Building the Right Foundation: Why Startups Are Like New Houses
Jimi Hendrix memorably put it, “Castles made of sand will fall into the sea eventually.”
I can practically hear the song ringing in my ears every time I find myself talking to a startup client about the importance of laying a solid foundation when building their business. If your basement doesn’t have the right materials and connections, you won’t be able to build on top of it and, more importantly, everyday things like water and electricity aren’t going to function correctly. The metaphor extends to companies, too.
It’s exciting to venture out on your own and bring a startup into the world. But founders can easily overlook some of the basic components that ensure success over the long haul. The roots of success or failure are planted early, and the businesses that go on to thrive spend time early on to create a solid and scalable platform for their employees.
What a Pain
It’s human nature to put off addressing a problem until it becomes too painful to ignore. Just like you may not visit an orthopedic specialist until your shoulder starts to ache, startups sometimes overlook basic elements until something breaks or becomes too painful to deal with day in and day out. In the context of the company, this might mean a sticky legal situation that arises from: an exiting employee; or a top-performing employee threatening to leave due to the absence of a bonus program; or a sudden exodus of talent when vesting occurs without a clear retention strategy. These “pain points” are what ultimately prompt startups to take their foundation seriously.
Why not avoid all that pain to begin with?
In the end, I believe that setting a strong foundation for your business is just as critical as the business idea itself. Are you prioritizing the basics to ensure that your company has the right systems and culture in place to support its growth and success?
The Three Key Pillars
For me, there are three key pillars to the human resources foundation for a startup house:
- Compliance
- Well-Being
- Accountability
The first step to building a foundation across these three areas is for the founder/leadership to determine their overarching philosophy in each one. You can’t design policies and programs for employees until you know your broad stance on what kind of company you want to be on these three fronts.
I will follow up this article with three more pieces that dig into the critical questions that startups need to answer in each of these areas. The next piece will tackle building the right foundation for compliance to ensure a balance between protecting the rights and interests of your employees and maintaining the regulatory standards required within your field of work.


