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↗️ Founders don’t escape performance reviews. They get reviewed too

🧩 Recalibrate your mid-year HR strategy like a CPeO

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Founders don’t escape performance reviews. They get reviewed too

Have you ever wondered who evaluates your founder's performance? Or, be honest (says David Beckham), have you ever thought: founders kind of get away with it. They're the one person in the company we never ask to write a self-reflection, submit a performance review, or be included in the calibration where everyone debates whether the founder “meets expectations” or “strongly exceeds”. 

I rejoined Notion Capital this year (for round two 😆). Halfway through an investor biannual meeting, while listening to a portfolio review, my HR brain lit up. Hang on….this sounds exactly like a performance review for founders. Actually, no. It is a performance calibration for all companies across an entire fund.

And what I was observing had more clarity, rigour and commercial discipline than most of the performance systems we build inside companies. 😬

How founders actually get reviewed

1. Performance calibration (biannually)

Every founder’s company in a fund is calibrated against every other company in that same fund. If a VC has deployed £500m across a 3-year investment window, every company in that cohort is reviewed together — performance ranked, patterns identified, outliers discussed.

Sound familiar? It's the same calibration model we use for employees😅. But there are 2 things I noticed in this calibration that I don't see often enough inside organisations:

1. The focus is on results, and

2. Results are objective

When a founder’s company performance is calibrated, the conversation starts with the metrics that matter: ARR, NRR, gross margin, revenue versus forecast, Rule of 40, cash burn and whichever revenue efficiency metrics the investors use. And none of this is a surprise to founders. They know exactly what they're being measured on.

The only question that matters is:

Only once the objective metrics have been assessed does the conversation shift: What's causing this? What have they tried? What support do they need?

This sequencing, I realise, is key. In most performance calibrations, we spend too much time arguing about ‘effort’ instead of objective results. "But she worked really hard this quarter." By the time we've settled whether someone deserves a 3 or a 4, the meeting is over.

When results are evaluated objectively first, the conversation is quick. And that frees up time for the part that actually improves performance: diagnosing context, then designing targeted support based on what isn't working and what's needed.

2. Regular feedback and review (monthly)

Investors and founders have regular board meetings, typically monthly or quarterly. A good board meeting runs like a well-run 1:1. It creates a continuous feedback loop, where the founder shares how the business is performing, the numbers are reviewed, support is provided, and next steps are agreed.

Again, the anchor is objective metrics. The conversation is grounded in what has happened, what the data is showing, what needs to change, and what comes next. #Nosurprises for the founder or the investor.

 3. Long-term progression & reward (5-10 years)

A founder's company performance is not evaluated twice a year in isolation. It is tracked across a 5–10 year arc, because their job is to build a company that creates lasting value, secures future funding, and delivers on the original vision.

You might read this and think: “It’s all about revenue efficiency. Isn't this just capitalism optimising for returns?”

Fair challenge🙂. But hold that thought alongside this: most founders started their business with a vision to solve a specific problem — whether it’s making healthcare more affordable, finance more accessible, the world more sustainable, or day-to-day life more seamless for millions of people.

But for that vision to survive long enough to reach those people, the financial metrics have to work. Revenue, margin, funding, and growth are the fuel that buys runway. And without a runway, the mission never reaches the people it was built for. 

That's why clarity of financial performance matters to keep the collective vision alive — the same vision your employees joined for, and the same reason your best people choose to stay.

The founder's performance review sets the expectations for the whole business 

The biannual calibration, monthly feedback loop and long-term progression arc all run on the same rails: objective metrics, #nosurprises, and results-focused.

But this review does not just evaluate your founder; it sets the performance expectations for the whole business. The metrics your founder walks into the board meeting with are the metrics the company needs to build towards. 

For HR, this matters on 2 fronts. First, those metrics should shape the performance system you build, so teams are measured against the outcomes the business actually needs. Second, they should shape your HR strategy, so your priorities, hiring plans, capability focus and reward decisions are aligned to what the business is being evaluated on. 

Recalibrate your mid-year HR strategy like a CPeO 

I'm going to start with a confession. In my early days as a Head of People, whenever my founder and CoS were preparing the board pack, I went straight to the section tagged for me… 🏷️the people and org update. I filled in my part, and that was it. I didn't read the revenue metrics. I didn't look at the ARR trajectory or the cash burn. I skimmed past the forecast versus actuals. 

In my head, that was the CFO’s role. They would make sure we were on track. I had enough on my plate, so it didn’t feel like my priority. When I shared this at a recent STEP UP Bootcamp, I saw the recognition on everyone’s faces. Then, one by one, some of the sharpest HR leaders I know admitted they do the same thing.

If this is you too, don’t panic. There is always a moment when you realise you need to step up and become more strategic, more commercial, and more connected to the business. Let this be that reminder.

Mid-year is a business recalibration point 

By now, your investors will likely have reviewed your start-up’s performance, and your founder will be in active conversations with them about how the business is really doing. Are you ahead or behind the plan? Is revenue tracking? Is the burn under control? Do you need to pivot, pull back, or double down? 

This is not just a founder/investor update. It is a business recalibration, and if the business recalibrates, your HR strategy needs to recalibrate too. Priorities, hiring plans, capabilities, leadership focus, performance expectations, reward decisions and where teams spend their energy should all be reviewed through that lens. Otherwise, you risk running an HR strategy based on assumptions that are already out of date.

Step 1: Start with the founder’s metrics

If you have not started this conversation with your founder yet, mid-year is the perfect moment. You still have 6 months to influence whether the company hits its goals.

Start simply. Ask your founder:

• “What are you being evaluated on by your investors right now?”

• “What has changed since the start of the year?”

• “What matters most in the next 6 months?”

• “Where do we need the business to perform differently?”

Then read the board pack from page one. I know it can feel intimidating, so set a realistic expectation for yourself. You are not trying to become a finance expert, nor are you expected to have opinions on every commercial decision suddenly. You are simply trying to understand what the business promised, what it is delivering, where the pressure is building and what has changed since the original plan was set.

Step 2: Audit your HR strategy against business reality

From there, audit your HR strategy against the current business reality. If the founder’s performance review is shaping the direction of the business, your HR strategy needs to respond to that direction too.

Look at your priorities, hiring plans, capability gaps, leadership focus, performance expectations, talent review, reward principles and where your team is spending time. Then ask:

If the answer is yes, you have alignment. If the answer is no, you have drift. 

And if your answer is, “I’m not sure how to connect HR to business impact,” here is a guide to get you started: 🔗 Linking HR work to business impact is simpler than you think 

And I will hazard a guess. At mid-year, your investors and founder are probably looking hard at whether revenue is on target. And if the business is missing revenue, the conversation often turns quickly to cost-cutting… sigh😔. 

So let me remind you of something: HR is better positioned to drive revenue growth than we often realise. Behind every stalled pipeline, rising churn stat or missed upsell opportunity, there is usually a people problem in disguise.

And where there is a people problem, there is an HR solution. I wrote more about this here: ✂️ Refocus HR for growth, not just cost-cutting

This is your moment to step up like a commercial CPeO 

Your business is recalibrating at mid-year right now. That conversation between your founder and their investors, where priorities shift, expectations reset, and the direction of the business gets re-pointed, is probably already happening.

Which means this is your window.

The HR leaders who step up at moments like this already understand what the business is being held accountable for. They show up to every conversation already aligned to what it needs.

Make sure your HR strategy reflects the business your founder is being evaluated on today, not the business you planned for at the start of the year. If there is a gap, mid-year is your moment to close it.

Step up from HR Leader to Business Leader

Ready to influence strategically, drive business impact and make HR indispensable?
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