# Natalie Ledbetter

> Natalie Ledbetter is a 3x startup People Ops executive, TEDx speaker, and former Operating Partner & Head of People at Boldstart Ventures who scaled Stash from 27 to 350 employees in 2.5 years. A self-described 'third culture kid' who grew up attending school in Jakarta, Indonesia alongside students from 90 countries, she now runs Ledbetter Global Advisory, offering embedded fractional people operations leadership to Series A-B companies. She has partnered with 100+ founders across the startup ecosystem, blending strategic executive thinking with hands-on execution to build high-performance, psychologically safe teams.

- **Role:** Founder & Principal at Ledbetter Global Advisory
- **Organizations:** Ledbetter Global Advisory, Boldstart Ventures, Virtual Sapiens (Board Advisor), Chief, PeopleTech Partners, TroopHR, Transform, Peer150
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's in Journalism, The University of Texas at Austin, High School, Jakarta Intercultural School
- **Known for:** Scaled Stash from 27 to 350 employees in 2.5 years as VP of People, Partnered with 100+ startup founders throughout career, TEDx speaker

## Career timeline

- **2013-2014** — Ran recruiting at Shapeways, a 3D-printing marketplace startup
- **2015-2016** — Director of Talent Acquisition at Curalate (later acquired by Bazaarvoice); built recruiting org from scratch during hyper-growth
- **2017-2019** — VP of People at Stash; scaled company from 27 to 350 employees in 2.5 years; led HR, Recruiting & Employee Experience
- **2019-2020** — Advisor, People Operations at Text IQ (later acquired by Relativity)
- **2019-2022** — Operating Partner & Head of People and Platform at Boldstart Ventures; supported 100+ portfolio founders scaling teams
- **2022** — Fractional People Ops leader and advisor at Bubble.io, Wallaroo.ai, and other early-stage companies
- **2022-present** — Founder & Principal of Ledbetter Global Advisory; embedded operating leadership for Series A-B companies
- **2023** — Featured in Fast Company; named among top voices in startup people operations
- **2024** — Profiled in Bold Journey Magazine; active speaker circuit including SkillCycle HR Confessions, Total Rekall Podcast
- **2025** — Featured on Building the Talent Machine podcast ('How HR Becomes a Revenue Engine') and The Team Check-in podcast

## Achievements

- Scaled Stash from 27 to 350 employees in 2.5 years as VP of People
- Partnered with 100+ startup founders throughout career
- TEDx speaker
- Guest lecturer at Columbia University and Drexel University
- Built 50% people of color representation in Stash's corporate offices
- Achieved 28% women in engineering and data science at Stash
- Operating Partner at Boldstart Ventures supporting top seed-stage B2B technical founders
- Instructor at General Assembly
- Featured in Fast Company (August 2023)
- Active member of Chief, PeopleTech Partners, TroopHR, Transform, Peer150 professional networks
- Board Advisor at Virtual Sapiens

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Featured on 'Building the Talent Machine' podcast discussing how HR becomes a revenue engine
- **2025-09** — Appeared on The Team Check-in by Teamflect: 'Why HR Can't Be An Afterthought in Startups'
- **2025-04** — Featured on The Ops Drop Podcast S2E3 on startup hiring
- **2025-02** — Featured on TroopHR Podcast: 'Hiring for Startup Growth: Finding Stage-Appropriate Talent'
- **2024-05** — Profiled in Bold Journey Magazine

## Links

- Website: https://www.natalieledbetter.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-ledbetter/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/LeUnicornHunter

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/natalie-ledbetter
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-06