FNDN Series

Matt McFarlane

Heads of People, Experts and Operators sharing everything they know about building people and pay practices at some of the world most interesting companies.

  1. 1d ago

    Building A Flywheel That Cultivates Talent

    Harry Uffindell has spent his career hiring the kind of people you don’t need to manage. From law, to consulting, to founding his own startup, to 5.5 years as CPO at Partly, and now building at Manifest - Harry has seen what happens when you trade quality for speed. In this episode of the FNDN Series, Harry joins Matt McFarlane to share why great hiring starts before the JD goes live, how he stole Amazon’s Bar Raiser system for a Kiwi startup, and why his filter for 10x talent is simple: self-guided missiles. Matt and Harry dive into the AI-enabled 45-minute Role Launch process that saves you months of wheel-spinning, the post-loop debrief with silent reads that protects talent density, and the real cost of putting a good bum in a seat. They also unpack talent cultivation - how to build a 12-24 month tsunami of great people, why he partnered with top university societies to create a hiring flywheel, and the billboard he’d put in San Francisco to bring Aussie and Kiwi talent home. Harry also reflects on why the top 1% of grads right now are mind-blowing, why years of experience is a broken proxy for ability, and why having a non-traditional background in People might be his biggest superpower. Episode Chapters 00:00 – Intro - Welcome Harry to the FNDN Series 02:15 – How do you actually define top talent / 10x / A-players? 05:30 – The Role Launch Process: Why speed now elongates your hiring later 08:45 – Building a Claude Skill to fast-track the process for busy hiring managers 11:50 – Speed vs. Intentionality: How to get the business to accept diligence upfront 15:20 – The 50-interview junior designer and what great actually looks like 18:40 – The Bar Raiser: Stealing Amazon’s most frustrating, most impactful process 22:10 – Inside the post-loop debrief: silent reads, scores, and handling amber flags 26:35 – The vibe check: Are you excited to tap people on the shoulder? 29:30 – B-players hire C-players: When threat is actually opportunity 33:15 – Self-guided missiles: Harry’s filter for true end-to-end ownership 37:40 – Ghost jobs, 300 AI applications a day, and how to find the best in the country 41:05 – The care test: How Harry interviews for obsession 44:20 – Talent Cultivation: Playing the long game and building your tsunami 47:30 – Should you hire the person or the role? It’s stage dependent 52:00 – Referrals and the question: Who would you follow if they started a company? 55:40 – The uni society flywheel: Hiring the 2-3 go-to people in each cohort 59:10 – The San Francisco billboard to bring talent back to AU/NZ 01:02:30 – AI-native grads, equity, and why top grads want to control their destiny 01:06:45 – The AU/NZ problem: Why we can’t just trade the same talent pool 01:11:30 – Why scaling from 200 to 800 means we need to create new talent 01:14:00 – Law to CPO: Why outsiders make the biggest step changes Resources 🚀 Partly: https://www.partly.com/ - where Harry spent 5.5 years scaling the team 🛠️ Manifest: https://www.manifest.build/ - where Harry is building now https://fndnseries.fndn.com.au/podcast

    Building A Flywheel That Cultivates Talent

  2. Oct 17

    Stop Automating Away the Moments That Matter

    Danny Seals has advised some of the most complex People teams in the world — big pharma, banking, and large-scale consultancies — and right now he's hearing the same thing from senior leaders everywhere: "I'm the most senior I've ever been in my career, and I feel like I'm the dumbest person. I'm burnt out. My experience has limited value because the instant answer is put it through ChatGPT." In this episode of the FNDN Series, Matt McFarlane sits down with Danny, founder of Knot, a People experience advisory, and author of The Insightful Innovator, to unpack the big addiction to efficiency that's sweeping People and Culture. Danny calls it Minutes vs. Moments — we’re obsessed with saving 10 minutes here and there, but we’re removing all the moments that actually build trust, loyalty and high-performing teams. From banking chatbots named Aura that add friction instead of removing it, to bereavement leave being handled by a bot, to HR teams vibe-coding their entire tech stack in Claude, we explore what should be automated and what should never be touched. Matt and Danny also get into product-led thinking for People teams, his SPIES framework (Subscription, Products, Interactions, Experiences, Services), why IKEA turned customer service reps into digital interior designers instead of making them redundant, what X-shaped people do differently from T-shaped specialists, and how his Team MRI diagnostic — run over 100 times — helps teams see where experience is really leaking. If you're building a People function in the age of AI, this is the filter you need before you automate anything. Episode Chapters 00:00 – Intro 01:08 – Welcome to the pod with Danny Seals 02:40 – Where is People experience practice today? 03:03 – The AI & efficiency addiction: why senior leaders feel burnt out 04:49 – Where AI pressure is really coming from in HR 05:53 – Minutes vs. moments: the framework 07:30 – Moments that matter that AI should never touch 09:30 – SPIES, banking apps, and situational design 13:00 – When fraud happens: why white-glove human service is becoming a premium 19:00 – Product thinking vs. "work as a product" — language matters 28:00 – SPIES explained: hardware is strategy, software is capability 32:00 – T-shaped vs M-shaped vs X-shaped people 37:00 – Hiring for curiosity: what X-shaped people do day-to-day 41:00 – From crime scene investigation to audience insight: what "leakage" tells you 46:00 – The rise of the People engineer and what IKEA got right 50:00 – Vibe-coding your HR stack and the redundancy-to-rehire trap 54:00 – The future of the HRBP role: capability vs. job description 60:00 – The Team MRI: diagnosing 12 traits of high-performing teams 67:22 – One idea to steal: problem valuation — talk in feelings and figures 🧠 Danny Seals – People Experience expert, founder of Knot and Knot Another Newsletter 📚 The Insightful Innovator – Book by Danny Seals on People experience 🏢 IKEA Case Study – Reskilling customer service reps into digital interior designers https://fndnseries.fndn.com.au/podcast

    Stop Automating Away the Moments That Matter

  3. Sep 5

    Hiring 10X People Will Not Give You a 10X Company with Colby Nesbit

    Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In this episode, Matt McFarlane speaks with Colby Nesbitt about the “10X employee” and whether hiring exceptional people is really the key to building high-performance companies. They explore power laws, performance, compensation, AI, skills-based pay, and how changing technology is reshaping the way companies think about talent and work. They also discuss AI layoffs versus redeployment, team-based rewards, the future of job structures, and why building a great system may matter more than simply hiring great people. Chapters: 01:09 Guest Introduction: Colby Nesbitt02:45 The Power Law and the 10X Employee06:19 Performance, Compensation and 10X Pay10:54 AI and the Future of Management14:30 The Problem With Traditional People Analytics18:45 AI, Skills and Career Progression22:37 The Shelf Life of Skills28:36 Why the Spreadsheet Never Tells the Whole Story32:15 Redeployment vs. AI Layoffs34:56 Building a High-Performance System43:16 What Sports Teach Us About Talent45:32 Team-Based Performance and Rewards50:29 AI and the Future of Work55:26 The Future of Jobs and “Tiger Teams”59:39 Final ThoughtsFollow Colby:https://linkedin.com/in/colby-kennedy-nesbitt-ph-d-0824b979/  Resources Mentioned:Colby Nesbitt Article: Variance, Explained: https://varianceexplained.substack.com/p/performance-is-not-a-power-law Work Rules! by Laszlo Bockhttps://hachettebookgroup.com/titles/laszlo-bock/work-rules/ Radical Candor by Kim Scotthttps://radicalcandor.com/the-book More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiMApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 PowerLaw, 10XEmployees, HighPerformance, StartupCompensation, PeopleAnalytics, PerformanceManagement, FutureOfWork, AIAtWork, AICompensation, TalentStrategy, OrganizationalDesign, CompensationStrategy, TeamBasedRewards, MeritPay, SkillsBasedCompensation, WorkforceAnalytics, EmployeePerformance, TalentManagement, StartupLeadership, PeopleOperations, AIWorkforce, FutureOfCompensation, WorkRedesign, CareerProgression, OrganizationalPsychology

    Hiring 10X People Will Not Give You a 10X Company with Colby Nesbit

  4. Aug 22

    The Modern Approach to Scaling Your People Team with Hallie Condon,

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people and reward practices, with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Hallie Condon, VP of People at Chili Piper, we unpack what it actually looks like to build AI deep into a people function. We dive into how her small team decides what to automate and what to keep human, the "company brain" she built so institutional knowledge doesn't walk out the door when someone leaves, and the surprising shift in context she's losing now that employees go to AI before they come to the people team. We also get into her sharpest take of all: why the traditional promotion path expects people to do the job for free before anyone will pay them for it. Keep watching to hear how AI is reshaping people operations, performance reviews, and the employer-employee relationship.Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com Chapters:00:46 Guest Introduction: Hallie Condon, VP of People at Chili Piper 01:58 Managing a Fully Remote Team Across 36 Countries 04:07 How AI Shows Up in the People Function Day-to-Day 05:19 Automating Separation Letters and Admin Work 06:56 Using AI to Cross-Check Budgets Fairly 08:31 No Clean Strategy: Automating as Problems Come Up 10:29 The Tiered System: What Should and Shouldn't Be Automated 13:53 Introducing "Company Brain": Chili Piper's AI Knowledge Repo 16:03 Skills Library and Role-Based Onboarding 17:56 How Decision Memos Get Documented and Indexed 19:37 Company Brain and Reducing Attrition Risk 21:47 Fewer Conversations: Are People Going to AI Instead of HR? 23:20 Balancing Context-Gathering with Employee Trust 26:14 What the Memory System Deliberately Doesn't Retain 28:14 More Time for Deep Work, Fewer Casual Check-Ins 29:43 What Companies Got Wrong with AI-Driven Layoffs 32:36 The Breaking of the Employee-Employer Bargain 36:07 Gen Z, Boundaries, and the "Do the Job for Free First" Problem 39:01 Rethinking How Companies Assess Impact and Potential 40:04 Chili Piper's Approach: Promoting Early, Pay Range Transparency 42:06 Why People Managers Don't Get Paid More at Chili Piper 45:43 Introducing the "Impact Intelligence" Tool 50:30 Building Performance Principles with AI's Help 51:33 Final Advice: Get Curious About AI and Rethink ReciprocityConnect with HallieVisit: chilipiper.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/hallie-condon-0b181325/ Resources MentionedCompany Mentioned:Chili Piper - B2B SaaS company where Hallie is VP of People, with ~150 employees across 36 countriesOyster - Global employment/compliance platform Hallie credits for managing their distributed workforceClaude - AI assistant used to power Chili Piper's "Company Brain" and impact intelligence toolsGranola - Meeting notes tool Hallie uses to capture context from conversationsMore FNDN Episodes:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiMApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    The Modern Approach to Scaling Your People Team with Hallie Condon,

  5. Aug 8

    Building A Company of AI Super Workers - Tracy St. Dic

    Building a Company of AI Super Workers with Tracy St. Dic, Chief People & Talent Officer at Zapier Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people and reward practices, with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Tracy St. Dic, Head of Talent at Zapier, we explore how one of the world's most AI-forward companies transformed its culture, hiring process, and compensation philosophy around AI fluency. We take a deep dive into Zapier's AI Fluency Framework, how it has reshaped hiring, onboarding, and performance management, and how leadership balances rewarding AI-driven impact without chasing a "flash-in-the-pan" trend.”Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com  Chapters: 00:46 Guest Introduction: Tracy St. Dic, Head of Talent at Zapier01:56 Day One: Zapier's "Code Red" Moment with AI04:39 Change Management 101: Getting Buy-In Across the Company07:16 Why AI Transformation Landed with the People Team10:27 Retraining Your Brain: Trigger-Action Thinking10:46 Building the AI Fluency Framework (V1 to V2)14:39 Measuring ROI: Efficiency, Quality, and Employee Experience18:11 Token Maxing vs. Value Maxing19:57 Hiring and Onboarding Overhaul for AI Fluency25:23 Sticking Points: Candidate Pools and Hiring Manager Buy-In26:39 Onboarding in an AI-Fluent Workspace32:09 Should AI-Fluent Talent Be Paid More?37:28 Interpreting Industry Layoffs Framed Around AI40:15 Durable Skills vs. Technical Skills in Hiring42:49 The Future of Manager Roles: Player-Coaches vs. Flatter Orgs45:23 Advice for Early-Career Professionals48:09 Closing Advice: Get Hands-On-Keyboard Connect with Tracy Visit:https://zapier.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-stdic/?isSelfProfile=false  Company Mentioned: Zapier - Automation and AI company where Tracy leads talent strategy and built the AI Fluency Framework More FNDN Episodes:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiMApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    Building A Company of AI Super Workers - Tracy St. Dic

  6. Jul 25

    The Discipline for Becoming a Great CPO with Adam Weber, Executive Coach to CEOs & C-Suite Leaders

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people and reward practices, with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Adam Weber, Executive Coach to CEOs, Chief People Officers, and other C-suite leaders, we unpack what it truly takes to thrive at the executive level. From the five signals of great executives to navigating dysfunction when the CEO is part of the problem, Adam shares the discipline and intentionality behind senior leadership — and what aspiring CPOs need to start building today. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the FNDN Series 01:05 Guest Introduction: Adam Weber 01:27 The Current Landscape for CPOs on Executive Teams 03:58 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as an Executive 05:09 Preparing for Pushback Before the Meeting 06:34 Tying People Initiatives to Business Priorities 07:14 The Transition from VP of People to CPO 08:03 The Risk of Over-Softening at the Executive Level 10:23 The Five Signals of Great Executives 13:42 Navigating Dysfunctional Executive Teams 15:08 When the CEO Is the Problem 17:38 Coming to the CEO with Solutions, Not Just Problems 22:54 How to Script Difficult Conversations with the CEO 24:00 Leadership Is a Discipline: Don't Bury the Lead 27:26 How to Prepare for the Path to Executive Leadership30:46 Taking Bold Swings and Standing Behind Them 36:08 The Evolving Remit of the CPO and AI Transformation 41:31 Knowing When to Say No to Expanding Your Function 43:22 The Human Element That AI Can't Replace 49:17 Final Words for Aspiring People Leaders Connect with Adam Weber Visit: https://adamweber.co https://linkedin.com/in/meetadam/ Resources Mentioned People Mentioned: Christine Song — cited as an example of a CPO who says the hard things out loud Sarika — People leader responsible for AI workforce transformation Benjamin Langner — Guest on a previous FNDN episode discussing what not to use AI for Quote Referenced: Danny Meyer, CEO of Shake Shack — "Business is problems." Events: Startup People Summit 2026 — Sign up to the waitlist at startupeoplesummit.com More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 CPO, ChiefPeopleOfficer, ExecutiveLeadership, PeopleOperations, StartupLeadership, ExecutiveCoaching, LeadershipDevelopment, FiveSignals, CandorAtWork, ExecutivePresence, StartupCompensation, PeopleAndCulture, AITransformation, WorkplaceLeadership, CPORole, LeadershipDiscipline, HRLeadership, StartupPeople, CareerGrowth, StartupBestPractices

    The Discipline for Becoming a Great CPO with Adam Weber, Executive Coach to CEOs & C-Suite Leaders

  7. Jul 11

    All The Ways You're Building or Breaking Your Credibility

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people and pay practices with industry leaders from across the startup world. --- Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com  --- In our conversation with Melanie Naranjo ,Chief People Officer at Ethena, we get raw and real about the state of HR in today's employer-driven market. We explore how HR professionals can build credibility with their CEOs, navigate the pressures of AI adoption, manage the loneliness of the HR role, and find the resilience to advocate for themselves — and their function — with confidence. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the FNDN Series 00:44 Welcome & Setting the Stage 01:03 The Current State of the Market 03:07 How HR Teams Should Adapt 03:29 Spicy Take: Mentoring Your CEO Through AI Panic 05:35 Upskilling the Workforce for an AI-Forward World 07:05 Making AI Accessible — Not Just Aspirational 10:02 DEI, Change Management & Getting Company-Wide Adoption Right 11:16 Building Credibility as a Strategic Partner to the C-Suite 12:18 Asking the Right Questions & Holding CEOs Accountable 14:26 Balancing Short-Term Wins with Long-Term Strategy 15:26 Marketing the HR Function Better 16:24 Handling "Department of Plus One" Overload 22:39 Quarterly Leadership Feedback: Three Questions That Build Credibility 25:46 The Power of Vulnerability in Tough Conversations 28:54 Navigating the Fractional vs. In-House Shift 38:53 Long-Term Career Advice for People Professionals 43:03 Finding Joy Outside of Work 44:54 Wrap-Up & Closing Remarks Connect with Melanie Naranjo Visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-naranjo  More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 HRCredibility, PeopleOps, StartupHR, ChiefPeopleOfficer, HRLeadership, CEORelationship, AIAdoption, HRStrategy, StartupCompensation, ChangeManagement, FractionalHR, HRProfessionals, TalentDensity, WorkplaceWellbeing, HRCareer, PeopleStrategy, StartupCulture, HRBestPractices, EmployeeEngagement, StartupLeadership

    All The Ways You're Building or Breaking Your Credibility

  8. Jul 3

    The HR Leader That Brings Therapy to Work with Isidora Torres, VP of People at Beehiiv

    Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people and compensation practices with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Isidora Torres, VP of People at Beehiiv, we explore what it truly means to bring a therapist's lens into HR — from embedding wellness into high performance culture, to building radical transparency with your CEO. Isidora shares how Beehiiv has redesigned performance reviews, structured comp cycles, and created a culture where honesty and vulnerability are championed from the top down. Stay tuned to hear how she's redefining what people operations can look like in a remote-first, high-performing startup. Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:44 Startup People Summit 2026 Announcement 01:03 Guest Introduction: Isidora Torres 01:46 Bringing a Therapist Lens into HR 03:34 Integrating Therapeutic Skills into Leadership Development 05:20 Building a Management Operating System 07:16 Defining Core Values at Beehiiv 08:13 The Role of Wellbeing in High-Performance Culture 09:10 Rest as Part of the Performance System 10:33 Personal Responsibility vs. Organizational Support 12:04 Working Remotely and Maintaining Culture 14:04 Psychological Safety and CEO Transparency 16:55 Building an Honest Relationship with Leadership 19:40 How Isidora Interviewed Her CEO 23:42 Principles for a Strong CEO-HR Relationship 26:17 Wellness Days and Their Impact 27:29 Decoupling Performance Reviews from Comp Reviews 30:23 How Merit-Based Pay Still Works 33:03 Running Four Comp Cycles a Year 35:16 Safeguarding Honesty in Reflections 36:22 The "Sun Shining" Channel 39:13 The Traction Framework and Rocks System 44:47 People Analytics and Meaningful Data 46:35 Remote Work and Talent Philosophy 50:47 Writing a Newsletter and Growing in Public 55:19 Final Advice: Experiment and Ask 56:46 Closing Remarks Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com Connect with Isidora Visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torresisidora/ Resources Mentioned Books Mentioned: No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer — the Netflix culture book referenced for the "sun shining" concept Traction by Gino Wickman — the framework behind Beehiiv's rocks-based goal-setting system Companies Mentioned: Beehiiv — remote-first startup where Isidora serves as Head of People Operations Shapes — people operating system / AI tool for people data (mentioned in mid-roll) Bridgewater Associates — referenced in discussion of radical transparency culture Morning Brew — where Beehiiv's CEO Tyler learned the Traction/rocks framework Clay — mentioned as an example of companies using coaches for employee wellbeing Concepts Mentioned: Sun Shining — a Slack channel practice at Beehiiv where leaders publicly acknowledge mistakes and learnings Replays — Beehiiv's version of performance reviews, decoupled from compensation Rocks — goal-setting units from the Traction framework (company, team, and individual levels) Wellness Days — monthly Fridays off at Beehiiv built into company benefits More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 TherapyAtWork, PeopleOps, HRLeadership, StartupCulture, WellbeingAtWork, PsychologicalSafety, RemoteWork, PerformanceReviews, CompensationStrategy, StartupCompensation, HighPerformance, EmployeeWellness, PeopleOperations, MentalHealthAtWork, RadicalTransparency, StartupLeadership, FlatOrganization, EmployeeEngagement, HRNewsletter, StartupBestPractices

    The HR Leader That Brings Therapy to Work with Isidora Torres, VP of People at Beehiiv
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About

Heads of People, Experts and Operators sharing everything they know about building people and pay practices at some of the world most interesting companies.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt McFarlane
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    47
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Matt McFarlane
  • Show Website
    FNDN Series