We recently connected with Natalie Ledbetter and have shared our conversation below.
Natalie, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
As I’ve matured and perhaps gained some wisdom, I’ve come to realize that my life’s purpose is fostering connections and building communities that are diverse, equitable and inclusive. This understanding is deeply rooted in my upbringing as a “third culture kid” in Jakarta, Indonesia. Spending my formative years (until I returned to the United States for University) in a developing country, gave me a front seat to witness global inequality and the evolution of an economy, political system and culture. At the same time, I had the privilege of attending school with students from 90 different countries, encompassing every religion, race, and socio-economic background.
Being away from our home countries created a powerful impetus for building bridges across incredibly divergent life experiences and cultivating community in a space where connections were not always apparent. This became the bedrock of my career in people operations. Seeing the immense power, growth and learning that comes from connection with people who are vastly different than yourself, has driven me to foster work cultures that are welcoming and psychologically safe for EVERYONE.
While endless studies have proven that the best products, services and ideas come out of diverse and inclusive communities, being immersed in it from such a young age has fueled my passion to build similarly vibrant environments in both my professional and personal life.
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Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
With more than a decade in startups and early-stage/seed VC and 20 years of experience overall, I am a seasoned People Ops Leader and former Operating Partner at Boldstart Ventures. My expertise lies in harnessing talent to drive business transformations, while building and scaling tech startups from early-stage to hyper-growth. This means I’m often one of the first People Operations hires building HR, Talent Acquisition, Employee Experience, and L&D, from scratch.
My work is informed by a deep understanding of the startup ecosystem and pattern recognition from building three startups in People Leader roles and helping businesses evolve in VC. I partner with founders to think strategically about their businesses, processes, and people, crafting people operations programs that attract, develop and retain top talent.
Throughout my career, I’ve been driven by the challenge of solving complex “people problems” and crafting creative, data-driven solutions. I bring a strong bias for execution while maintaining a foundation of compassion and empathy. I believe in the power of vulnerable, servant leadership to earn trust and respect, paired with accountability for fostering growth and learning.
An entrepreneur at heart, I am passionate about the intersection of people and business. I enjoy coaching Founders and Executives, as well as mentoring rising talent through fostering trusted relationships and leveraging network effects. In partnership with founders I build people-first companies that are not only diverse and inclusive, but that are psychologically safe.
Described as a “Swiss army knife,” a “disruptor” and a “fixer,” my superpower lies in strategic thinking at the Executive level while executing (hands-on) with my teams.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three things that have been most impactful in my journey have been a deep sense of empathy, the desire to learn and expand my mind and forcing myself out of my comfort zone.
My advice would be to actively seek out unique opportunities and experiences to grow. Whether it be art, cultural activities, classes or even companies, discomfort = an opportunity to learn and grow.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client is an experienced technology founder in an early stage business, or a VC that is passionate about people. While the archetypes of founders and investors vary immensely, I work best with people who know what they don’t know, and allow me to jump into their company(ies) with two feet.
I create order our of chaos, thrive in ambiguity, harness deep pattern recognition from my time in leadership roles in startups and never compromise on having fun.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/natalie-ledbetter/
