Our Mission

It takes great people to make a great company.

Our mission is simple: to connect promising companies with talented people who can bring their business to the next level.

Though we serve companies of all sizes, we have established a reputation as specialists in startup hiring. Most of our clients are innovative startups, early-stage ventures, and companies in expansion, who are building a name in their respective industries.

OUR CORE TEAM

Max Shapiro

Founder & CEO
Max is the founder and CEO of PeopleConnect, bringing remarkable energy, a rare blend of experience, a sense of creativity, and a tenaciousness that has made it possible for many startups and established companies to add key talent to their teams.
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Vivi Fenwick

Director, Recruiting Operations
Vivi joined PeopleConnect in 2006 and has more than 27 years of experience in human resources and recruiting, having worked at a wide variety of organizations providing both tactical and strategic human resources support and solutions for corporations.
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Adam Everett

Senior Executive Recruiter
Adam possesses 21+ years in full lifecycle recruitment, having worked on both the agency and corporate sides of the business. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, high-tech, information technology, software, aviation, market research, medical device, etc.
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Karen Gore

Senior Executive Recruiter
Karen brings more than 30 years of full-cycle recruiting experience to our organization. She has worked for family-owned companies, Fortune 500 and Global 100 companies. Over the past 20 years, she has been a member of the PeopleConnect team filling roles in emerging/NexGen technologies
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Robin Stonesifer

Chief of Staff
Robin supports all business operations within PeopleConnect and PitchForce while being Max's right hand woman. Robin has over 12 years of experience in client and account management. She help our clients analyze their team building needs and manage the onboarding process for new clients.
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Jacob Lonsway

PitchForce, Event Manager
Jacob manages the PitchForce process vetting new startups to present at our weekly events focused startups seeking their Seed and A Round investments. He individually coaches the pitching entrepreneurs on their pitches before they present.
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Max Shapiro

Founder & CEO
Max is the founder and CEO of PeopleConnect, bringing remarkable energy, a rare blend of experience, a sense of creativity, and a tenaciousness that has made it possible for many startups and established companies to add key talent to their teams.
Read more

Karen Gore

Senior Executive Recruiter
Karen brings more than 30 years of full-cycle recruiting experience to our organization. She has worked for family-owned companies as well as Fortune 500 and Global 100 companies. Over the past 20 years, she has been a member of the PeopleConnect team filling roles in emerging/NexGen technologies.
Read more

Vivi Fenwick

Director, Recruiting Operations
Vivi joined PeopleConnect in 2006 and has more than 27 years of experience in human resources and recruiting, having worked at a wide variety of organizations providing both tactical and strategic human resources support and solutions for corporations.
Read more

Robin Stonesifer

Chief of Staff
Robin supports all business operations within PeopleConnect and PitchForce while being Max's right-hand woman. Robin has over 12 years of experience in client and account management. She helps our clients analyze their team-building needs and manages the onboarding process for new clients.
Read more

Adam Everett

Senior Executive Recruiter
Adam possesses 21+ years in full lifecycle recruitment, having worked on both the agency and corporate sides of the business. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, high-tech, information technology, software, aviation, market research, medical device, etc.
Read more

Jacob Lonsway

PitchForce, Event Manager
Jacob manages the PitchForce process vetting new startups to present at our weekly events focused on startups seeking their Seed and A Round investments. He individually coaches the pitching entrepreneurs on their pitches before they present.
Read more

Max Shapiro

Founder & CEO

Max is the founder and CEO of PeopleConnect, bringing remarkable energy, a rare blend of experience, a sense of creativity, and a tenaciousness that has made it possible for many startups and established companies to add key talent to their teams.

Read more

Karen Gore

Senior Executive Recruiter

Karen brings more than 30 years of full-cycle recruiting experience to our organization. She has worked for family-owned companies as well as Fortune 500 and Global 100 companies. Over the past 20 years, she has been a member of the PeopleConnect team filling roles in emerging/NexGen technologies.

Read more

Vivi Fenwick

Director, Recruiting Operations

Vivi joined PeopleConnect in 2006 and has more than 27 years of experience in human resources and recruiting, having worked at a wide variety of organizations providing both tactical and strategic human resources support and solutions for corporations.

Read more

Robin Stonesifer

Chief of Staff

Robin supports all business operations within PeopleConnect and PitchForce while being Max's right-hand woman. Robin has over 12 years of experience in client and account management. She helps our clients analyze their team-building needs and manages the onboarding process for new clients.

Read more

Adam Everett

Senior Executive Recruiter

Adam possesses 21+ years in full lifecycle recruitment, having worked on both the agency and corporate sides of the business. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, high-tech, information technology, software, aviation, market research, medical device, etc.

Read more

Jacob Lonsway

PitchForce, Event Manager

Jacob manages the PitchForce process vetting new startups to present at our weekly events focused on startups seeking their Seed and A Round investments. He individually coaches the pitching entrepreneurs on their pitches before they present.

Read more

Start Your Search Now

Book a discovery call to discuss how we will find the right A players to join your team.

Start Your Next Search

Book a discovery call to discuss how we will find the right A players to join your team

OUR Advisory Board

David Emerson

Eric Ferraro

Garrett Gilbertson

Nick Henderson

Bob Kamm

Ephraim Lindenbaum

Sandy Miller

Richard Pivnicka

Paul Twombly

Max Shapiro

Founder & CEO of PeopleConnect
Max is the founder and CEO of PeopleConnect, bringing remarkable energy, a rare blend of experience, a sense of creativity, and a tenaciousness that has made it possible for many startups and established companies to add key talent to their teams. A lifelong entrepreneur, a consummate networker and a business strategist, Max understands the minds and passions of startups and companies focused on growth.
Max has always been an expert in finding talent; he was the youngest talent scout in the history of the NBA, serving as Chief Scout for the Phoenix Suns. He owned and operated a company that produced sports camps for children, and baseball and basketball fantasy camps for adults, where he partnered with some of the biggest names in sports, including Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, John Wooden, and Billy Casper.
Max founded PeopleConnect in 1999, where he currently focuses on business development and client relations. He is an active member of several angel investment groups, and his passion for finding talent extends to introducing PeopleConnect clients to the professional resources they need to bring their company to the next level.

Karen Gore

Senior Executive Recruiter
Karen brings more than 30 years of full-cycle recruiting experience to our organization. She has worked for family-owned companies, Fortune 500 and Global 100 companies. Over the past 20 years, she has been a member of the PeopleConnect team filling roles in emerging/NexGen technologies, ML/AI/NLP, Robotics, Blockchain/Cryptocurrency, Medical Device, Cannabis, Manufacturing, and BioTech companies. Positions placed cover a wide range from the C-suite to EAs, including sales, marketing, scientists, engineers, operations, finance, and far more. She specializes in filling positions requiring unique skills and experience.
Her passion for recruiting drives the quality of interaction provided to both clients and candidates. Karen believes that learning about what is new on the business and technology horizon should never stop.
In her free time, she works in her garden, enjoys being outdoors, spending time with her friends and dogs, and remodeling.

Vivi Fenwick

Director, Recruiting Operations
Vivi joined PeopleConnect in 2006 and has more than 27 years of experience in human resources and recruiting, having worked at a wide variety of organizations providing both tactical and strategic human resources support and solutions for corporations and subsidiaries in the pharmaceutical, high-tech hardware and software, and agricultural produce industries.
Her knowledge spans recruiting, staffing processes and management, employee relations, employee retention, succession planning, organizational development and training. Vivi’s recruiting philosophy is to focus on organizational cultural fit, department fit, as well as technical fit.
Vivi received her BA in Business Administration, with a concentration in Human Resources, from San Jose State University. Outside of her work with us, Vivi maintains a consulting practice in human resources, and manages a very busy family as well.

Robin Stonesifer

Chief of Staff
Robin supports all business operations within PeopleConnect and PitchForce while being Max’s right hand woman. Robin has over 12 years of experience in client and account management. She help our clients analyze their team building needs and manage the onboarding process for new clients. Robin’s focus on customer service ensures all existing and new clients experience customized and unique service.
Robin has a beautiful toddler that keeps her busy and they enjoy traveling and going on adventures.

Adam Everett

Senior Executive Recruiter
Adam possesses 21+ years in full lifecycle recruitment, having worked on both the agency and corporate sides of the business. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, high-tech, information technology, software, aviation, market research, medical device, etc. Within those industries, he has recruited for numerous skills sets such as technical/software, sales, engineers, marketing, finance/accounting, project management, operations, client services, quality assurance, among numerous others.
Adam is a big believer in first impressions and takes recruiting very seriously. Recruiters tend to be the first point of contact with candidates and making a great first impression will set the tone for the entire talent acquisition experience/process. He enjoys the people aspect of recruiting and getting to interact with different people, from different backgrounds, on a daily basis. He also takes great pride in his work and gets the most satisfaction when he helps place someone at a great company.
Adam is married with two children. In his off-time, he enjoys being with family and friends, hanging out at the lake, going to the movies, attending sporting events, cooking/barbecuing, and working out.

Jacob Lonsway

PitchForce, Event Manager
Jacob manages the PitchForce process vetting new startups to present at our weekly events focused startups seeking their Seed and A Round investments. He individually coaches the pitching entrepreneurs on their pitches before they present. Jacob manages our investor panel and supports the sponsorship partner programs. He works individually with all of our presenting companies to help them perfect their pitch to investors. He is a Rockstar at organizing events and meeting with all the founders to help them tell their stories.
In his free time, Jacob enjoys exploring the great city of San Francisco and the surrounding areas. Having recently moved to the bay area he is loving all the outdoor activities the west coast has to offer! Having grown up Cleveland, Ohio, he spends time off with family boating on Lake Erie.

About Us

Max is the founder and CEO of PeopleConnect, bringing remarkable energy, a rare blend of experience, a sense of creativity, and a tenaciousness that has made it possible for many startups and established companies to add key talent to their teams. A lifelong entrepreneur, a consummate networker and a business strategist, Max understands the minds and passions of startups and companies focused on growth.
Max has always been an expert in finding talent; he was the youngest talent scout in the history of the NBA, serving as Chief Scout for the Phoenix Suns. He owned and operated a company that produced sports camps for children, and baseball and basketball fantasy camps for adults, where he partnered with some of the biggest names in sports, including Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, John Wooden, and Billy Casper.
Max founded PeopleConnect in 1999, where he currently focuses on business development and client relations. He is an active member of several angel investment groups, and his passion for finding talent extends to introducing PeopleConnect clients to the professional resources they need to bring their company to the next level.