BUILD THE BASE
THE CULTURE LIVES IN YOUR HEAD. YOUR TEAM CAN’T READ YOUR MIND.
FRACTIONAL PEOPLE SUPPORT FOR FOUNDERS WITH TEAMS UNDER 20
At this stage, your company is still running on founder instinct. People look to you for answers, tone, and decisions, and most of the culture exists in conversations, not in anything you’ve written down.
Build the Base is where we take what’s in your head and turn it into foundations your team can actually feel, trust, and work inside. Part strategy, part coaching, part getting things built.
YOU’VE OUTGROWN “EVERYONE JUST KNOWS HOW WE DO THINGS AROUND HERE.”
In the early days, nothing needed writing down. You hired people you trusted, sat near each other, and made decisions on the fly. Everyone more or less knew what “good” looked like.
Now you’re >10 people. You’re making pay and progression calls on gut feel. New hires have wildly different onboarding experiences. Some managers are brilliant; others are improvising. You can feel the culture shifting, but you’re not sure into what.
You’re still the person holding all the context. Every people decision falls on you, from salaries to structure to “is this performance issue serious?” You know you need more than ad‑hoc fixes and borrowed templates but you don’t want to build a corporate HR machine.
Build the Base sits in that gap. We listen, map what’s really going on, and then build the minimum viable foundations: enough structure to create clarity and trust, without killing the scrappy, intuitive part of your company.
This is for founder who:
(01)
Knows the culture they want to build, but can feel a gap between what’s in their head and what the team is actually experiencing.
(02)
Is making it up as they go on pay, progression, roles and feedback and is tired of relying on late‑night Googling and instinct alone.
(03)
Wants structure, not bureaucracy. You want clear roles, fair pay, and thoughtful onboarding, but you’re allergic to policies for policies’ sake.
(04)
Is learning leadership in real time. Some days you feel on it; other days you’re out of your depth. You’d like a steady partner who understands both founder life and people work.
Over the past year, she’s become a trusted advisor and coach, helping me navigate plenty of tricky moments as a first-time founder. She’s made People operations feel clear and manageable, and she brings a warmth and steadiness that genuinely makes my life as a founder better.
“
James Smith, Founder, Human Native
how we’ll work together
1.month 1 - we figure out where you are
Deep‑dive sessions with you to understand your vision, what’s working, and what’s keeping you up at night. Listening sessions with your team to hear what’s actually happening. From there, we build a people roadmap: what to tackle first, what can wait, and how it all fits together.
2.months 2-3 - we build together
We don’t parachute in once a month with a deck. We become part of your team for this phase. Bi‑weekly syncs to stay aligned and make decisions, plus Slack support for the questions and “how do I handle this?” moments that come up between calls. We work on what you need now, not systems you won’t use for 18 months.
3.founder coaching is baked in
This isn’t just about processes. It’s about you figuring out what kind of leader you want to be as the company grows and having a place to bring the messy, human side of that. We’ll look at how you’re making decisions, what you’re avoiding, and how your wiring is shaping the company.
4.the scope evolves with you
We usually start with a three‑month commitment. Most founders keep working together beyond that, but you’re never tied in. As your team grows, the work shifts with you - from foundations to refinement to more focused Sprints when specific projects emerge.
5.you end up with foundations that hold
The goal is not to make you dependent on me. It’s to leave you with systems your team can run without me, language everyone understands, and the confidence to make people decisions without second guessing yourself.
the people foundations that early stage teams need
What we’ll typically work on together:
Compensation philosophy and salary bands backed by market data
Employee handbook that reflects your values and tone (not corporate jargon)
Hiring plans, scorecards, and interview processes that find the right people
Onboarding flows that make new hires feel welcome and set up for success
Role definitions and team structure that create clarity without rigidity
Values integration - embedding them into hiring, rituals, and feedback
Performance frameworks that feel human, not corporate
Team rhythms and rituals that build connection and momentum
Employer brand assets that help you attract talent
Founder coaching through the decisions that keep you up at night
who you’ll work with
I’m Danielle. I’ve spent the last 15+ years inside founder‑led startups as a Psychologist, Executive Coach, and Head of People.
Most of my work has been with early teams, usually somewhere between pre‑seed and Series C, when you’re making high stakes people decisions with more intuition than infrastructure. My Master’s research looked at how those early decisions echo as companies grow, what I think of as organisational ghosts.
Practically, it means I’ve seen these patterns before. I’m here to help you see them earlier, make better calls, and build something your team trusts.
what you’ll walk away with
A People Roadmap aligned to your business
Not a generic HR playbook. A prioritised view of what to build now, what can wait, and how to sequence it.
Your team’s trust
Fair pay, clear expectations, and thoughtful growth signals that you’re serious about getting this right. People lean in. They stay. They tell their talented friends.
Clarity on your leadership style
Stop second-guessing yourself. Through coaching, we'll help you figure out what kind of leader you want to be, and give you the confidence to show up that way consistently.
Confidence in your people decisions
You’re not making salary, performance, or hiring calls in a vacuum. You have frameworks, data, and a trusted sounding board.
People foundations that scale
Systems that grow with you: role clarity, fair compensation, hiring processes, onboarding. Structure that creates momentum, and doesn’t slow you down.
Team rhythms that create momentum
Cadences, feedback loops, and rituals that keep everyone aligned without turning you into a full time manager of meetings.
READY TO TURN WHAT’S IN YOUR HEAD INTO SOMETHING YOUR TEAM CAN BUILD ON?
The way you handle people at this stage will echo for years. You don’t need a full time Head of People yet, but you also don’t have to work this all out alone
Download the TPV Services Guides for pricing ✨