Matt Birnbaum

Talent Partner

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.

A Bay Area native, Matt started his career at a small financial services firm before venturing into tech, where he grew Wildfire (acquired by Google in 2012) from 15 to 400 employees. Matt then founded UpStart Talent, a boutique recruiting consultancy that specialized in supporting high growth startups like Stripe, Thumbtack, Plaid, and Asana. In 2018, Matt joined Instacart as the Head of Talent Acquisition, scaling the company from 300 to 3000 employees. Matt lives in San Francisco with his wife, Katie, their son, Dougie, and their cats, Mama & Nacho. He holds dual degrees in Economics & Japanese from Gettysburg College.

At Pear, Matt and his team partner closely with founders to ensure they have access and the support needed to recruit top talent for their companies.

What is your most used emoji?

😂, 😅, 🙄, and 😑

What’s your favorite book?

A Wild Sheep Chase, Haruki Murakami

What career path did you want to pursue when you were a kid?

Baseball player.

What are your favorite sports teams?

Oakland A’s (experimenting with the Detroit Tigers), Niner & Dubs

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Family, Friends, Food, & Fun.