Growth-Stage & Founder-Led Companies
HR expertise for the inflection points that determine whether companies scale — or stall.
The journey from startup to established company is rarely smooth. What worked when you had 10 employees starts to break at 30. The informal culture that defined your early days becomes harder to sustain as you grow. The founder who once handled everything becomes a bottleneck. And the HR practices you postponed — because there were always more urgent priorities — suddenly become the very thing holding the business back.
Nine22 Solutions works with companies at these inflection points. I'm Victoria Adams Forsberg, and I help startups, founder-led organizations, and growth-stage companies build the people systems they need to scale — without unnecessary bureaucracy and without losing what made them successful in the first place.
Who This Is For
Early-Stage Startups
When you're building a company with a small team — often somewhere between five and twenty-five employees — every hire matters. You likely don't have anyone dedicated to HR, and most people decisions still sit with the founder. You know some structure is necessary, but you don't want to slow momentum or introduce bureaucracy too early. Nine22 helps early-stage startups put essential HR foundations in place without building more than the business needs at this stage.
Growth-Stage Companies
As organizations grow beyond the early phase — often around twenty-five employees and scaling toward one hundred — the complexity increases quickly. Hiring accelerates, managers emerge, and the cracks start to show: inconsistent leadership, compensation decisions that don't quite line up, and a culture that feels less defined than it once did. You need real HR capability, but not a heavy-handed department. Nine22 helps growth-stage companies bring clarity, structure, and consistency without disrupting what's already working.
Founder-Led Organizations
When the company is still very much yours, everything flows through you — including people problems. You're stretched thin, spending time on HR issues that pull focus from strategy, growth, and leadership. You need a trusted partner who can own the HR function, bring structure and judgment, and free you up to focus on building the business.
Companies Preparing for What's Next
Growth creates new expectations. Investors start asking about HR infrastructure. Due diligence gets more detailed. Expansion plans introduce complexity you haven't had to manage before. Whether you're preparing to raise capital, pursue an acquisition, or enter new markets, Nine22 helps companies put the right people systems in place so the next phase is a step forward — not a scramble.
The HR Challenges of Growth
The Founder's Dilemma
In the early days, the founder is involved in everything — and that works, until it doesn't. At a certain point, founder involvement becomes a bottleneck. The challenge is building systems that allow the organization to operate without the founder weighing in on every decision, while still preserving the standards, judgment, and culture the founder cares about.
Culture Dilution
Your early team understood the culture because they helped create it. They knew how decisions were made, what mattered, and what "good" looked like. New hires don't have that context. Without intentional structure, culture gets diluted with every hiring wave. What was once implicit must become explicit — not through slogans or posters, but through systems that consistently reinforce the behaviors you value.
First-Time Manager Strain
Growth usually means promoting your strongest individual contributors into management roles. But technical excellence doesn't automatically translate to leadership capability. Many growing companies struggle with managers who avoid hard conversations, don't know how to develop people, or swing between micromanagement and disengagement. Without leadership development, even your best people are set up to struggle.
Infrastructure Gaps
When teams are small, informal practices work because everyone knows the deal. As the organization grows, the lack of structure starts to show — inconsistent decisions, compliance exposure, and leaders making it up as they go. Building HR infrastructure reactively, after problems surface, is far more disruptive and costly than putting the right systems in place early.
Compensation Chaos
Early compensation decisions are often made out of necessity — paying what it takes to secure the people you need. Over time, those decisions compound into a structure that no longer makes sense: similar roles paid very differently, unclear ranges, and growing internal equity issues. The longer compensation goes unaddressed, the harder it becomes to correct without damaging trust.
How Nine22 Supports
Growth-Stage & Founder-Led Companies
Nine22 delivers HR support designed for companies navigating growth — where structure is needed, but bureaucracy is not. The focus is on building systems that scale, supporting leaders as roles evolve, and removing people-related friction that slows momentum.
Fractional HR Leadership
Senior HR expertise without the cost or commitment of a full-time executive — providing judgment, direction, and ownership when it matters most.
HR Infrastructure
Right-sized handbooks, policies, and onboarding systems that bring consistency without overbuilding for your stage of growth.
Leadership Development
Developing managers who can lead people effectively as teams grow — not just manage tasks or output.
Culture & Alignment
Making culture intentional so it scales with the organization, reinforcing the behaviors, standards, and decision-making founders care about.
Compensation Strategy
Practical pay structures that support growth — competitive in the market, fair internally, and sustainable over time.
Nine22's Approach to
Startup & Growth-Stage HR
Right-sized, not oversized.
HR should match the stage of the business. I build only what you need today — then add structure and complexity intentionally as the organization grows.
Speed over perfection.
Startups move quickly, and waiting for "perfect" systems creates friction. The focus is on practical solutions delivered fast, with room to refine as the business evolves.
True founder partnership.
I work directly with founders and leadership teams — not around them. Your vision, values, and decision-making authority remain intact while I bring structure, judgment, and execution.
Designed for transition, not dependency.
For many companies, my role is to build the foundation and help prepare for the eventual hire of an internal HR leader. The goal is long-term capability, not permanent reliance.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions About Startup & Growth-Stage HR
When should a startup start thinking about HR?
Earlier than most founders expect. By the time a company reaches ten to fifteen employees, basic structure becomes necessary — consistent onboarding, a clear employee handbook, and policies around the issues that actually matter. As teams grow toward twenty-five employees, informal practices stop working. Putting foundational HR in place early prevents problems that are far more difficult to correct later.
Is fractional HR enough, or do we need someone full-time?
For most companies, fractional HR is the right solution well into the growth phase. Many organizations don't need a full-time HR leader until they reach roughly one hundred to one hundred fifty employees. Fractional HR provides senior-level expertise without the full-time cost, and Nine22 often helps companies plan and transition thoughtfully when it becomes time to hire an internal HR leader.
How do you work with founders who want to stay closely involved?
I partner with founders rather than replacing them. Many founders care deeply about culture, talent, and standards — they simply can't manage every people decision personally as the business grows. I build systems that preserve founder intent and visibility while removing the operational burden that slows momentum.