The Business of People
Scaling a startup isn’t just about product and funding—it’s about people. The Business of People is a biweekly newsletter that helps people leaders learn to think like business leaders. You'll get tips, tricks, tactics, and templates to build high-performing teams, scale operations, and drive commercial success.
🚀 Help your team navigate rapid skills obsolescence
Navigating a whitewater world of work September 2, 2025 | Edition 11 The Business of People is brought to you by: Accelerate your HR career The People Leader Accelerator program, similar to an executive MBA for strategic HR leaders of investor-backed, founder-led, tech companies. Learn more "For my parents, the typical career trajectory was like a steamship's. For my generation, the course was more like a sailboat's. But today's graduates need to be more like whitewater kayakers, quickly...
Stop copying Big Tech: Performance reviews that work for startups
Performance reviews that work for startups August 5, 2025 | Edition #10 Want to finally stand out on LinkedIn?Get the first part of Stand Out on LinkedIn: Your Ultimate Guide—a high impact resource from Lorraine Lee—a LinkedIn Top Voice and founding LinkedIn editor with 320k+ followers—to help you boost visibility, attract the right opportunities, and start building your unforgettable presence. Snag your free copy Most startups make the same performance review mistakes.They either skip them...
🚀 The 90-Day Blueprint: How to build a People Ops roadmap from scratch
Inside my first 90 days as Head of People at a startup June 10, 2025 | Edition #9 Join me for a free, invite-only panel discussion: In this session, Chris and I will explore what it means to run People Operations like a product—starting with understanding your business model and what problems you’re solving. You’ll leave with tactical tips on aligning People priorities with business strategy and employee feedback. Register for the panel discussion A few months ago, I joined Kit as Head of...
🚀 Strategy = where we're going + how we'll get there
From reactive to responsive to results-oriented: How to be a strategic HR leader May 27, 2025 | Edition 7 The Business of People is brought to you by: The flagship training for strategic People leaders Learn how to adopt a product mindset and build real strategy with People Experience as a Product, a cohort-based training series with 16-hours of hands-on live learning. Next cohort kicks off June 23, 2025. Use the code BUSINESSOFPEOPLE10 to get 10% off enrollment. Explore the curriculum If...
🚀 Why being people-first can actually hurt your team
When people-first isn't a smart business decision April 29, 2025 | Edition 7 The Business of People is brought to you by: Get HR right the first time with the Startup HR Survival Guide This guide distills 15 years of experience working with founders and HR leaders in high-growth startups. Click the button below to learn the secret turning HR into rocket fuel for your company's growth. Download the guide “People first” sounds great — until it puts the business at risk. I’ve been hearing the...
🚀 When HR and Finance don't talk, everyone pays
When HR and Finance don’t talk, everyone pays April 15, 2025 | Edition 6 The Business of People is brought to you by: Design and manage your scale-up's culture with OpenOrg by your side Tap into 25+ years of product-led, culture change experience via a flexible, monthly rolling service built for scale-ups. We’ll be your coach, sparring partner, builder and designer on all things people and culture. How it works At startups, People and Finance teams can’t afford to work in silos. Why? Because...
🚀 How do you answer "Why does this person earn more than me?"
How to build and use a compensation philosophy April 1, 2025 | Edition 5 The Business of People is brought to you by: Get your compensation practices working for you The FNDN Series is a newsletter delivering compensation insights from Heads of People, Founders and Experts across startup tech. Subscribe Here Most startups don’t have a compensation philosophy. They have vibes. And vibes don’t help when someone asks, “Why does this person earn more than me?” But, a compensation philosophy...
The People Ops KPIs You Should Be Tracking (But Probably Aren't)
The People Ops KPIs You Should Be Tracking (But Probably Aren't) March 18, 2025 | Edition 4 The Business of People is brought to you by: Benchmark Your People & Talent Metrics Today Get instant access to verified data from 600+ scale-ups across 18x people and talent metrics. Gain the insights you need to make smarter decisions and give stakeholders the context they crave. Try It Free for 14 Days SaaS startups track CAC, LTV, burn rate, and runway like gospel. But when it comes to People...
Organizational Design 101: Strategy Leads, Structure Follows
Organizational Design 101: Strategy Leads, Structure Follows The Business of People | Edition 3 The way your company is structured determines who makes decisions, how quickly things get done, and whether you can scale without breaking. Yet, many startups treat organizational design as an afterthought—something to fix once things feel “off.” Here’s the truth: The most successful companies align (and re-align) structure to strategy continuously. What is Organizational Design? Organizational...
Hiring Without Headcount: Your guide to fractional and flexible talent
Scaling Smart: When and How to Use Contractors, Consultants, & Fractional Talent Effectively February 18, 2025 | Edition 2 To scale successfully, build the right team at the right time. Not every role needs to be a full-time hire. Many founders struggle to balance when to use contractors, consultants, and fractional leaders versus making full-time hires. Get it right, and you’ll scale faster with flexibility. Get it wrong, and you’ll waste money, create inefficiencies, or slow down momentum....
Scaling a startup isn’t just about product and funding—it’s about people. The Business of People is a biweekly newsletter that helps people leaders learn to think like business leaders. You'll get tips, tricks, tactics, and templates to build high-performing teams, scale operations, and drive commercial success.