FNDN Series

The Wellbeing Strategy for Any Stage of Company with Phil Wolf, Founder at Connects Health

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 Phil Wolf, Founder of Connects Health and workplace wellbeing specialist with over 15 years of experience, we unpack the growing mental load crisis facing today's workforces and why traditional wellbeing programs are falling short. We explore Phil's Wayfinder Framework — a practical, scalable approach to embedding genuine wellbeing strategy into companies of any size — and what it actually takes to build a culture where people can perform without burning out. You don't need a HRIS, you need a PeopleOS. The only platform with native AI is Shapes. Check it out here: https://shapes.co/lp/insights-lp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=matt_april [https://shapes.co/lp/insights-lp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=matt_april] Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 01:08 Meet Phil Wolf: Workplace Wellbeing Specialist 01:59 The State of Wellbeing in Today's Workforce 03:45 The Biggest Challenge: Constant Mental Load 07:04 AI, Efficiency Pressure, and Burnout 08:34 Why Removing Admin Work Can Backfire 09:52 Time Boxing and Energy Pattern Planning 11:17 Job Security Anxiety and the AI Threat 12:40 External Stressors: News, Cost of Living, and Low-Grade Anxiety 15:49 How to Curate Your Information Diet 19:29 LinkedIn Tips for Healthier Consumption 20:54 The Problem with Traditional Wellbeing Programs 22:12 Why EAPs Alone Are Not Enough 23:13 From Initiatives to Strategy: The Industry Shift 25:07 The Safe, Productive, and Prosperous Framework 28:06 Redefining What Wellbeing Really Means 29:20 When Should Companies Start Taking Wellbeing Seriously? 30:59 The Wayfinder Framework Explained 35:26 Making It Work for Small and Growing Businesses 37:21 The Wellbeing Enrichment Program 39:24 Real-World Results: Insurance, Burnout Metrics, and ROI 45:28 Recap and Key Takeaways 46:09 Final Tip: Upskill Your Managers First 47:26 Resources and Where to Find Phil 49:28 Closing Remarks Connect with Phil Wolf Visit:  [https://connectshealth.com.au]connectshealth.com.au [https://connectshealth.com.au]  [https://linkedin.com/in/philwolf]linkedin.com/in/philwolf [https://linkedin.com/in/philwolf] Resources Mentioned Programs & Frameworks: Wayfinder Framework — Phil's core model for embedding wellbeing across any size organization: Purpose, Values, Skills, Systems, and Support Wellbeing Enrichment Program — Phil's all-in-one wellbeing solution that replaces traditional EAP models Newsletter: Connects Health Tuesday Newsletter — Weekly practical breakdowns on wellbeing and performance for HR leaders and business owners News Source Mentioned: The Squiz — Australian daily news program offering an unbiased 10-minute summary of current events Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com [https://www.startuppeoplesummit.com] More FNDN Episodes: Spotify:  [https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM]https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM [https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM] Apple Podcast:  [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484]https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484] WorkplaceWellbeing, BurnoutPrevention, StartupCulture, EmployeeWellbeing, WellbeingStrategy, MentalHealthAtWork, WayfinderFramework, PeopleOperations, HRLeadership, StartupCompensation, HighPerformance, WorkplaceResilience, EAPAlternative, PeopleAndCulture, ManagerDevelopment, StartupLeadership, FNDNSeries, AIAndWork, WorkLifeBalance, EmployeeEngagement

The HR Infrastructure Gap No One Is Talking About with Jesse Schofer, Founder at Stacked

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 Jesse Schofer, Founder of Stacked and leading voice in HR tech, we explore the critical infrastructure gaps holding HR teams back from becoming truly strategic functions. We unpack why most people ops teams are stuck in a cycle of reactive admin work, how to build a scalable HR tech stack aligned to business outcomes, and what the future of AI-powered HR infrastructure actually looks like. You don't need a HRIS, you need a PeopleOS. The only platform with native AI is Shapes. Check it out here: https://shapes.co/lp/insights-lp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=matt_april [https://shapes.co/lp/insights-lp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=matt_april] Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:44 Guest Introduction: Jesse Schofer 01:05 Why HR Gets Less Budget Than Other Functions 02:43 The "Too Many Tools" Myth Debunked 04:57 Where to Start: Choosing the Right HR Tech 06:07 Strategic Prioritization Over Reactive Decisions 07:57 Contextual Infrastructure: No One-Size-Fits-All 10:59 Defining Success Before Selecting Tech 12:05 Requirements Mapping: Building Backwards from the Outcome 13:50 The Stacked Database: Broadening Your Vendor Search 16:37 All-in-One vs. Point Solutions 19:22 How New Tech Changes Your Day-to-Day Operations 22:09 The Self-Fulfilling Cycle of Poor HR Infrastructure 29:25 How to Get Executive Buy-In for Infrastructure Investment 35:06 Options Papers and Candid Leadership Conversations 41:32 State of the Union: Where HR Tech Is Falling Short 43:00 AI and the Future of People Ops as a Service Function 48:39 Closing Advice: Take Control of Your Own Development 50:36 Where to Find Jesse Connect with Jesse Visit: stakkd.tech [https://stakkd.tech]  https://linkedin.com/in/jessieschofer [https://linkedin.com/in/jessieschofer]  Join Startup People Summit, a one-day virtual conference designed for startup People leaders who want practical insight, honest conversations and proven approaches to scaling their People function — get your ticket here: www.startuppeoplesummit.com [https://www.startuppeoplesummit.com] Resources Mentioned: Tools & Communities: Stacked – HR tech discovery database built by Jesse to help teams find and shortlist vendors Humans in the Loop – Jesse's Slack community focused on AI and HR tech transformation More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM [https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM]  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484]  HRTech, PeopleOps, HRInfrastructure, StartupHR, HRStrategy, AIinHR, HRTechStack, PeopleOperations, HRTransformation, TechStack, PointSolution, AllInOne, HRLeadership, StrategicHR, FutureOfWork, HRData, PeopleAnalytics, HRBuyIn, ChangeManagement, StartupCompensation

This Company’s Compensation Cycle Takes Five Minutes with Rowan Savage

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 Rowan Savage, Former CTO & Co-Founder at Runn, we explore how unconventional compensation practices can drive zero turnover and 100% employee net promoter scores. Rowan shares how Runn implemented automatic pay rises, pay transparency with exact salaries (no bands), location-agnostic compensation, and the radical practice of paying every role the same at each level—from engineers to marketers. We dive deep into their four-day work week, recruiting philosophy that attracted top 1% talent, and performance management approach that separated pay from performance discussions. Keep watching to discover how these practices resulted in annual pay reviews taking less than five minutes instead of weeks or months.’ Rowan is a serial entrepreneur and tech founder with a strong belief that the way you win is by attracting the best talent, putting the right team together, retaining them over the long term, aligning them on the mission and then unleashing them to do their thing. Rowan was recently the chief technology officer, and one of 4 co-founders at Runn. A fast-growing startup that’s embedded many of these ideas at the core including transparent pay, aysnc remote, worldwide hiring, flexible working hours and let’s not forget a 4 day work week. Chapters: 00:44 Guest Introduction: Rowan Savage 01:48 Philosophy: Building High-Performing Teams 03:13 Consulting Top Talent Before Starting 05:37 People Operations Without HR Experts 08:20 Creating an Employee-Centric Culture 10:04 Redesigning Employment Contracts 13:05 Beyond Compensation: Building Your EVP 16:47 The ESOP Reality in New Zealand 19:42 The Contract as a First Impression 22:15 Hiring Process: Identifying Top Performers 24:05 Recruiting Through Community, Not Job Boards 24:48 Writing Job Ads That Attract Attention 27:09 Long Interview Processes Done Right 30:01 Investing Equal Time as Candidates 31:17 Scaling the Hiring Process 32:56 Attraction Strategy: Making a Great Workplace 34:30 Achieving 100% Employee Net Promoter Score 41:25 Automatic Pay Rises Based on Experience 44:24 Location-Agnostic Global Compensation 46:07 Five-Minute Pay Reviews vs Months-Long Cycles 47:27 Why Performance Comparisons Never Came Up 50:57 Eight-Week Cycles and Performance Tracking 52:34 Sandbagging vs High Performance Culture 54:12 Lessons Learned: Leadership Alignment Challenges 57:46 100% Retention in Engineering Team 59:35 Advice: Focus on People from Day One Connect with Rowan https://www.linkedin.com/in/savagerowan/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/savagerowan/]  Resources Mentioned Runn - Resource management platform for B2B SaaS companies Buffer - Known for pioneering pay transparency practices Atlassian - Australian software company referenced for compensation benchmarks Culture Amp - People and culture platform GitHub - Platform for software development Canva - Australian design platform Company Mentioned: Runn - Resource management platform for B2B SaaS companies Buffer - Company known for pay transparency practices Culture Amp - People and culture platform Atlassian - Australian software company Canva - Australian design platform GitHub - Software development platform Tools Mentioned: DISC Assessment - Personality and behavior assessment tool used by leadership team More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM [https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM] Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484] __________________________________________________ StartupCompensation, PayTransparency, CompensationStrategy, AutomaticPayRises, LocationAgnosticPay, FourDayWorkWeek, HighPerformanceTeams, ZeroTurnover, EmployeeNetPromoterScore, PayEquity, TalentRetention, StartupCulture, RecruitingStrategy, PerformanceManagement, EmployeeEngagement, CompensationFrameworks, StartupBestPractices, PeopleOperations, RemoteWork, GlobalCompensation

Steal Big Tech's Playbook For The Worlds Best Comp Practices

Welcome back to the FNDN Series. In this episode, we sit down with Arif Ender, Director of Compensation at Palo Alto Networks and former compensation leader at Meta. We unpack the strategic differentiators tech giants use to scale from 5,000 to 50,000+ employees. We explore why job architecture is the non-negotiable foundation for growth, the looming challenges of the EU Pay Transparency Directive, and how AI tools like Claude Code are democratizing the competitive advantages once reserved for Silicon Valley titans. Arif shares practical strategies for building custom HR tools, managing global expansion, and maintaining pay equity at scale. About the Guest Arif Ender is a Total Rewards expert with nearly two decades of experience at Palo Alto Networks, Meta, Mars, and Nestlé. Currently the Director of Compensation for EMEA & LATAM at Palo Alto Networks, he oversees strategy across 65+ countries. Arif is also a faculty member at WorldatWork and holds CCP, GRP, and CSCP certifications. He specializes in navigating market volatility, sales incentives, and regulatory compliance on a global scale. Chapters 00:44 Guest Introduction: Arif Ender 01:08 EU Pay Transparency Directive: The Year Ahead 02:59 Beyond Data Modeling: Change Management Challenges 04:39 Correcting Past Practices & Preventing Future Issues 06:02 Making the Business Case: Fines, Tenders, and Reputation 09:36 Scaling Compensation: From 500 to 5,000+ Employees 12:55 Job Architecture: The Non-Negotiable Foundation 16:22 The Meta Advantage: Custom-Built HR Tools 18:02 Scaling Crisis: Approving 800 Offers Solo 20:01 Why Most Companies Lack Meta's Tooling Strategy 24:06 AI's Democratization of Competitive Advantages 28:06 Learning Claude Code: The Practical Roadmap 32:08 Building Custom Tools: Family Finance to Market Pricing 36:01 Why People Teams Should Build Their Own Tools 38:00 The "Rest of World" Problem for US-Headquartered Companies 41:09 First Moves: Hiring Global Expertise Early 42:18 The Painful Transition: Structuring for Scale 43:14 "Hire at All Cost" vs. Pay Equity Reality 48:02 Meta's Philosophy: No Counter-Offers Ever 52:28 2026 and Beyond: EU Pay Transparency Predictions 56:04 Cultural Nuances: The Nigeria Allowances Story Connect with Arif LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/arifender [http://linkedin.com/in/arifender] Resources Mentioned Companies & Organizations: Palo Alto Networks – Global cybersecurity leader. Meta (Facebook) – Where Arif scaled comp during hyper-growth. WorldatWork – The leading association for Total Rewards professionals. WGEA – Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Tools & Technologies: Claude Code – AI tool for building custom applications. Lovable – AI-driven rapid app development. Gemini & ChatGPT – Large Language Models for productivity. Next.js – Framework used for building HR tool frontends. Concepts & Frameworks: EU Pay Transparency Directive – New legislation regarding pay equity. Job Architecture – The framework for organizing roles and levels. Statistical Regression Modeling – Used for deep pay equity analysis. More FNDN Episodes Spotify: Listen Here [http://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM%20] Apple Podcast: Listen Here [http://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484%20] Tags: #EUPayTransparency #CompensationAtScale #PayEquity #JobArchitecture #MetaCompensation #StartupCompensation #GlobalCompensation #AITools #ClaudeCode #HRTech #PeopleOps #TalentStrategy #CompFrameworks #GenderPayGap #ScalingStartups

Everything You Know About Paying Fairly is Wrong | With What Pay Costs' Author James Seechurn

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 James Seechurn, author of What Pay Costs and Nothing Left to Take Away, we challenge everything you thought you knew about compensation. James dismantles the myths behind pay for performance models, merit cycles, and competency frameworks while exploring why companies fail to pay people fairly. We dive into the tension between chaos and control in startups, examine the future of work in an AI-driven economy, and discuss how participative workforces and employee ownership can transform company culture. Stick around for one of the most eye-opening conversations about compensation you'll ever hear. James Alexander Seechurn is an author and advisor specializing in sales compensation, incentives, and the design of reward systems. He advises companies on how pay, job architecture, and performance systems shape behavior, culture, and long-term outcomes. James is the author of Nothing Left to Take Away and What Pay Costs, where he challenges conventional pay-for-performance thinking and draws on research, history, and real-world examples to rethink how organizations motivate people. Chapters: 00:44 Guest Introduction: James Seechurn 02:26 The Balance of Chaos and Control in Startups 07:04 Pay Transparency and the Failure of Fair Compensation 11:35 Why Companies Haven't Paid People Fairly 16:23 Making the Economic Case for Fair Pay 20:43 Innovation Failures: BlackBerry, Google, and Kodak 26:45 Employee Ownership vs VC-Backed Models 31:35 The Problems with Merit Cycles and Pay for Performance 37:11 Why Competency Frameworks Infantilize Employees 43:22 Career Progression as the True Reward 48:37 Pay Tiers and Living Wages: A Better Approach 56:21 Peer-to-Peer Rewards and Participative Workforces 1:03:57 Advice for Startup Leaders: Trust Your People 1:12:39 The Future of Work in a Stagnant Wage Environment 1:21:02 Fractional Work and the Possible Return of Unions 1:27:21 The Executive Pay Problem 1:33:35 The Role of a Great CEO Connect with James Visit: LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-seechurn/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-seechurn/]  Guest: James Seechurn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-seechurn/] Resources Mentioned Books: * What Pay Costs [https://www.amazon.com/What-Pay-Costs-Compensation-Performance/dp/B0FV3VPXWW?sr=8-1&linkId=042ab7edfb4106f2db33996505fd216a&language=en_US] by James Seechurn * Nothing Left to Take Away [https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Left-Take-Away-High-Performing/dp/B0DX4MRMSL] by James Seechurn * The Hidden Brain - Book on inherent bias * The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile  Companies Mentioned: * Semco (Brazil) - Employee-owned participative workforce model * Valve - Gaming company with employee-decided structure * Morning Star (US) - Participative workforce example * PayPal - Living wage implementation * Whole Foods - Early pay transparency adopter * Carter - No negotiation pay stance * Emco (Brazil) - Employee ownership and salary-setting model  Concepts: * Knowledge work (Peter Drucker, 1959) * Cognitive closure (Ari Lansky) * Self-perception theory and self-determination theory * ESOPs (Employee Share Ownership Programs) * DAOs (Distributed Autonomous Organizations)  More FNDN Episodes: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM [https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM]  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484]