Our Story & Approach
Our Mission
We help bold companies innovate and scale by recruiting the people who make it possible.
Exceptional talent transforms organizations. We make those connections with care, precision, and purpose. We are driven to help ambitious companies scale by building the teams that fuel discovery, innovation, and growth in mission-driven businesses. Our mission isn’t just about making hires, it’s about supporting and partnering with startups and scaling businesses that are striving to make a meaningful, positive difference in the world. We partner with ambitious organizations and extraordinary talent to accelerate innovation, growth, and impact. And because recruiting is a people business, we bring the same level of care, clarity, and commitment to every relationship. And our values are how we put that mission into practice.
How We Show Up
At TalentSwell, we know your recruiting partner is a direct extension of your brand, your reputation, your mission, and your vision for the future. That’s why our values are more than words on a page. They are the principles that shape how we listen, collaborate, and deliver results that truly matter.
Recruiting is, at its core, about people. It is about building trust, understanding what drives each client and candidate, and creating connections that fuel lasting impact. Our values guide us to show up with care, clarity, and a commitment to excellence.
For the ambitious and mission driven companies we serve, this means something different. In a recruiting world that can feel transactional, our values create a more aligned and meaningful experience for clients, the candidates we engage, and the awesome teams we’re fortunate enough to help build.
Get to Know Our Values
Lead With Purpose.
We are energized by mission-driven work and collaborate with teams striving to shape a better future.
Make Every Hire Count.
We match exceptional talent with visionary companies to accelerate growth, innovation, and outcomes.
Raise the Standard.
We bring care, depth, and precision to every search. No shortcuts, only outstanding results.
Do What’s Right.
We operate with transparency and integrity because trust is the foundation of every great partnership.
Stay Curious.
We ask thoughtful questions and challenge assumptions to uncover better outcomes and tailored solutions.
Build Human Connection.
Recruiting is about people. We build deep relationships rooted in empathy, communication, and shared purpose.
Meet our Founder
David McMichael
My obsession with recruiting, dedication to building innovative business, and passion for connecting mission-driven organizations with top talent inspired me to build TalentSwell, the recruiting firm I felt many startups and high-growth businesses were missing.
Professional Background
20+ years progressive leadership experience, including more than 15 years of high-growth executive recruiting experience across biotech, life sciences, digital health, and technology businesses
Built a high-performing recruiting function and developed internal search capabilities for a high-growth biotech startup that doubled the size of the team as the company prepared for commercialization (acquired for $4.1B)
Built recruiting 0-to-1 for healthcare tech and innovation startup, recruited C-level and clinical executives, functional heads, and specialty physicians; scaled the talent acquisition team from Seed to Series C, growing the broader team by more than 10X to 500 team members in 3.5 years
Head of Global Talent Acquisition Operations for pioneering health and life sciences technology business that powered critical advancements in improving human health as the team scaled from 3.7K to 6.2K employees and $1.9B to $2.8B in revenue
Built global recruitment consulting team at LinkedIn during hyper-growth stage as the team grew from 2K to 9K and revenue from $500M to $3B, partnered with top technology companies in the world including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, eBay, Intel and Facebook (among others), and won the Global Rookie of the Year Award
Served as Head of the Talent Acquisition COE for Fortune 500 technology business hiring 10K employees per year as revenues grew from $7.8B to $10.8B and the global organization went through Post-IPO business transformation