Yisel De Leon
Consultant, GTM
Yisel De Leon is a Recruiter at The Search Experience, based in Los Angeles. She specializes in recruiting go-to-market talent for Seed to Series C startups, partnering with founders to identify exceptional sales, customer success, and revenue professionals who can contribute from day one and grow alongside the business.
Meet Yisel
Yisel recruits go-to-market talent for Seed to Series C technology startups across the US, specializing in sales, customer success, and revenue roles. She approaches every search with structure, curiosity, and a strong focus on long-term alignment, taking the time to understand what motivates candidates and what founders need to build successful teams.
Before joining The Search Experience, Yisel built her career in Human Resources after earning a degree in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. She joined a boutique fitness company, where she managed the full employee lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, and people operations. That experience gave her a strong understanding of how hiring decisions influence culture, engagement, and long-term business performance.
Her transition into recruitment was a natural progression, combining her HR background with a passion for building relationships and connecting people with opportunities where they can thrive. Today, she is known for her thoughtful communication, attention to detail, and ability to identify candidates whose motivations, aspirations, and capabilities align with a company's stage and long-term vision.
Focus: GTM Candidate Sourcing
Yisel specializes in recruiting go-to-market talent for early-stage technology companies. Her focus areas include:
Sales: Account Executives, Sales Development Representatives, and Sales Leadership
Customer Success: Customer Success Managers, Account Managers, and post-sales talent
Revenue Support: Sales Engineering, Solutions Consulting, and Implementation
Yisel recruits for founders building high-performing go-to-market teams, taking the time to understand each company's stage, hiring goals, and team dynamics before engaging the market. Her relationship-driven approach, combined with a strong background in Human Resources, enables her to identify candidates whose experience, motivations, and long-term aspirations align with both the role and the company's trajectory.
Working with Yisel
Yisel takes a thoughtful, structured, and relationship-driven approach to recruitment. She believes the strongest hiring outcomes come from understanding both sides of the process, investing time upfront to fully understand a founder's hiring goals while taking equal care to understand each candidate's motivations, aspirations, and long-term fit. Founders working with Yisel can expect honest communication, careful preparation, and a recruitment process built on transparency and trust.
She is particularly experienced in recruiting sales, customer success, and revenue support talent for Seed to Series C startups, where every hire has a meaningful impact on team performance and company growth. Yisel is known for asking thoughtful questions, setting realistic expectations, and keeping both founders and candidates aligned throughout the search. Her attention to detail, consistent communication, and commitment to creating an exceptional candidate experience ensure every search moves forward with clarity, pace, and purpose.
Perspectives & Media
Yisel regularly shares perspectives on candidate acquisition and GTM hiring trends through The Search Experience blog. Recent articles include:
What I Wish Candidates Knew: Startup Interview Tips
Why Losing Out on Foundational GTM Roles Feels Personal – And Why It's Not
Startup Remote Work Policy: What Founders Say vs What Candidates Hear
Chief of Staff, AI Infrastructure, Post Series A
"Yisel was instrumental in helping me secure my next role as a Business Development Representative. She was thoughtful, communicative, and genuinely invested in making sure the move was right for me. Her guidance throughout the process gave me confidence, and she was spot-on about the team and opportunity. I'm incredibly grateful for her support."
Sales Executive, Education Technology, Series A
"Yisel played a crucial role in helping me secure my new position. She was communicative, supportive, and provided valuable insight into the company, interview process, and offer negotiation. What truly set her apart was her genuine investment in making sure the role was the right fit. I couldn't be happier with the outcome."
Customer Success Manager, Enterprise Software
"I appreciate everything that Yisel did for me. This included setting up interviews with the company, interview preparation, and asking for feedback. She also helped me in securing the position that I am now in. She is communicative, supportive, and responsive. TSE is a very helpful recruiting agency."
Beyond the Search
Yisel enjoys staying active and is currently training for her first marathon. She loves cooking, particularly Mediterranean and Asian dishes, and is always experimenting in the kitchen - her latest challenge is mastering the perfect steak while keeping most meals fresh and health-conscious.
A self-confessed fan of whatever everyone's talking about, Yisel is just as likely to be watching Game of Thrones as Bridgerton, with a soft spot for stories that are romantic, poetic, or beautifully written. She also has a growing collection of minimalist fine-line tattoos, seeing each one as a small reminder of a moment, memory, or chapter of her life - a collection of "trinkets in time." When she's not running, cooking, or planning her next tattoo, she's usually listening to a comedy or pop culture podcast or spending time with animals, admitting she'd happily own a house full of cats if she could.
FAQs
What types of roles does Yisel specialize in?
Sales, SDR, Customer Success, and Technical Pre-Sales roles for early-stage startups.
What experience does Yisel bring to startup hiring?
A background in HR and recruitment with a focus on candidate development and market alignment for GTM teams.
How does Yisel support GTM recruiters and founders?
By building passive talent pipelines, conducting early screening, and ensuring each search is strategic, efficient, and candidate-friendly.
What makes Yisel's approach different from traditional recruiters?
She operates as a consultative partner, balancing data with empathy and helping both sides set realistic expectations that lead to successful placements.
How can I connect with Yisel about a search?
Reach out via the contact form or connect with Yisel directly on LinkedIn.