Alison Kaizer
Partner, Talent
Golden Ventures
As a Partner at Golden Ventures, I work hand-in-hand with some of the most ambitious early-stage founders across North America, helping them navigate the messy, mission-critical terrain of team building.
I specialize in talent strategy from pre-seed through Series B, from shaping early hiring plans and interview processes to making high-leverage introductions that accelerate company-building.
I’ve helped place founding engineers, first marketers, heads of product, and operators who’ve gone on to meaningfully shape the companies they joined. I bring a decade of experience at the intersection of startups, talent, and venture, grounded in a simple belief: great people build great companies.
Before joining Golden, I built and scaled talent programs at some of North America’s top VC-backed startups. I was the founding talent hire at Ritual, where we scaled from around 50 to more than 400 people globally, and later led Talent at Lunchbox, growing the team from roughly 60 to 200 while building the function from scratch. I’ve also advised founders as an independent talent partner, developing a clear view of what it actually takes to build early teams that endure.
I know the stakes are high, time is tight, and talent decisions shape everything, so I work fast, with empathy, precision, and candour.
When I’m not working with founders or helping build teams, you can usually find me immersed in health and wellness research, or exploring food and culture, often while travelling.