Richard Ni

Inspirer
DISC Type : id

Working at Working

San Francisco, California, United States

Overview

Richard is a People leader specializing in scaling hyper-growth startups, having led the People function at Scale AI from 25 to 700 employees. A graduate of MIT, he previously led recruiting at Cruise Automation and now acts as a fractional Head of People and advisor.

He is deeply engaged in the startup ecosystem, valuing strong founders and sharing insights on his career journey. Richard is vocal about his philosophy on modern HR, challenging traditional practices and advocating for a more business-aligned approach to people operations.

He joined Cruise Automation when it was only about 10 people and was instrumental in its growth to 700 employees.

Personality Overview

Confident & Optimistic

Achievment Oriented

Decisive

They measure a product on its merit but can be influenced by strong testimonials.  They respond well to objective pitches but also attach some value to relationships. They usually prefer to drive the conversation.

Topics They Care About

Hyper-Growth Scaling
He has repeated experience leading people functions in startups during extreme growth, scaling both Cruise and Scale AI to ~700 employees.
Modern HR Philosophy
Publicly critiques outdated HR practices, advocating for a model that builds trust with leadership and employees.
Founder Mentorship
He champions founders from his network, such as Melisa Tokmak of Netic, whom he identified as a future founder years ago.

Media Appearances

Richard has no verified media appearances

Work History

3-2024
Working at Working
6-2023 - 2-2024
Not working at Not working
8-2018 - 5-2023
Head of People at Scale AI
3-2015 - 6-2018
Head of Recruiting at Cruise Automation
6-2013 - 8-2013
Software Engineering Intern at Venmo

Education

2011 - 2015
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 10 Location : San Francisco, California, United States Job Level : N/A Designation : Working at Working
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Insights For Selling To Richard

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Look like someone who is on top of their game
  • Get them to a point where they are ready to bat for your product internally
  • Focus on the big picture and the strategic value of your product

DONT's

  • Avoid focusing only on the product or its ROI, keep building trust subtly
  • Don’t keep repeating the same information, it could make them impatient
  • Don’t be too verbose or overly friendly; a little bit, however, is fine

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Richard is

  • Belief in the value of the product, relationship and a sense of accomplishment matter the most.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Richard

  • They are not shy of saying no if they do not develop trust in your product.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Richard move?

  • They can take fast decisions if they develop conviction in the product and find you trustworthy.
  • Can Richard take some risk or not?

  • They have the capability of taking risky decisions if necessary.

You And Richard

Personality Compatibility


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