The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR 289 - How to build an HR consulting business (And Scale to $500K Fast)
Mar 23, 2026
Matt McFarlane, founder of FNDN and compensation specialist who helps startups build their first pay practices, shares his journey from in-house HR to running a niche consultancy. He discusses niching to compensation, validating ideas through customer research, building a standout brand, using LinkedIn and content for inbound leads, pricing strategies, and expanding into a portfolio career with events and media.
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Leaving In House Sparked Market Validation
- Matt left in-house at Oyster during a downturn and used the gap months to validate demand by speaking to customers.
- He discovered repeated inbound questions about multi-country pay and pivoted from general HR to compensation for startups (50–500 employees).
Narrow Your ICP To Win Attention
- Narrow your ICP until it feels almost absurdly specific to create clarity and resonance.
- Matt focused on startups 50–500 headcount and three deliverables: comp philosophy, job level framework, and salary bands to simplify messaging.
Pay For A Distinct Brand Upfront
- Invest in intentional branding from day one to signal seriousness and stand out against bland competitors.
- Matt paid his partner's agency full price to build Foundation's visual identity and used color/curves to contrast traditional comp vendors.