Leopard People/Talent Leaders Low Key AMA with Heather Doshay, Partner + Head of Talent at SignalFire (INVITE ONLY)
Heather Doshay, Partner + Head of Talent at SignalFire, works directly with founders across hundreds of startups. She sees how People and Talent leaders are being asked to adjust—both in scope and strategy—as companies face tighter budgets, slower hiring, and new tooling.
If you’re in People or Talent, and want to understand how founders & investors are thinking right now— join us! Note: we won’t be recording, as this chat is off the record.
In this AMA, we’ll focus on the trends Heather is seeing across the portfolio in 2025 so far:
Where founders are still hiring—and where they’ve pulled back
What are founders & investors pushing for in People/Talent strategy?
What are founders & investors pushing back on in People/Talent strategy?
What types of companies are hiring most actively? (early stage vs growth stage, AI companies vs SaaS companies etc,)
Most in-demand roles across the portfolio (anecdotal) & which roles are companies struggling to fill (ML, AI etc)
What expectations are emerging around AI for people/talent departments?
About SignalFire: Signalfire is a venture firm built around data. SignalFire uses its proprietary platform to identify early-stage startups, support hiring, and guide go-to-market strategies. With over $3 billion under management, SignalFire invests heavily at the seed stage and continues to support companies as they grow—offering founders both capital and operational help. Their portfolio includes companies like Grammarly, Grow Therapy, and EvenUp.
About Leopard.FYI: Leopard.FYI supports women, non-binary folks, and allies in software engineering by fostering a community to share insights on company culture, compensation, and interview processes while partnering with organizations that align with our mission.
Leopard also runs a free, invite-only slack community for People & Talent Leaders who believe in inclusivity in software engineering. Our 175+ members include leaders at Hugging Face, Signalfire, Drivemode, Goalbook, Anrok, VC Talent leaders & employment lawyers/ SMEs in Talent. If you'd like access & a digital copy of our 2025 DEI Legal Handbook, email Angella@leopard.fyi!
Hiring + want to share your open engineering roles with the Leopard community? Email lexi@leopard.FYI or grab time with Lexi here: https://calendly.com/lexilewtan/30min