 2020 alone, we onboarded approximately 4X more agents than ever before. My L&D team built our first fully online e-learning program that included a unique micro-learning platform. We built out the first full lifecycle engagement team for our newest busines (all during the pandemic). As well as launched several new and updated products. 

In 2022 I built out our first workforce management product and team. Worforce managment managed all schedules for over 4,000 W2 and 1099 agents annually.

Director of Agent Operations

Wrench, Inc.

I set up and ran all operations for the premier platform to take the hassle out of car ownership. From the mechanics to operations to support to business analytics my teams were the backbone of the service you get when you trust Wrench.

I started when there were 9 people including our first mechanic. Myself and eventually my team, hired all of the mechanics, launched over 20 markets across the US, built out a revolutionary service management and RevOps team, and grew this company from those first 9 to over 140 people and went nationwide.

Helped facilitate the acquisition of 3 regional mobile mechanic companies. I managed the full integrations of those jobs, mechanics, and systems into the core Wrench business while maintaining month over month growth.

DoorDash

I was the GM of the 16th region for Doordash and launched Doordash in the Pacific Northwest.

Saw the growth of the company from ~110 people to well over 300 in just 2 years.

Hired the local team and led the launch of both the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, Bothell, and Woodinville) as well as the foray into Seattle, including Shoreline to Burien.

While we weren't close to being the first 3rd-party delivery company in Seattle, we were the first to launch in the greater area. Myself and our small team of 4 onboarded every driver, restaurant, and system in the region. We had more selection than the other delivery systems and quickly became the preferred partner for most of the local and regional restaurants. We pioneered relationships with many regional and national chains as well as experiemented with delivery of more than food for some partners.

General Manager - Greater Seattle Area

Uber

I was on the 4-person expansion team that launched Uber into the broader Northwest states #uberfrontier

As part of the "UberEverywhere" initiative, we launched three cities in Idaho, 4 cities in Montana, and worked on legislation and grass roots work in Alaska and Wyoming. 

I was responsible for creating the systems to launch and run multiple cities remotely. I also developed the Northwest employee training program, was the first West Coast regional lead for employee training and on-boarding. I initiated several regional and city-wide experiments for on-boarding drivers more efficiently, increase driver happiness, and increase customer satisfaction. I created the first on-demand inspections service at Uber, creating efficiency and reducing cost and constraints onboarding drivers at scale.

Operations Manager - Uber Everywhere

Tango Card, Inc.

I was the first ops hire and part of the company’s original four-person startup team. 

I built out the support teams, inventory managment, finance, customer success, and insided sales.

Helping the company grow the company from 4 people to ~90 in just over 4 years.

I directly managed support staff, systems, and inventory control during this period of staggering growth while maintaing a 92% customer satisfaction score in both our B2B and B2C channels. 

I also helped design and refine our the products that eventually became Tango's SaaS platform but at that time created the partnerships with Bing, Twitter, Extole, and others.

Operations Director

KingofCaffeine.com

Founded and launched a niche ecommerce site that sourced and sold the coolest and craziest caffeinated products on the planet! Carried the largest selection of unique energy products in the world. Provided a platform for many food startups to build revenue. Pioneered a distribution channel into lifestyle retailers including game shops, cafes, skate & surf shops, and other alternative retail.

Founder and CEO

Conceptuers, LLC

Provided expert operational consulting to a dozen startups and early-stage companies.  Designed, implemented, and managed customer experience, hiring, training, and business development strategies.

Some of the projects were:
- Design and implement a warehouse pick and pack system and evaluate ERP systems for a online healthcare ecommerce site
- Go to market strategies for a card game including building relationships with new distributors, trade shows, and events for an import and retro game retailer
- Go to market strategies for a new product line including finding packaging and co-packing facilities for a 25 year old nutraceutical company
- Business development to introduce distribution in a new region for an established food company
- Evaluate and set up a back end 3PL solution for a set of media products for a celebrity media company
- Worked with the manufacturing houses to redesign the taste, formulation, packaging, and distribution for a food product based multi-level marketing company

Others listed individually below.

Operations Consultant

Startup Ops & Strategy Coach | scaled 3 Unicorns 🦄 | 5x Founding Ops 💪 | built 15 more companies worth <$500M 🚀 | Helping ops leaders outmaneuver the chaos of scale 💫

I'm a long-time startup ops exec with experience building businesses, systems, teams, and people. Today I'm enabling startup leaders to gain the growth needed to navigate scale and ambiguity. I focus on helping leaders to be more effective, scale themselves, and grow with the business while dealing with the uncertainty, insecurity, and challenges this brings.

I've been in the 0 to 1 stages and the hyper-growth stages of startup growth - and everything in between - therefore, I can help leaders build from scratch, see around corners, but also push through the failures and challenges we know happen.

As an operator, I have significant expertise in driving and managing growth. I have built new departments and developed massive process improvements. I've worn most of the hats and lived as a cross-functional team leader. In all of this I had to learn - often by trial and error - how to help myself, my teams, and even other executive leaders survive and thrive in these fast-paced, high-stress environments.

Coming from a 50+ year-old, family-owned business, I have always been extremely passionate about entrepreneurship. From that family business to multi-billion dollar tech startups that one thing has held true - I love helping entrepreneurs succeed! 

Check out more at wolfejones.co

And sign up for my newsletter to get interesting views on how to make these shifts in life.

My Enneagram type: Social 5

My top 10 strengths:
Ideation | Strategic | Input | Futuristic | Connectedness | Intellection | Adaptability | Maximizer | Individualization | Learner

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