The Untold LinkedIn Hyper-Growth Story

Steve Cadigan Related Seminars and Products

Founder

Cadigan Talent Ventures

Steve Cadigan is a pioneer in reimagining how organizations attract, develop, and unleash talent in the modern economy. As founder of Cadigan Talent Ventures, he works deeply with leaders on complex, critical talent strategies—challenging conventional thinking and provoking breakthrough approaches for organizations navigating the future of work.

As the architect of LinkedIn's talent strategy during its hypergrowth from 400 to 4,000 employees, Steve served as the company's first Chief Human Resources Officer from 2009 to 2012, guiding the company through its IPO and building the foundation that fueled its evolution into the powerhouse it is today. That experience, combined with over 25 years leading HR across diverse industries—including Cisco Systems, Electronic Arts, and ESPRIT—gives him a unique vantage point for provoking new thinking about how organizations create value through their people.

Today, Steve's primary work involves providing strategic counsel at every level—from individual companies to entire industries to national governments. He partners with organizations including Google, Cisco, Intel, Salesforce, the BBC, the City of Lisbon Portugal, Manchester United Football Club, and the Royal Bank of Scotland on their most pressing talent challenges. Top-tier venture capital and consulting firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, KKR, McKinsey & Company, and Deloitte regularly retain him to work alongside their portfolio companies and clients on complex talent strategy. He serves on the boards of three companies spanning the U.S., Canada, and Africa, advises twelve dynamic companies navigating critical inflection points, and works with countries including Portugal and Colombia on national talent strategies.

Throughout his career, the teams, cultures, and organizations Steve has built have been recognized as exceptional, "world-class" performers by the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Magazine. He has been named a Top 100 Global Thought Leader in HR and Talent by PeopleHum every year since 2021.

In addition to his advisory work, Steve is a sought-after speaker at international conferences and teaches at major universities around the world. He has been featured regularly on Bloomberg West, CBS, and CNBC. In 2021, he received the honor of delivering commencement addresses to MBA graduates at both Stanford University and the University of San Francisco—a feat he repeated at USF, challenging emerging leaders to rethink traditional career paradigms. Stanford University developed a graduate-level course based on his cultural innovations at LinkedIn, cementing his influence on how the next generation of leaders thinks about building high-performing organizations.

His book, Workquake: Embracing the Aftershocks of COVID-19 to Create a Better Model of Working, became a #1 Amazon Hot New Release upon its August 2021 publication and captures his contrarian perspective on workplace evolution.

What sets Steve apart is that he has lived deep inside the world of work as both employee and employer. He has interviewed, hired, coached, and mentored thousands of employees and leaders across multiple industries and geographies—from his early years living in Singapore and Canada to his current base in California. This lived experience gives him a unique and authoritative point of view, essential to all discussions about the future of work.

Steve graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in History and received a Master's Degree in HR & Organization Development from the University of San Francisco.