Cassie Chao Leemans

Vice President, Talent

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Cassie Leemans leads Craft Ventures’ talent function, where she partners with portfolio companies on executive hiring, recruiting strategy, and leadership network development. Her focus today is on building deep relationships with CXO-level candidates and top search firms, advising founders on team design, and helping startups scale their hiring from Series A through growth stage.

Over the past decade, Cassie has built recruiting functions from the earliest stages at Palantir, Uber, and Sonder—and from the ground up at Threads. In each role, she worked hand-in-hand with founding teams to define hiring plans, close critical early hires, and establish the foundations for long-term talent success. She’s led teams through hyperscale growth, scaling headcount by up to 30x, and has contributed to multiple successful exits.

Cassie’s experience spans executive search, recruiting operations, and candidate experience—underpinned by a strong track record of helping startups build high-performing teams. Whether advising a founder on their first executive hire or enabling a talent leader to scale systems for growth, she brings a strategic and highly practical approach to each stage of the journey.

Notable Investments
Board Member or Observer
Focus
Cassie focuses on executive hiring, strategic advisory to founders, and the development of scalable recruiting infrastructure across Craft Ventures’ portfolio as companies grow and mature.
Companies