Startup Growth: 2025 HR Checklist, GenAI for HR, 450+ open roles across the portfolio

Great ideas go nowhere without the right team.

For that reason, we support our portfolio company founders and teams with HR and recruiting expertise to help them with resource planning, recruiting, and retaining talent.?

Earlier this year, our team revisited the 6Ts, the six pillars of startup growth - including the importance of building a successful team. As 2025 approaches, let’s dive into guidance from our network of HR leaders, founders, and team-building experts.?

2025 Startup Checklist for HR and Talent

We recently sat down with Maci (Wooten) Mattson, PHR, SHRM-SCP , HR and administration manager at Blumberg Capital, to get her advice for startup founders and HR leaders as 2024 wraps up. Maci partners with Blumberg Capital portfolio companies, providing HR and talent support throughout their startup journey. Read her post here.

"A well-thought-out checklist can be the secret weapon that keeps your startup on track, compliant, and ready to scale."

The checklist covers:

1. Legal and compliance
2. Benefits and compensation
3. Recruiting
4. HR planning
5. Employee engagement and culture
6. Administrative action items

Questions for Founders

When fundraising, founders must establish why they are the right people to solve the problem being addressed. Here are three questions startup teams should be prepared to answer while fundraising:?

1. How did you meet and what are your backgrounds?
2. Where do you see the company in 3-5 years?
3. How do you envision the success of the company long-term?

Finding the right co-founder

Tanis Jorge , Trulioo co-founder and CEO of The Cofounder's Hub , explains how founders can find (and keep) the right co-founder. 65% of businesses created by a partnership fail because of issues between the partners.

Tanis advises:

1. Take the finding and vetting process of finding the right co-founder seriously
2. Get as much in writing as possible to give you peace of mind should things go sideways
3. Be intentional at building and maintaining a strong co-founder relationship
4. Always remember you are on the same team, view your partner's actions and words through that lens and you will mitigate the chances of failure.?

GenAI for building a successful team

Building a startup team extends beyond the founders. Hiring and onboarding a knowledgeable team takes time, says Lt. Col. (Ret.) Sharona Mizrahi , Blumberg Capital HR & recruiting specialist. With the rise of GenAI, Sharona outlines ways that startup HR teams, often teams made up of only one or two employees in the early days, can leverage GenAI tools to support the hiring process. Sharona explains how GenAI can lower recruiting costs, expedite onboarding, and streamline other HR functions.?

“The best ideas are worthless if you can’t execute,” says Sharona Mizrahi, recruiting & HR specialist at Blumberg Capital. “It’s important to be transparent about gaps that exist within your team and maximize investors’ support to help close them.”

Over 30+ years, the Blumberg Capital team has grown across Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv. Earlier this month, our team gathered for our 2024 offsite, bringing together team members from around the world. From strategy sessions to beach Olympics, we had a lot of fun, a few debates, and plenty of opportunities to channel that competitive spirit that drives us every day.?

Find the right team for you

Part of what makes a successful investor/startup relationship is mutual trust and support. Startups should look to their investor partners for input on finding the right person for an open role, advice on how to hire and retain talent, or staffing teams to support company goals.?

Looking to join a new team in the new year? There are over 450 global roles across our portfolio companies, including:?

• Addepar : Senior Software Engineer - Reference Data
• Angle Health : IT/Systems Administrator
• Braze : VP Customer Success, Americas
• BioCatch : Associate Threat Analyst
• SmithRx : Senior Director, People Operations

Team Spotlight

Sam Dreyfuss joins us from BlackRock to lead data science and analysis. Learn more about Sam here.

What are your team priorities headed into 2025? Let us know in the comments!