Michael Chong

Talent Advisor @ Contrario (YC W25)

About

I manage Talent Acquisition for growth companies. I align talent strategy to business strategy and drive operational excellence to a successful outcome. From seed-stage to large publicly traded companies, I've worked closely with founders/C-suite and executives to make strategic hiring decisions and build great organizations. Led/Headed up recruiting for ALL of: - Engineering, UX/UI, Cloud Ops/IT, Security - G&A including Finance/HR/Legal/Workplace, - Customer Success/Support Spearheaded specialized searches: - Sales & Marketing, Product Management, and Professional Services. Recruited - Executives (VP, Director+), People Managers, Individual Contributors Player/Coach: * Led and managed distributed teams during growth and downturn. * Implemented and improved processes at every step of the recruiting lifecycle. * Developed methodologies that deliver high quality performance results. PRIOR TO RECRUITING, my career was mostly in Enterprise Software Solutions. - Global Account Management at Avaya (Strategic Accounts) - Enterprise Solution Sales Consultant at Oracle - Consultant at KPMG (PeopleSoft, Custom Application Development)

Country

United States

City

San Francisco Bay Area

Industry

Computer Software

Skill

Startups, Strategic Sourcing, Closing Candidates, Team Performance, Operational Excellence, Data-driven Decision Making, C-Level Communications, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Sales Presentations, Client Management, Team Leadership, Event Planning, Event Management, Program Facilitation, Community Partnership Development, Sponsorship Sales, Non-profit Management, Global Account Development, Sales Processes

Experience

Talent Advisor

Contrario (YC W25)

2025-5 - Present · 1 yr 4 mos

Contrario is an AI Recruiting Agency focused on building early-stage teams, Seed to Series C. Specialized talent acquisition experts advise and assist client engagements. - Looking for Founding Engineers, Product Engineers, Full Stack, Design Engineers, AI Engineers, Solution Engineer, and more. (Early Career, 0-6+ yrs of experience)

Manager, Talent Acquisition

RingCentral

2021-6 - 2024-1 · 2 yrs 8 mos

Belmont, California, United States

- Managed a distributed team of 5+ (Player/Coach) Responsible for: - ALL of Engineering, UX/UI, CloudOps, Security, and IT. - ALL of G&A (Finance, Accounting, Legal, HR, etc) - Senior leadership recruiting

Lead Technical Recruiter

RingCentral

2021-4 - 2021-6 · 3 mos

Belmont, California, United States

Engineering in Real-Time Communications Video: - Client Media Processing (Audio/Video Processing, WebRTC, Algorithms, C++) - 9 virtual onsites that converted to 5 offers with 4 accepts. - Backend Services (Java), - CRM Salesforce Dev (Quote-to-Cash, CPQ, Angular.js, Heroku)

Talent Partner for Various Startups and Tech Companies

Silicon Valley Talent

2012-4 - 2021-4 · 9 yrs 1 mo

San Mateo, CA

CLIENTS: In-House Contracts - TikTok/Bytedance, - Nauto, - Salesforce, - Yahoo!, - Exabeam, - LendUp, - Pilot.AI, - Upthere, - Presdo, Hub, - Daydream, - SnapLogic, - Saama Technologies *** Candidate Closing Rate at Offer Stage 80% ~ 100%. I've helped founders and hiring executives in building great teams. LinkedIn Co-Founder - Eric Ly Upthere, Co-Founder - Alex Kushnir Upthere, VP of Engineering - Jessica Khan Nauto, CTO - Ruslan Belkin Nauto, VP of Engineering - Lei Pan Exabeam, EVP of Customer Success - Tony Kolish Salesforce, SVP of Marketing - Thimaya Subaiya LendUp, Director of Engineering - David Farrell Egynte, Co-Founder - Rajesh Ram International Regions: US, UK, Singapore Recruited: - Executive & Senior Leadership: Sr/Director, VP - Technical & Product Management: Backend, Front-end, Full-Stack, Data Scientist, Data Infrastructure, SRE, Android, iOS, Windows Dev, Sr. Product Managers - Go-to-Market (GTM) & G&A Hiring Industries & Products: AI/ML, Deep-learning Based Computer Vision Platform, Cybersecurity Intelligence Platform, Video Sharing, Cloud-based Data integration Platform, Consumer Photo & Video Cloud Storage, FinTech, BI Data Analytics, and more

Lead Technical Recruiter

Nauto

2019-2 - 2019-9 · 8 mos

Palo Alto, California

AI Computer Vision Enabled Camera for Fleet Vehicles. Improved recruiting process. Mentored junior recruiter. Worked with CTO Ruslan Belkin and current VP of Engineering Lei Pan. ML Infra, Data Infra, Backend Engineering / Cloud Infra. Recruited Leadership to IC’s

Senior Recruiter

Upthere (acquired by Western Digital)

2015-1 - 2017-5 · 2 yrs 5 mos

Palo Alto, CA

(Acquired by Western Digital) Photo & Video Cloud Storage Platform. - 90% closing rate at offer stage. - Recruited for iOS, Android, Front-end Web, Web Lead, Windows Developer, QA, QA Automation, Build Release, Marketing, Growth Marketer

Executive Recruiter

HR International

2011-2 - 2012-4 · 1 yr 3 mos

Burlingame, CA

Recruiting agency serving tech start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. (40+ clients). Built a BI Sales Team, nationally, in under 3 months - from VP of Sales and down. Roles: Business Intelligence / Data Analytics, Ruby on Rails, Social/Mobile Gaming, Digital Media , Marketing Intelligence, and more.

Senior Director of Business Development

WorldLink US

2010 - 2011 · 1 yr

San Francisco Bay Area

WorldLink is a global technology transformation partner helping enterprises navigate and accelerate their digital transformation journey. Led business development of Western region driving revenue in key strategic accounts in high tech industry: digital media and mobile communications.(Samsung, Huaweii, RockYou). Client advisory providing creative solutions in building high caliber team of resources that develops cutting edge technologies. Roles: Mobile OS (Android, Meego, iOS, etc.) SmartTV / IPTV / 3D, Solid State Drive, Wireless Modem Chipset, Social Gaming Applications

Global Account Director

Avaya

2005 - 2008 · 3 yrs

San Francisco Bay Area

- Managed global strategic accounts: Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling balanced sales growth through continued account penetration and customer satisfaction with a long term, multi-year focus. - Managed SAP Alliance & Partnership

Senior Sales Consultant, Business Development Manager, Development Liaison, Solution Director

Oracle

1999-10 - 2004-6 · 4 yrs 9 mos

Redwood Shores, CA | Asia Pacific

- Led solution sales support of strategic accounts in multiple vertical industries: High-Tech, Communications & Media (Wireless), Engineering & Construction and Heavy Industries, Automotive (OEM & Supplier), Logistics, Steel, Chemical, Healthcare, Financial Services, CPG/Retail. - Successfully drove a Design Partner relationship with strategic customer. Executive sponsored by Larry Ellison, I was appointed as Development Liaison, an extended member of product management team. - Facilitated C-Level Executive Workshops advising customer executive management teams in identifying and prioritizing business objectives - Information Strategy Planning and Solution Value Assessment.

Consultant

KPMG US

1998-9 - 1999-9 · 1 yr 1 mo

McLean, VA

KPMG Consulting, PeopleSoft Practice, PeopleSoft Developer: Implementation, Production Support, Customization, and Custom Application Development using PeopleTools, PeopleCode (C-based language): HRMS, Benefits, Payroll Interface, Order Management.

Education

Wharton Executive Education

CHRO Program

2023-6 - 2024-6 · 1 yr 1 mo

The CHRO Program is an immersive learning journey over the course of 12 months that takes you through a mix of thought-provoking, interactive modules that combine theory and real-world case studies exploring applicable best practices. Discover how to apply the latest concepts in performance management and people analytics that help your organization achieve competitive advantage in your industry. Connect with faculty who are global thought leaders, interact with industry experts, and collaborate with distinguished peers. (Electives: Executive Presence & Influence, Corporate Governance & Boardroom Management, Executive Compensation Strategy)