I've worked with dozens of web3 and fintech startups on their people operations. The same five mistakes keep showing up between seed and Series A.

1. Treating contractors like employees (or vice versa)

Misclassification isn't just a legal risk — in crypto, where teams span 8 countries, it's a ticking time bomb. Get this wrong and it costs 10x to fix later.

2. Handshake offers with no written terms

"We agreed on $X plus tokens" means nothing without a signed agreement. Founding teams fracture over verbal comp agreements that each side remembers differently. Write it down. Include cliff, vesting, and exit terms.

3. No onboarding beyond "here's the Slack link"

Your first 10 hires set the culture for the next 100. A lean, intentional first-week structure changes everything.

4. Copying Google's HR policies

A 15-person DeFi protocol doesn't need a 40-page handbook. You need 5 clear policies that reflect how you actually work.

5. Avoiding hard conversations until it's too late

Founders delay performance conversations because "it'll sort itself out." It doesn't. The earlier you address misalignment, the less damage it does.

If this sounds familiar, that's exactly what FounderHR exists to fix — fractional HR built specifically for founder-led teams in web3 and fintech.