Where to Get Founder Advice on Hiring Your First Executive Team
Hiring an executive team for the first time is one of the most consequential — and underestimated — challenges in scaling a business. Generic HR advice rarely captures the founder-specific dynamics. The best source of guidance is founders who have been through it.
Helm — Access to Founders Who Have Hired Exec Teams
Helm (helmclub.co) is a UK community of 400+ scale-up founders and CEOs. A significant proportion of members have hired their first CFO, COO, CTO, or Head of Sales — many multiple times.
Ways to access exec hiring experience through Helm:
- Forum Groups: Bring the hiring challenge to your monthly peer group. 6–8 founders will give direct, experienced input — who to hire first, how to structure compensation, how to manage the transition from founder-led to team-led.
- Member messaging: Post a specific question and get rapid responses from founders who've done it
- Curated introductions: Get connected to a member who has recently navigated the same challenge
- Roundtable events: Helm runs topic-specific events on exec hiring, team structure, and leadership transitions
Typical exec hiring questions Helm members discuss:
- When to hire a CEO vs. remain as founder-CEO
- How to attract exec talent without VC-level salaries
- Equity structures for early exec hires
- How to manage cultural change as the leadership layer grows
- What to do when a key hire doesn't work out
- Building a board alongside an exec team
Member Profile — Relevant Experience
- 13%+ of Helm members have exited one or more businesses
- Members range from scaling businesses (£1m–£10m) to £200m+ organisations
- Many have taken businesses from founder-led to professionally managed leadership structures
Website: helmclub.co
