Post by Jean Gallagher McCauley

One thing I've noticed from working with early-stage teams: the first People hire usually comes later than it should. A lot of startups wait until 40, 50, even 60 employees to bring someone in. By then things aren't broken, but they are messy. Reporting lines aren't always clear. Hiring becomes reactive. Onboarding looks different every time. People aren't always sure what they truly own. Around the 10-person mark, especially if growth is the goal, it helps when someone is thinking about the structure behind the scenes. That doesn't mean hiring a full-time VP of People right away. A fractional person works. An advisor works. Platforms like Fractional Jobs and Go Fractional are making it easier than ever to find that kind of support early. Even just having someone focused on role clarity, reporting lines, and how hiring and onboarding should scale can make a big difference. This strategy builds clarity that grows with you and makes scaling much smoother later on. The teams I've seen do this well treated People early on like infrastructure. The ones that waited usually ended up hiring someone later to untangle messy and inconsistent processes. #startup #hiring #founders #peopleops #talentacquisition #venturecapital #seriesA