Our Story & Approach
Our Mission
We help bold companies grow by recruiting the people who make it possible.
Talent makes or breaks early momentum — especially for emerging, venture-backed, and growth-stage organizations. Our mission is simple: connect high-impact companies with exceptional talent so they can innovate, scale, and build what’s next. And because recruiting is a people business, we bring the same level of care, clarity, and commitment to every relationship. Our values are how we put that mission into practice.
Our Story
TalentSwell started from a simple idea: great companies deserve a recruiting partner who’s been in the trenches — someone who knows how hard it is to scale, build teams, and hire the right people when every decision matters.
After two decades leading recruiting functions inside startups, growth-stage companies, and global enterprises, TalentSwell was founded to offer something different: hands-on partnership, high-touch search, and a practical understanding of what high-growth companies need from their talent strategy and recruiting partner
We work with founders, executives, and hiring leaders as an extension of their team — helping them hire the people who will shape their future.
Our Values
Lead With Purpose.
We partner with organizations that aim to make a meaningful impact — companies improving health, science, technology, and the world around us.
Make Every Hire Count.
We treat each search as pivotal because for high-growth companies, it is. Quality, rigor, and thoughtfulness guide every step.
Raise the Standard.
We’re accountable for outcomes. Our work only matters when it helps companies hire exceptional people and grow.
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 prioritize empathy, curiosity, and long-term relationships over transactional interactions.
Our Founder
David McMichael is the Founder and Managing Director of TalentSwell, bringing 20+ years of experience building recruiting functions and hiring top talent for startups, growth-stage companies, and global enterprises.
He’s led recruiting across a wide range of industries — including biotech, life sciences, digital health, healthcare innovation, and technology — and has recruited leaders from the C-suite through mission-critical individual contributors.
David’s practitioner background shapes TalentSwell’s approach: strategic insight paired with hands-on execution, a deep understanding of scaling environments, and a commitment to helping companies hire the people who accelerate their mission.
Professional Background
20+ years of progressive leadership experience, including 15+ years of high-growth executive recruiting across biotech, life sciences, digital health, and technology organizations.
Built a high-performing recruiting function for a rapidly scaling biotech startup that doubled its team as it prepared for commercialization (acquired for $4.1B).
Built recruiting 0 to 1 for a healthcare technology and innovation startup; recruited C-level and clinical executives, functional heads, and specialty physicians; scaled the talent acquisition team from Seed to Series C, supporting company growth from early-stage to 500 employees in 3.5 years.
Head of Global Talent Acquisition Operations for a pioneering health and life sciences technology business, supporting scale from 3.7K to 6.2K employees and revenue growth from $1.9B to $2.8B.
Built and led a global recruitment consulting team at LinkedIn during hyper-growth, scaling from 2K to 9K employees and revenue from $500M to $3B. Partnered with leading technology organizations including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, Intel, and Facebook. Awarded the Global Rookie of the Year.
Served as Head of the Talent Acquisition Center of Excellence for a Fortune 500 technology company, hiring 10K employees annually as revenues grew from $7.8B to $10.8B while the organization navigated a post-IPO transformation.