What to take away
- 1.Most founders wait too long — 80 employees is already late.
- 2.Hire a generalist who has run solo HR at 80–150 people.
- 3.Pay them like an engineer; the cost of getting this wrong compounds.
Most founders hire their first HR person around 40 employees. Too many wait until 80, by which point onboarding, compliance, and culture are already cracking.
The signal isn't headcount alone. It's the moment you find yourself spending more than one full day a week on people questions — performance issues, payroll edge cases, hiring loops — and your product and customers start noticing.
Hire a generalist, not a specialist. Recruiters and L&D experts can come later. Your first HR hire needs to operate the entire stack at a basic level.
“People operations done well compounds. Done badly, it breaks the company.”
Pay them like an engineer. People operations done well compounds. Done badly, it breaks the company.
One more thing: do not hire someone whose only experience is in a 5,000-person enterprise. The instincts do not transfer. Look for someone who has done the role solo at 80–150 people, or who has been the second HR hire in a fast-growing team.
Try this Monday
- Audit your last four weeks: how many hours went to people issues?
- List two HR generalists you know personally — start a conversation now.
- Write a one-page brief for the role before you post anything.
The systems angle
If you are nine months out from your first HR hire, this is the window where Aire pays back the most. The systems you set up now are the systems that person inherits.
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Just read the HR Asia piece on when to hire your first HR person. The line that stuck: pay them like an engineer. People operations done well compounds. Done badly, it breaks the company. https://hrasia.co/founder/when-to-hire-first-hr
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