FNDN Series

Matt McFarlane
  • 5.0 (1)
  • BUSINESS
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Join discussions with Heads of People, Founders and experts in and around startups, to explore the topic of compensation and broader people practices.

  1. Reverse Engineering Burnout with Nav Rao, CTO at Spoony

    6D AGO

    Reverse Engineering Burnout with Nav Rao, CTO at Spoony

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Nav, Fractional CTO at Spoony, we explore the often-overlooked topic of burnout among startup employees beyond just founders. Nav shares his personal journey through chronic depression, multiple startup experiences, and the harsh realities of burning out across six different organizations. We unpack what burnout actually is versus simple tiredness, examine the catalysts that drive employees to exhaustion (from bureaucracy to toxic positivity), and discuss both personal and organizational responsibilities in preventing burnout. This conversation gets refreshingly honest about failure, mental health, and the human side of working in high-pressure startup environments. Keep watching to hear Nav's candid insights on recognizing burnout symptoms, the importance of checking your own ambitions, and why startup culture needs to give more attention to the people who aren't founders. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and LinkedIn Connection Story 01:45 Guest Introduction: Nav, Fractional CTO at Spoony 03:30 Defining Burnout: What It Is and What It Isn't 06:15 Physical and Emotional Symptoms of Burnout 08:45 Burnout vs Disengagement: Understanding the Difference 12:20 Matt's Personal Burnout Story: The Law Firm Experience 17:30 Catalysts of Burnout: Bureaucracy and Apathy 21:15 The Exponential Product Story: Law Firm Retention Issues 24:40 High Performance Culture Paradox 28:10 The Problem with "Just Ship It" and Chronic Positivity 31:45 Startup Success Narrative and Failure Stigma 35:20 LinkedIn's Role in Toxic Positivity 38:30 Organizational Culture and Psychological Safety 42:10 Engineering Teams and Burnout Dynamics 46:25 The Brilliant Jerk and Team Burnout 48:50 Personal Responsibility in Preventing Burnout 52:15 Checking Your Own Ambition: Nav's Big Company Experience 55:30 Manager Responsibilities and Human Connection 57:45 Beyond Founder Burnout: Supporting All Startup Employees Connect with Nav: Visit: https://spoony.app   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nav-rao/ Resources Mentioned: Culture Amp - Employee experience platform referenced in law firm retention discussion Office Vibe - Early-stage employee engagement tool Exponential - Pre-COVID employee engagement product for law firms in New Zealand Spoony - Neurodiversity and chronic illness social media platform where Nav is Fractional CTO Psychological Safety - Creating environments where employees can admit mistakes and concerns Tall Poppy Syndrome - Australian cultural phenomenon of cutting down those who stand out 10x Rockstar Engineers - The brilliant jerk archetype in engineering teams Quiet Quitting - Referenced indirectly through discussion of doing minimum work More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    59 min
  2. Building Leadership from Scratch (for yourself, and for others) with Shelley Johnson, Founder at Boldside

    JAN 24

    Building Leadership from Scratch (for yourself, and for others) with Shelley Johnson, Founder at Boldside

    Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Shelley Johnson, Founder of Boldside and former HR leader, we explore how to build effective leadership capabilities from the ground up - both for developing yourself as a leader and creating systems to develop others. We dive deep into why most HR issues are actually upstream leadership problems, the importance of leadership onboarding processes, and practical frameworks for having difficult conversations including pay discussions. Shelley shares her three-pillar approach to building influence as an HR professional and reveals why leadership development doesn't need to be overcomplicated. Keep watching to discover actionable strategies for transforming leadership capability in your organization. Chapters: 00:54 Getting to Know Shelley: From HR Generalist to Leadership Consultant 02:59 Why Leadership? The Connection Between Leadership and HR Issues 06:00 Making Leadership More Approachable: Small Steps and Consistency 08:07 The Upstream Problem: How Poor Leadership Creates People Issues 10:09 Building Self-Awareness Through Consistent Reflection 12:43 Creating Safe Spaces for Leader Vulnerability and Growth 15:09 What Does Good Leadership Look Like? The WAGOLL Framework 19:02 Defining Leadership Behaviors: Care, Courage, and Consistency 21:46 Lightweight Leadership Development: Monthly Manager Conversations 24:42 Why People Don't Want Leadership Roles Anymore 27:11 Stopping the Sink or Swim Strategy 28:20 Creating Leadership Onboarding Processes 30:45 Setting Clear Expectations for New Leaders 32:59 Is Management an Add-On or the Core Role? 37:47 Having Difficult Conversations: The Pay Discussion Challenge 41:38 Preempting Difficult Topics as a Manager 46:51 What Employees Can Do: Starting Pay Conversations 48:12 Building Confidence and Influence as an HR Professional 51:32 The People, Presence, Problems Framework for HR Influence 55:37 Final Thoughts: Start Simple with Leadership DevelopmentConnect with Shelley Visit: boldside.com.au  https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-johnson/?originalSubdomain=au  Resources Mentioned: Leadership Development Concepts: WAGOLL Framework (What A Good One Looks Like) - Educational approach for showing examples of excellence The three C's of leadership: Care, Courage, and Consistency People, Presence, Problems framework for building HR influence Leadership onboarding processes (similar to new starter onboarding) Workplace Practices: Regular one-on-one check-ins (15-30 minutes based on individual needs) Self-reflection habits for leaders Proactive pay and career development conversations Monthly manager learning communities More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    57 min
  3. The Tough Pay Conversations (And How to Actually Have Them) with Sarika Lamont, VP of People & Culture at Vidyard

    12/20/2025

    The Tough Pay Conversations (And How to Actually Have Them) with Sarika Lamont, VP of People & Culture at Vidyard

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Sarika Lamont, VP of People and Culture at Vidyard, we tackle the most challenging compensation conversations that people leaders face. From delivering "no raise" news to high performers during budget constraints, to navigating pay transparency questions about salary differences between new hires and existing employees, Sarika shares practical frameworks for handling these difficult discussions. We explore how AI can enhance performance feedback, the importance of transparency in building trust, and strategies for managing expectations when business realities clash with employee desires. Keep watching to discover how to turn your toughest pay conversations into opportunities for deeper engagement and trust-building. Chapters: 00:50 Guest Introduction: Sarika Lamont, VP at Vidyard 02:15 The Toughest Pay Conversation: Telling High Performers "No" 03:21 Framework for Delivering Bad News About Compensation 06:34 The Power of Recognition Beyond Money 08:20 Building Year-Round Recognition and Development 11:57 Using AI to Enhance Performance Feedback and Mentoring 12:31 Practical AI Application for Personalized Development Plans 13:02 Pay Transparency Challenges: New Hire vs. Existing Employee Pay 16:02 Navigating Pay Band Implementation and Market Reality 19:27 The Benefits of Long-Term Employment vs. Job Hopping 21:15 Moving Toward Pay Transparency Despite Executive Concerns 22:52 Treating Employees Like Adults: Trust and Consistency 24:14 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Connect with Sarika Visit: vidyard.com  https://linkedin.com/in/sarikal/  Resources Mentioned Tools and Companies: Vidyard - AI-enabled go-to-market platform for video messaging and hosting ChatGPT - Used for creating structured performance feedback and development plans Ontario Pay Transparency Laws - Full transparency requirement starting January 1st, 2026 Concepts Discussed: Pay band quartile systems for compensation structure Comp ratios and market positioning strategies AI-powered performance feedback generation ________________ Pave is a compensation intelligence platform that gives you real-time compensation data from more than 8,300 companies, allowing you to make calls with confidence, not guesswork. Access Information & Resources from Pave: 2026 Budgeting & Trends Report: Get your free copy of the full report discussed in the episode, which includes trends on planned merit budgets, "job hugging," and pay transparency. Report Landing Page (Email) Learn More About Pave: Visit the Pave homepage to explore how you can benchmark pay, price jobs, manage pay ranges, and run your merit cycle all in one place. Pave Homepage ________________ More FNDN Episodes: Spotify | Apple Podcast

    27 min
  4. Custom Comp: Getting Personal During Downturns with Sarika Lamont, VP of People & Culture at Vidyard

    12/06/2025

    Custom Comp: Getting Personal During Downturns with Sarika Lamont, VP of People & Culture at Vidyard

    Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Sarika Lamont, Vice President of People & Culture at Vidyard, we explore how to customize and personalize compensation in today's challenging economic environment. We dive into the art of persona mapping for compensation design, discuss how five generations in the workforce have vastly different priorities, and examine practical strategies for creating equitable yet personalized reward packages without breaking the budget. Stay tuned as we uncover how to balance transparency, fairness, and personalization in your compensation strategy during economic downturns. Chapters: 00:50 Guest Introduction: Sarika Lamont from Vidyard 02:15 The Era of Personalization Meets Economic Reality 03:04 Five Generations in the Workforce: Different Values and Priorities 06:32 Building Employee Personas Like Marketing ICPs 08:07 The Importance of Transparency in Equitable Compensation 09:02 External Context: How Downturns Change Employee Priorities 13:08 From Government Consulting to Tech: Scaling Persona Mapping 14:01 The Interview Process: Validating Personas with Real Data 15:01 Country-Specific Compensation: Australia vs America Priorities 15:29 Why Companies Fear Asking Employees What They Want 16:12 The Christmas Wishlist Approach to Employee Feedback 18:10 Building Culture Through Transparent Communication 19:52 Scaling Back: When You Need to Unbuild What You Built 20:23 Budget Transparency and Honest Conversations 22:03 Resources and Templates for Getting Started with Personas 23:44 Using AI Tools to Build Persona Maps Connect with Sarika Visit: vidyard.com https://linkedin.com/in/sarikalamont  Resources Mentioned Companies Mentioned: Vidyard - AI-enabled go-to-market tool with video messaging and hosting capabilities Mercer - HR consulting firm (acquired the persona mapping consultancy mentioned) Netflix - Referenced as pioneer of personalization algorithms Tools and Concepts: Persona mapping templates (to be provided in show notes) ChatGPT/Claude - AI tools for building persona cards Engagement survey data analysis Compa ratio analysis for compensation planning ________________ Pave is a compensation intelligence platform that gives you real-time compensation data from more than 8,300 companies, allowing you to make calls with confidence, not guesswork. Access Information & Resources from Pave: 2026 Budgeting & Trends Report: Get your free copy of the full report discussed in the episode, which includes trends on planned merit budgets, "job hugging," and pay transparency. Report Landing Page (Email) Learn More About Pave: Visit the Pave homepage to explore how you can benchmark pay, price jobs, manage pay ranges, and run your merit cycle all in one place. Pave Homepage ________________ More FNDN Episodes: Spotify | Apple Podcast

    26 min
  5. AI's Impact on the People Function with Sarika Lamont, VP of People and Culture at Vidyard

    11/22/2025

    AI's Impact on the People Function with Sarika Lamont, VP of People and Culture at Vidyard

    Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, join us as we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Sarika Lamont, VP of People and Culture at Vidyard, we explore how AI is transforming the people function beyond just tools and automation. Sarika shares her unique journey from leading people operations to spearheading AI adoption across her entire organization, revealing practical strategies for reducing administrative burden while enhancing employee experience. We dive deep into the mindset shifts required for successful AI implementation, the importance of critical thinking when leveraging AI tools, and how to start small with automation to create meaningful impact. Keep watching to discover how AI can revolutionize your people's operations and learn actionable steps to begin your own AI transformation journey. Sarika Lamont is a seasoned People leader with 20+ years in talent strategy, DEI, and organizational transformation. As VP of People and Culture at Vidyard, she leads AI and automation efforts while fostering inclusive, high-performance cultures that enable teams to thrive and deliver meaningful impact through clarity, focus, and execution. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to FNDN Series 01:12 Guest Introduction: Sarika Lamont 02:37 How AI Leadership Role Emerged at Vidyard 03:11 From Organic Interest to Company Priority 05:54 The Cultural Change Management Aspect of AI 07:05 Cross-Functional Collaboration with IT and Security 09:35 AI as a Connector: Seeing Opportunities Across Business 10:26 AI Tools vs Experimentation vs Wellbeing Considerations11:48 Critical Thinking and AI: Avoiding Over-Reliance 14:56 Reducing Administrative Burden and Burnout 16:53 Re-imagining How We Work with AI 18:47 Biggest Impact: Admin Reduction and Experience Improvement 22:59 Connecting Systems: From Manual to Automated Workflows 24:18 Getting Started: Practical Tips for AI Adoption 27:11 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Connect with Sarika linkedin.com/in/sarikalamont Visit: vidyard.com  Resources Mentioned Companies/Tools Mentioned: Kinfolk - AI-enabled platform for onboarding and workflow automationHiBob - HRIS platform integrated with AI workflowsZapier - Automation platform with HR AI applicationsConfluence - Documentation platform for policy informationOpenAI/ChatGPT - Generative AI tool mentioned for getting started People Mentioned: Brandon Sammut - Chief People Officer at Zapier (HR and AI webinars)Bonnie - TA leader at Zapier____________ Pave is a compensation intelligence platform that gives you real-time compensation data from more than 8,300 companies, allowing you to make calls with confidence, not guesswork. Access Information & Resources from Pave: 2026 Budgeting & Trends Report: Get your free copy of the full report discussed in the episode, which includes trends on planned merit budgets, "job hugging," and pay transparency. Report Landing Page (Email) Learn More About Pave: Visit the Pave homepage to explore how you can benchmark pay, price jobs, manage pay ranges, and run your merit cycle all in one place. Pave Homepage _______________ More FNDN Episodes at ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast⁠

    29 min
  6. Designing Your First Compensation Cycle with Vaso Parisinou

    11/03/2025

    Designing Your First Compensation Cycle with Vaso Parisinou

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Vaso Parisinou we tackle one of the most challenging aspects of early-stage people operations: designing and executing your first compensation cycle. We explore the critical steps from data preparation to employee communication, discussing how to build sustainable frameworks that reward performance while maintaining fairness and transparency. Vaso shares practical strategies for creating merit matrices, handling high performers at the top of salary bands, and incorporating non-monetary rewards like sabbaticals. Keep watching to discover the essential roadmap for getting your startup's first compensation cycle right and setting the foundation for future success. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to FNDN Series and Today's Topic 01:12 The Challenge of First Compensation Cycles: Getting Support 01:47 Key Milestones for Compensation Cycle Planning 01:58 Starting with Clean Data and Proper Scaffolding 05:03 Creating Merit Matrices for Pay-for-Performance Philosophy 05:59 Handling Different Performance Levels and Band Positions 06:45 Breaking Salary Bands: When and Why It Makes Sense 07:44 Avoiding Performance Demotivation Through Rigid Limits 08:00 Balancing Egalitarian Values with Performance Rewards 09:07 Non-Monetary Rewards: Spot Bonuses and Sabbaticals 10:15 Offering Choice: Tailoring Rewards to Individual Preferences 11:21 Post-Cycle Retrospectives and Focus Groups 13:21 Testing Employee Understanding of Compensation Philosophy 14:23 Helping Employees Understand Pay Equity and Positioning 16:26 Conclusion and Key Takeaways Connect with Vaso Visit: ravio.com  https://linkedin.com/in/vaso-parisinou-4368b515/?originalSubdomain=uk Company Mentioned: Ravio - Compensation benchmarking platform where Vaso works as an expert in startup compensation cycles Key Concepts Discussed: Merit matrices and pay-for-performance frameworks Compensation ratio management within salary bands Non-monetary reward strategies including sabbaticals Focus group methodologies for compensation retrospectives Pay equity visualization and transparency More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    17 min
  7. Why The Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 2 with Shirley Baumer Co-founder at Dream Team

    10/25/2025

    Why The Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 2 with Shirley Baumer Co-founder at Dream Team

    Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Shirley Baumer, Co-Founder at Dream Team, we explore how to transform people's team by applying product-led principles in practice. We discuss practical strategies for starting small with MVPs, implementing agile ceremonies for HR teams, and leveraging AI to free up time for strategic impact. Shirley shares actionable frameworks for running kickoff meetings, sync meetings, and retrospectives that help people teams ship faster, build credibility, and create measurable business impact. Keep watching to discover how to move from theory to practice and become a more commercial, effective people leader. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the FNDN Series 01:56 Starting with Product Thinking: Defining Outcomes Over Solutions 02:40 Running Your First MVP: The Kickoff Meeting Framework 05:58 Formalizing What You're Already Doing: User Interviews in HR 07:32 Fine-Tuning vs. Radical Shifts in People Operations 08:44 Scaling Product Practices: Agile Ceremonies for People Teams 09:26 Three Key Rituals: Kickoff, Sync, and Closing Ceremonies 11:34 Building Credibility Through Sprint Reviews and Visibility 13:49 Normalizing Mistakes: Building Psychological Safety into Your Process 14:58 Taking Pressure Off: Iterative Approaches to Compensation and Performance 17:12 The Power of Owning Your Mistakes as a Leader 18:26 Measuring Success: Qualitative Signals Over Cookie-Cutter KPIs 22:23 Defining Impact-Driven Metrics for Each Initiative 23:10 The Night and Day Difference: Personal Experience with Product-Led HR 25:07 AI's Role in Product-Led People Teams: Automation and Data Insights 28:11 Creating Space for Strategic Work Through Operations and Product Split 29:58 The Future of AI in HR: From Hype to Practical Application 32:29 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Connect with Shirley:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirleyjb/  Visit: dreamteam.io Newsletter: https://agilehr.substack.com/  Company Mentioned: Dream Team - AI-powered HR platform that automates administrative work and surfaces data-driven insights for people teams Concepts Discussed: MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach for HR initiativesAgile ceremonies (kickoff meetings, sync meetings, retrospectives)Sprint reviews for people team deliverablesProduct thinking framework: outcomes over solutionsSynthetic audiences for user research More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484  ProductLedHR, PeopleOperations, HRTransformation, AgileHR, ProductThinking, StartupHR, PeopleTech, HRInnovation, CompensationStrategy, PerformanceManagement, HRLeadership, StartupOperations, PeopleStrategy, HRTech, AIinHR, DataDrivenHR, HRProductManagement, PeopleAnalytics, StartupCulture, HRBestPractices

    34 min
  8. Why the Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 1 with Shirley Baumer  Co-founder at Dream Team

    10/18/2025

    Why the Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 1 with Shirley Baumer  Co-founder at Dream Team

    Why the Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 1 with Shirley Baumer  Co-founder at Dream Team Description: Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people topics with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Shirley Baumer, Co-founder at Dream Team and former Product Manager at Monday.com, we explore how people teams can adopt product-led thinking to drive real business impact. Shirley shares insights from her journey at Monday.com, where she was the first product manager and witnessed the company scale from 30 to over 2000 employees. We unpack the parallels between product teams and people teams, and why this mindset shift is critical for HR leaders who want to move beyond administrative work to become trusted strategic partners. Keep watching to discover practical frameworks for transforming your people operations from reactive to impact-driven.Shirley is Co-founder and CPO of DreamTeam, the AI-native people management platform now launching its first-ever AI agents for HR. Before DreamTeam, Shirley led product management at monday.com, joining as the first PM when the company had 30 employees and $6M ARR. She watched it scale to $1B ARR and 2,000 employees globally, experiencing firsthand how critical people management becomes during rapid growth. Shirley also co-founded STEPS&, a platform connecting healthcare providers with patients, and is a recognized speaker on product management and entrepreneurship Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the FNDN Series 02:21 Guest Introduction: Shirley  and Dream Team 04:46 What is Product-Led Thinking for People Teams? 06:04 Moving from Operational to Strategic: The Brand Challenge 07:08 Why This Approach Matters Now More Than Ever 09:01 Signs Your Team Needs a Product-Led Shift 11:04 Having a Seat at the Table: What Success Looks Like 12:22 Case Study: Rethinking Performance Reviews 18:02 The Myth of Best Practice and the Power of Context 19:59 Overcoming the Speed vs Quality Debate 23:28 The Safety of Admin Work and Why We Must Move Beyond It 24:34 Essential Skills for Product-Led People Teams 27:53 Breaking the HR Brand Stereotype 29:01 Starting Small: No Grand Announcements Needed 30:48 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Connect with Shirley:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirleyjb/  Visit: dreamteam.ai Newsletter: https://agilehr.substack.com/ Resources and Companies Mentioned: Monday.com - Work management platform where Shirley served as first Product Manager and led core product with $850M ARR Dream Team - AI-native people operating system co-founded by Shirley, focused on zero admin work for HR teams Books and Resources: The Mom Test - Book on conducting effective user interviews (recommended by Luke Armani) Jessica Zweig - Thought leader on product-led thinking for HR Luke Armani - Thought leader on product-led thinking for HR More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

    32 min
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About

Join discussions with Heads of People, Founders and experts in and around startups, to explore the topic of compensation and broader people practices.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt McFarlane
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Matt McFarlane
  • Show Website
    FNDN Series