Episode Details

Rebecca Medina and Jeff Phillips built an AI-powered talent marketplace that's disrupting recruitment with transparent pricing, direct negotiation, and same-day PM hires for SMBs.

Rebecca Medina had the network. She had decades of Big Tech experience. She had the credibility. But when she needed project management help on a client engagement as an independent consultant, none of it mattered.

"Even with my network of project managers, I couldn't find the right person fast enough," Rebecca recalls. "And it created a big problem for the company because we weren't able to scale as quickly as we wanted."

That pain point became Talent Cheetah.

Five years later, Rebecca and her co-founder Jeff Phillips have built an AI-powered talent marketplace connecting pre-vetted project managers with SMBs. They've scaled to 300 PMs across 34 US states. They've even partnered with the Project Management Institute. But the metric that matters most: the Bureau of Labor Statistics says it takes 90 days to hire a technical project manager. Talent Cheetah does it in minutes—with same-day hiring possible.

In this episode, Medina and Phillips break down the recruitment model that turns recruiting on its head: transparent pricing that exposes hidden markups, lower take rates than traditional agencies, direct PM-to-company negotiation, and real-time hiring through AI matching.

Their core unlocks: many traditional staffing firms charge companies a significantly higher rate than what PMs actually earn—often without disclosing the difference to either side; cultural fit matters just as much as credentials (project management exists on a broad spectrum — the skills needed vary widely across industries, company sizes, and stages of growth.); and past execution remains the strongest predictor of future performance. Their 25-point vetting process includes one pivotal test: candidates must be able to produce legitimate professional references—if you can't find even one after years in the field, you're not ready for the platform.
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In this conversation, they reveal just how much AI is automating routine PM artifacts (like meeting notes, risk logs, and timelines) while increasing the premium on leadership and communication; how their intentional U.S.-based strategy competes on quality and transparency in an industry racing to the bottom on cost; and how Talent Cheetah is opening doors for underrepresented groups in project management; why fractional engagements (such as part-time PM support for short durations) are suddenly viable when traditional agencies can't deliver them well.

Key Topics Covered

The pain point origin: Rebecca's consulting crisis when her network couldn't deliver PM talent fast enough

The 90-day problem: Bureau of Labor Statistics average vs. Talent Cheetah's minutes-to-same-day matching

Exposing the hidden markup: traditional agencies bill $x/hour, pay PMs $x/hour, keep $x secret from both parties

No posting fees: free to post unlimited jobs (vs. ZipRecruiter/Indeed/LinkedIn pay-per-post), no sign-up fees for PMs

The 25-point vetting process: professional references, credential validation, and candidates who wait years

The reference test: some applicants can't find anyone to vouch for them after 12-24 months

Four-year minimum: experience requirement (not just title) focused on herding cats and managing projects
US-based strategy: competing on quality, transparency, and credential familiarity instead of global price competition

PMP vs. experience: why certification proves framework knowledge but not execution capabil