# Jacqueline Samira

> Jacqueline Samira is the Austin-based founder and CEO of Howdy.com, a technology staffing company that connects Latin American professionals with long-term roles at U.S. companies. After graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, spending 19 months looking for work, and building a career in sales leadership, she founded Howdy in 2018 with savings accumulated over a decade. The company joined Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch, raised an $18 million Series A and extension, and expanded across Latin America, including through its acquisition of Brazilian talent marketplace GeekHunter.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Howdy.com
- **Organizations:** Howdy.com, GeekHunter, Y Combinator
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Economics, University of California, Irvine, Winter 2021 batch, Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Bootstrapped Howdy with $175,000 accumulated over a decade of personal saving., Led Howdy through Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch., Raised an $18 million Series A and extension for Howdy in 2022 and 2023.

## Career timeline

- **2005-2007** — Worked as an editorial assistant and event coordinator at Ocean Magazine.
- **2007-2009** — Worked in business development at IWLH.
- **2009-2015** — Moved through sales training and regional sales leadership roles at Hair Club.
- **2015-2017** — Served as vice president of sales at OwnLocal in Austin.
- **2017-2018** — Served as head of sales at Shipwell.
- **2018** — Co-founded the company now known as Howdy.com with Frank Licea in Austin.
- **2021** — Howdy joined Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch.
- **2022-2023** — Howdy raised a $13 million Series A and a $5 million extension, and adopted the Howdy.com name after operating as Austin Software and Astro.
- **2023** — Howdy acquired Brazilian technology-talent marketplace GeekHunter, adding nearly 400,000 registered candidates.
- **2026** — Inc. named Samira to its Female Founders 500, citing Howdy's expansion to Mexico and Peru and a branded Guadalajara office.

## Achievements

- Bootstrapped Howdy with $175,000 accumulated over a decade of personal saving.
- Led Howdy through Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch.
- Raised an $18 million Series A and extension for Howdy in 2022 and 2023.
- Led Howdy's 2023 acquisition of GeekHunter, a Brazilian marketplace with nearly 400,000 registered candidates.
- Named to Inc.'s 2026 Female Founders 500.
- Led a company recognized on the Inc. 5000 in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — On LinkedIn, Samira said Howdy's north-star metric remains the number of Howdy Professionals in its network, placed above revenue in her reporting.
- **2026-09** — Her public profiles describe Howdy as operating across eight countries with approximately 500 developers.
- **2026-03** — Inc. named Samira to its 2026 Female Founders 500 for leading expansion into Mexico and Peru and establishing a branded Guadalajara office.
- **2025-06** — In an Inc. conversation about work and AI, Samira described herself as an AI optimist and compared the technology's broad effect to the printing press.

## Links

- Website: https://www.howdy.com/experts/jacqueline-samira
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinesamira
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/howdyjax

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jacqueline-samira
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27