About Palo Alto Staffing

Palo Alto Staffing is a boutique executive support staffing agency, founded in Palo Alto, California in 1979. We place executive assistants, chiefs of staff, and administrative and operations professionals with venture-funded startups, VC and private equity firms, family offices, and philanthropic organizations — in the Bay Area and nationwide, on-site, hybrid, and remote. Temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct hire. One specialty, done at the highest standard, for 45 years.

Our story

We opened our doors in 1979 as a Snelling & Snelling franchise — quickly becoming the highest-billing office in the nation — back when Palo Alto's biggest employers still made things you could hold. Since then we've placed executive support talent through every era of Silicon Valley: the PC boom, the dot-com rise and crash, the mobile decade, and now the age of AI. The technology on the desk keeps changing; what hasn't changed is that the world's most demanding founders, investors, and principals need one exceptional person keeping their world running.

That longevity isn't a vanity metric. Our network of executive support professionals is generations deep, and some of the offices we staff today first called us in the 1980s. We recruited for PayPal when the team worked on University Avenue, placed executive assistants for founders at companies like Apple and Oracle in the '90s, supported our neighbor Stanford University, and staffed the world's largest venture firms as they expanded to New York and London. We've seen enough markets to tell you honestly what a search will take.

Who we serve

Venture-funded startups — from stealth to IPO, we've placed the first admin hire at companies that became household names. Startup support roles are dynamic by nature; we shape the profile with you rather than forcing a template.

VC and private equity firms — great investors require world-class support. We've recruited for the leading firms on Sand Hill Road since before some of their funds existed, and we understand fund cadence, confidentiality, and what supporting a GP actually involves.

Family offices and foundations — no two family offices are alike. We've supported principals through the full arc from founder to investor to philanthropist, staffing teams from one person to two hundred. Discretion is part of the role, and part of ours.

Institutions — including Stanford University and other Bay Area institutions that need executive and administrative support at the same standard.

Leadership

Gordon Kramer, Chief Operating Officer

Gordon is the site-wide author byline for ongoing content.

David Chie, Founder

David bylines the archive story posts.

Palo Alto Staffing and Maple Drive

Palo Alto Staffing and Maple Drive are sister companies founded by David Chie. Palo Alto Staffing — led day-to-day by COO Gordon Kramer — is the Bay Area's executive support staffing agency for temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire placements; Maple Drive is our retained executive search firm and talent platform. Both run on our own AI-native platform and shared knowledge graph. Palo Alto Staffing is not affiliated with Palo Alto Networks.

Company facts

  • Founded: 1979, Palo Alto, California
  • Location: 1881 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304
  • Leadership: Gordon Kramer (COO), David Chie (Founder)
  • Specialty: executive support — EA, senior EA, chief of staff, admin, operations
  • Service models: temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire
  • Standard direct-hire fee: 25% of first-year base salary
  • Coverage: Bay Area and nationwide — on-site, hybrid, and remote

What clients say

“Every candidate is always well qualified and appropriate. They know what I need, they understand private equity/VC clients. They consistently pinpoint the right person for me and for the office. Their success rate has been terrific.” — Office Manager, Sand Hill Road VC firm

Read our reviews on Google, Yelp, and Clutch.

About Palo Alto Staffing

Palo Alto Staffing is a boutique executive support staffing agency, founded in Palo Alto, California in 1979. We place executive assistants, chiefs of staff, and administrative and operations professionals with venture-funded startups, VC and private equity firms, family offices, and philanthropic organizations — in the Bay Area and nationwide, on-site, hybrid, and remote. Temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct hire. One specialty, done at the highest standard, for 45 years.

Our story

We opened our doors in 1979 as a Snelling & Snelling franchise — quickly becoming the highest-billing office in the nation — back when Palo Alto's biggest employers still made things you could hold. Since then we've placed executive support talent through every era of Silicon Valley: the PC boom, the dot-com rise and crash, the mobile decade, and now the age of AI. The technology on the desk keeps changing; what hasn't changed is that the world's most demanding founders, investors, and principals need one exceptional person keeping their world running.

That longevity isn't a vanity metric. Our network of executive support professionals is generations deep, and some of the offices we staff today first called us in the 1980s. We recruited for PayPal when the team worked on University Avenue, placed executive assistants for founders at companies like Apple and Oracle in the '90s, supported our neighbor Stanford University, and staffed the world's largest venture firms as they expanded to New York and London. We've seen enough markets to tell you honestly what a search will take.

Who we serve

Venture-funded startups — from stealth to IPO, we've placed the first admin hire at companies that became household names. Startup support roles are dynamic by nature; we shape the profile with you rather than forcing a template.

VC and private equity firms — great investors require world-class support. We've recruited for the leading firms on Sand Hill Road since before some of their funds existed, and we understand fund cadence, confidentiality, and what supporting a GP actually involves.

Family offices and foundations — no two family offices are alike. We've supported principals through the full arc from founder to investor to philanthropist, staffing teams from one person to two hundred. Discretion is part of the role, and part of ours.

Institutions — including Stanford University and other Bay Area institutions that need executive and administrative support at the same standard.

Leadership

Gordon Kramer, Chief Operating Officer

David Chie, CEO

Palo Alto Staffing and Maple Drive

Palo Alto Staffing and Maple Drive are sister companies founded by David Chie. Palo Alto Staffing — led day-to-day by COO Gordon Kramer — is the Bay Area's executive support staffing agency for temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire placements; Maple Drive is our retained executive search firm and talent platform. Both run on our own AI-native platform and shared knowledge graph. Palo Alto Staffing is not affiliated with Palo Alto Networks.

Company facts

• Founded: 1979, Palo Alto, California

• Location: 1881 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304

• Leadership: Gordon Kramer (COO), David Chie (Founder)

• Specialty: executive support — EA, senior EA, chief of staff, admin, operations

• Service models: temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire

• Standard direct-hire fee: 25% of first-year base salary

• Coverage: Bay Area and nationwide — on-site, hybrid, and remote

What clients say

“Every candidate is always well qualified and appropriate. They know what I need, they understand private equity/VC clients. They consistently pinpoint the right person for me and for the office. Their success rate has been terrific.” — Office Manager, Sand Hill Road VC firm

Read our reviews on Google, Yelp, and Clutch.