You're hiring fast, things are breaking, and nobody owns the people function. We give founders the strategic HR guidance they need — when they need it — without the full-time cost.
"We're hiring our first 10 people and have zero process."
"A top performer just quit and we don't know why."
"Investors want a people strategy before our Series A."
By the time founders realize they needed people strategy, they're already firefighting. We help you get ahead of it — at every stage.
No offer letters, no comp framework, no onboarding. Every hire is improvised and the cracks are starting to show.
You're adding headcount fast but culture is fragmenting. Performance issues are getting ignored.
Your board wants a people strategy and retention data. You don't have any — and a CHRO is 12 months away.
An employee complaint, a sudden departure — situations that need expert guidance right now, not next quarter.
We don't do admin or payroll. We do strategy — the thinking that shapes how your company attracts, manages, and keeps great people.
Build a repeatable hiring engine from scratch. Interview frameworks, scorecards, offer strategy, and the employer brand that attracts your ideal candidates.
Most requestedCompetitive, defensible pay bands and equity structures benchmarked to your stage. Know what to offer before your next hire asks.
Pre-fundraise essentialBuild a performance culture without the corporate bureaucracy. Goal-setting frameworks and feedback loops that actually get adopted.
Culture-criticalNavigate sensitive situations — terminations, complaints, disputes — with advice that is fair, legally sound, and preserves team trust.
On-demandDesign the first 90-day experience that makes new hires productive fast. Handbooks, culture docs, and rituals that make values real.
Retention driverOngoing strategic partnership without a full-time CHRO. We think through people decisions alongside you before they become problems.
High-growth favoriteSimple, fast, and built around your calendar. You bring the challenge — we bring the strategy.
Pick a slot that works. No lengthy intake forms — just show up with your challenge.
Send a short written brief so we arrive informed and ready. No time wasted catching up.
A focused advisory session — not a sales pitch. Direct, actionable strategic direction.
Session notes and a concrete next-steps summary within 24 hours. You know exactly what to do.
No retainers. No minimums. No surprise invoices. Pay for the time you use — and nothing you don't.
Retainers lock you into paying for time you don't always need. We built this for founders who want expert advice fast — not another vendor relationship to manage.
Yes — we offer a free 20-minute discovery call to make sure we're the right fit before you commit to a paid session.
We can set up a recurring cadence at the same hourly rate. No contracts — just consistent access to senior HR thinking.
Absolutely. Many of our best sessions involve the whole founding team. The more context we have, the better the advice.
From first-time founders to experienced operators — here's how Elevara HR changed how they think about people.
"We had a walkout risk brewing on our engineering team and had no idea how to handle it. One session with Groundwork and we had a clear communication plan, a retention framework, and a process for making sure it never happened again. Worth ten times the hourly rate."
"I was about to make a very expensive hiring mistake — wrong comp structure, no leveling framework. Two hours with Groundwork saved us months of fixing it later."
"As a first-time founder I had no idea what 'good HR' looked like. They told me exactly what we needed — and equally importantly, what we didn't. That honesty was everything."
"Our Series A investors asked about our people strategy. We had nothing. Three sessions later we had a comp philosophy, a hiring plan, and a retention framework we could actually defend."
We work best with companies moving fast who know their people challenges are real, even if they haven't had time to solve them.
You're bringing on your first 2–10 employees and want to get the foundations right from day one — comp, offers, culture, and expectations.
You've got product-market fit but hiring and people ops are running on instinct. Things are starting to break and you need a framework.
You're 6–18 months away from a full-time people leader and need strategic HR support in the meantime — without the full-time cost.
Not the right fit? We focus exclusively on startups without an existing HR function. If you already have an in-house People team, we're probably not the right resource — and we'll tell you that on our first call.
Book a free 20-minute discovery call. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help — and what a first session would focus on. No pitch. No pressure.