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FOR FOUNDER-LED, TECH-ENABLED STARTUPS

Get people problems off your desk.

And your focus back on the business.

Directional provides executive-level People leadership for founder-led, tech-enabled startups that have outgrown managing People decisions case by case, but may not need a full-time People executive yet.

FOR FOUNDER-LED, TECH-ENABLED STARTUPS

Get people problems off your desk.

And your focus back on the business.

Directional provides executive-level People leadership for founder-led, tech-enabled startups that have outgrown managing People decisions case by case, but may not need a full-time People executive yet.

Take the assessment →
THE PROBLEM

The founder has become the People system.

Early on, founder-led HR often works. You know every employee. You make the hiring decisions. Managers come directly to you when something is difficult. You have the context, so making decisions case by case is fast and practical.

Then the company grows. More employees. More managers. More hiring. More complexity. People decisions that used to happen occasionally start happening every week. And somehow, they still come back to you.

  • Managers escalate.
  • Hiring becomes inconsistent.
  • Performance problems linger.
  • Processes are fragmented.
  • Leadership doesn't always know whether People issues are handled correctly.
The problem is not necessarily that you need more HR. The company has outgrown the way People decisions are being made.
THE PROBLEM

The founder has become the People system.

Early on, founder-led HR often works. You know every employee. You make the hiring decisions. Managers come directly to you when something is difficult. You have the context, so making decisions case by case is fast and practical.

Then the company grows. More employees. More managers. More hiring. More complexity. People decisions that used to happen occasionally start happening every week. And somehow, they still come back to you.

  • Managers escalate.
  • Hiring becomes inconsistent.
  • Performance problems linger.
  • Processes are fragmented.
  • Leadership doesn't always know whether People issues are handled correctly.

The problem is not necessarily that you need more HR. The company has outgrown the way People decisions are being made.

WHO DIRECTIONAL HELPS

Built for founder-led, tech-enabled startups at a specific stage.

You may not need a bigger HR department. You need to understand what the business actually needs next — and build it.
  • You're a founder-led, tech-enabled startup.
  • You're roughly Seed to Series A.
  • Headcount and organizational complexity are growing.
  • You don't yet have an experienced, fully empowered Head of People.
  • The founder, COO, or CFO is still carrying People responsibility directly.
  • Growth, hiring, management, or expansion is starting to expose the gaps.
THE FOUR DIRECTIONAL PILLARS

Four areas. One operating picture.

Founder Capacity
Can the business operate without every People decision coming back to the founder?
Leadership & Talent Effectiveness
Do you have the right people in the right roles, and can your leaders effectively lead them?
Organizational Effectiveness
Does the organization have the clarity and operating practices required to execute as it grows?
Scale & Risk Readiness
Does the company have the infrastructure and safeguards required for its next stage, state, country, or market?
THE DIRECTIONAL METHOD

Diagnose before building. The trigger is rarely the real problem. It usually exposes one that was already there.

Diagnose
Set the Direction
Build
Enable
Embed
FOUR WAYS TO WORK WITH DIRECTIONAL

Start where the need actually is.

Directional Diagnostic™
When you know People issues are getting in the way, but aren't yet clear on root cause or what should happen first.
START HERE
Directional People Buildout™
When the priority is clear, but the company needs senior People expertise to build what comes next.
PROJECT-BASED
Fractional Head of People
When the company needs ongoing senior People leadership but may not need a full-time executive.
ONGOING
THREE WAYS TO WORK WITH DIRECTIONAL

Built in real operating environments.

6 Countries

Core HR infrastructure built across six countries in under three months.

$150K+

Annual savings from a PEO-to-in-house HRIS transition.

4 HRIS Platforms

ADP, Rippling, Paycom, and BambooHR.

Directional's experience also includes repeatedly building foundational People functions and partnering directly with CEOs, Presidents, CFOs, and executive teams.

"She was not just an HR administrator — she was a genuine business partner who understood what founders need and delivered accordingly."
Ken Kim · CEO, WEBTOON Entertainment
"She brought structure to ambiguity — creating thoughtful processes and building systems where none existed."
Gizelle Jacobs · General Counsel, 88rising
"That kind of speed and execution is genuinely rare in a solo HR practitioner."
Alex Rozenblat · CFO, Commodore International
Esther Lee
Esther Lee
Founder, Directional — full case studies with verbatim quotes available on request.

Planning to hire in the U.S.?

Already have one or a few U.S. workers? The session can also help you review your initial setup before the team grows further.

THE TRANSFORMATION

From reactive to repeatable.

FROM
The founder is the People system.
Decisions are inconsistent.
Managers escalate.
Processes are fragmented.
TO
The company has a People system the founder trusts.
Managers know what they own.
Processes are repeatable.
The big decisions still reach the founder. The routine ones do not.

Planning to hire in the U.S.?

Already have one or a few U.S. workers? The session can also help you review your initial setup before the team grows further.

Planning to hire in the U.S.?

Already have one or a few U.S. workers? The session can also help you review your initial setup before the team grows further.

FOUNDER DEPENDENCY ASSESSMENT

Is your company still too dependent on you?

Take the Founder Dependency Assessment to see whether your People operating model is keeping pace with your growth.

LET'S TALK

What is still landing on your desk that should not be?

Let's talk about what is happening in the business, what is driving the People challenges you are seeing, and whether Directional is the right next step.

Executive-level People leadership for founder-led, tech-enabled startups that have outgrown case-by-case People decisions.

GET STARTED

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