Lauren Ipsen first got her knack for relationship building growing up on the golf course and bussing tables at her family’s pizza restaurants in the Bay Area. She started her career in broadcast journalism where she discovered her passion for interviewing pioneers from all walks of life.

The transition into executive recruiting was a natural one and landed her a role at boutique headhunting firm, Daversa Partners. There, Lauren quickly rose through the ranks recruiting the “unrecruitable” and placing key leaders at tier one consumer technology companies like Reddit, Twitter, Opendoor, Postmates, Nextdoor, and many others.

In Spring of 2021, Lauren was tapped by a billion dollar client of hers, IRL or In Real Life, to join them as their first talent acquisition hire to build and lead their global talent function in its entirety. Lauren built out a world class global talent function attracting some of the biggest names from Snap, TikTok, Disney and Google among others.

After successfully scaling the business, Lauren was ready to get back to working across a portfolio of founders seeking talent consultation. She joins General Catalyst in a leadership role working primarily along the VC’s consumer and crypto portfolio companies. Lauren’s combination of vetting EQ and IQ has allowed her to assemble cohesive, diverse executive teams across all stages and functions. She possesses a unique ability to forge dynamic relationships which has propelled her reputation in market as a strategic partner that just won’t settle.

Outside of General Catalyst, Lauren is an avid golfer, an “average” surfer, and a freelance musician.

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