Portrait No. 001
Nhat Nguyen
Co-founder and CEO
Chosen HQ
Raised — Bootstrapping
For two years as Chief of Staff, I ran recruiting end-to-end: sourcing, screening, scheduling, note-taking, chasing for feedback. It was relentless manual work, and I kept thinking: AI should be doing these manual work so that recruiters can spend more time connecting with candidates. But the deeper reason is bigger than efficiency. The labor market is undergoing a fundamental shift because of AI, and I couldn't just watch from the sidelines. I wanted to be inside it, shaping it, not just commenting on it. That drive connects back to the non-profit I run, helping students from underprivileged backgrounds access education in Vietnam. Because I've seen how a job can change a life. If I can help founders hire faster and fairer, and help candidates get seen by the right companies, I'm doing something that matters. Chosen HQ is where my operational experience, my belief in AI, and my commitment to economic opportunity all collide.
In her words
“AI will change the way we work and the type of work we have, but regardless of changes, humanity will prevail. We are building to help recruiting humans faster, easier, and more efficient.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
I came to the US with little money and less English. To fund my first semester of college, I cleaned hotel rooms for 7 hours, then biked to a clothing store to work until 11pm - 6 days a week. People called me delusional. When I said I'd earn a full scholarship, they laughed. I got a near-full ride to Mount Holyoke. When I said I'd work on Wall Street as an international student, they laughed again. I landed at Goldman Sachs. Last year, I did the scariest thing yet: quit my W-2 to build Chosen HQ - an AI-native ATS for startups. For an immigrant from Vietnam who worked hard to make ends meet while bringing my family to the US so they could pursue their own dreams, walking away from a stable income is a decision many don't understand. People told me that recruiting market is already competitive, female founders only get 2% of the VC investment, and many more reasons not to build; but I'd already been a Chief of Staff drowning in recruiting admin work, wishing the tool I'm now building had existed. Building Chosen HQ to automate recruiting ops doesn't make sense for a lot of people, but it does for me and my co-founder.
Chapter II
Your vision.
Hiring is still broken for most startups. Not because people don't care, but because the person running recruiting is also running ops, onboarding, and five other things. They're drowning in admin before they ever get to actually know a candidate. I've seen it firsthand as a Chief of Staff. The best hires weren't always the most credentialed, they were the ones who are passionate about what the team is building, shared the values, and made everyone around them better. But finding that person fast, without losing them to a slower process? That's the hard part. We're obsessed with one thing: helping companies hire the right person, not just the right skills - in days, not months. AI handles the admin. Humans focus on the human connections. That's where the real decision lives anyway. When that works, employees are happier and companies move faster. That's the world we're building.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
My mom fought for my education when her neighbors said it was a waste for girls. 6 interviews were rescinded because of my visa status. I know what it feels like when a system isn't built for you. 20 years from now, I want to look back and know that Chosen HQ helped change who gets hired - not just who looks best on paper, but who genuinely belongs on a team and will thrive there. And I hope the fact that a Vietnamese immigrant woman built it makes the next one believe she can too.