Get an experienced outside perspective before you make the People decision.

Sometimes you need 45 minutes with someone who understands People Operations, can quickly get to the heart of the problem, and can help you decide what actually makes sense for your company.

People Ops Thought Partner is a focused advisory call for founders and startup operators facing a People question, decision, or messy situation, and wanting a practical outside perspective before deciding what to do.

Bring Me the Messy Question

You don't need to diagnose the problem before the call. That's part of what we'll do together.

You might be wondering:

• What People infrastructure do we actually need at our size?

• Are we ready for performance reviews, or are we adding process too early?

• Our managers keep escalating everything. Is this a manager problem, a leadership problem, or a People problem?

• When should we make our first People hire?

• What should that first People person actually own?

• Do we need another HR tool, or do we just need a better process?

• How should we approach an employee who isn't performing?

• We've grown quickly and roles are becoming unclear. Where do we start?

• Our onboarding feels messy. What actually needs to change?

• We're handling People issues differently every time. What should we standardize first?

• Are we overengineering this?

• What am I not thinking about?

You bring the situation. I'll help you make sense of it.

What We'll Do in 45 Minutes

1. Diagnose What's Actually Going On

We'll start with the situation as it exists, not with a predetermined HR solution.

I'll ask targeted questions to understand what's happening, what you've already tried, where the friction is showing up, and what matters given your company's stage.

Often, the question you arrive with isn't quite the problem you need to solve.

A manager-training problem may actually be unclear manager expectations.

A tooling problem may actually be a broken workflow.

A performance-review problem may actually be a lack of regular feedback.

A request to hire People may reveal that you need a few foundational systems first, or that you're overdue for the hire.

The first goal is getting clear on the problem.

2. Talk Through Your Options

Once we've identified what's happening, we'll work through the practical choices in front of you.

We'll consider:

• What matters now versus what can wait

• Risks and blind spots

• What additional information you need

• The simplest solution appropriate for your stage

• Tradeoffs between different approaches

• What your managers or leadership team should own

• Where People Operations should step in

• When you need employment counsel or another specialist

The goal isn't to give you a generic HR answer.

It's to help you think through the People problem well enough to make a better decision.

3. Leave With a Clear Next Move

By the end of the conversation, we'll turn the discussion into an action path.

You'll leave knowing:

• What I recommend doing now

• What I would not build or change yet

• What information you should gather

• Who should own the next step

• Whether you need a process, system, conversation, or policy

• Whether the issue warrants legal or specialist guidance

• What I would prioritize if I were in your position

Sometimes the answer will be surprisingly small.

Sometimes we'll uncover a larger gap that needs to be addressed.

Either way, you'll know what to do next.

This Is a Good Fit If...

You're a founder or startup operator who:

• Doesn't have a senior People leader to bounce questions off

• Has a People team but wants an outside perspective on a specific decision

• Knows something isn't working but isn't sure what the actual problem is

• Wants to pressure-test an idea before rolling it out

• Doesn't want to build heavyweight HR infrastructure too early

• Wants practical startup-stage guidance rather than enterprise HR best practices

• Needs to make a decision and would rather spend 45 minutes thinking it through than weeks second-guessing it

What This Isn't

This isn't ongoing HR support or unlimited access.

It's not employment-law advice, an employee investigation, or a substitute for legal counsel where legal guidance is needed.

And I'm not going to turn every question into a consulting project.

If the right answer is "don't build that yet," "simplify this," or "you need an employment attorney for this piece," I'll tell you.

If we uncover something that would benefit from hands-on implementation, we can separately discuss a People Systems Setup, Manager Enablement Sprint, or another defined project.

There is no obligation to continue beyond the call.

Investment

45-minute People Ops Thought Partner Call

$300

One focused conversation. One real People problem. A clearer path forward.