Your Tech Startup's Talent Expert

You’re at a pivotal moment in your startup’s growth: Don’t leave your people behind. Cultivate Talent is a readily available, flexible and integral HR partner to your leadership team.

Set the Talent Foundation You'll Need

Unlock the Potential of Your Talent Leader

Cast a Vision for Your People Strategy

As You Scale...

You’ll find that your biggest business challenges are actually people challenges. In fact, the single largest cost you’ll face is your employees – around 80% of total expenses!

That’s why we’re here – to help you navigate this pivotal period of growth, set the foundation for your people strategy, and scale your HR function alongside your tech startup.

A Customized Approach for Your Unique Situation

One size does not fit all: That’s why you’ll get a customized approach to develop your people and company.

Cultivate Talent will join your leadership team during your tech startup’s most critical growth stages – when you need an experienced talent leader but aren’t quite ready to hire a full-time HR executive.

Startup HR Foundations

Create a talent roadmap that serves as a success metric and guide for future people decisions.

Fractional HR Leadership

Before hiring a full-time talent executive, discover your needs and fill your short-term gap with an HR veteran.

Talent Acquisition Strategy

Growing pains? Design a clear sourcing and hiring strategy to onboard top talent now and in the future.

Happy Clients

"Julie has been one of the most important assets to successfully scaling our organization. She is an expert in her field, extremely responsive, has a mighty capacity, and has felt like a true extension of our internal team. We wouldn't be where we are today without her."

"[Julie] has pushed me and our Exec/Leadership teams to be better stewards of our team’s health and development. She’s dedicated significant energy towards improving our processes and documentation. And, she’s provided me with coaching that will have a significant impact on how our team succeeds in the future."

"As a digital product agency, our people are our product and absolutely critical to our business's success. We appreciate Julie having a pulse on our team, our culture, and understanding what success looks like with our clients. She has been instrumental in helping us proactively plan our talent strategy, and we are grateful for her continued partnership."

How We'll Work Together

With 15+ years of talent leadership experience in tech startups, Cultivate Talent is your expert partner in managing your people and preparing for future HR challenges while you scale. This is how we’ll work together to create long-term success for your people and your organization:

01

Align Your Talent & Business Strategies

A foundation for your talent strategy is critical. We’ll engrain your values in your business processes by setting clear communication and DE&I strategies that your people understand and respect.

02

Attract & Onboard the Best People

It all starts with sourcing top talent. We’ll design best-in-class recruitment and onboarding strategies consistent with your brand and culture. In fact, candidates and employees will brag about their experience.

03

Develop & Reward Your Employees

Developing your talent, especially your leaders, is crucial during your startup’s growth. In this step of our partnership, you’ll align individual performance with your business strategy and goals, compensation philosophy and development.

04

Cultivate Your Talent

With mentorship and coaching from an experienced startup HR leader, you’ll create a productive, engaging, meaningful employee experience closely connected with your mission and values. Win win!

Our Belief

At Cultivate Talent we share your goal to be an employer of choice for people who align with your mission and values. To make this a reality, you need a strong focus on your employees, processes, strategy and talent roadmap.

The challenge is that humans are human. As a leader, you realize that each of your employees has a diverse set of backgrounds and abilities, and they desire to bring all of those experiences, energy and emotion to their work. You may feel like you don’t even know where to start.

Fortunately, we understand your experience. Cultivate Talent has years of skill and experience in managing talent in tech, startups, scaleups and large businesses.

Here’s how we do it:

We recognize where you are and where you’re heading. We implement a customized plan for you, your team and your startup. We focus on tangible, practical projects that move your business forward.

So, it’s time to take action. With Cultivate Talent by your side, you can stop talking about people being at the core and instead, make it a reality.

Discover Your Gaps & Fill Them

As you scale, you’ll encounter numerous people challenges, which if unaddressed, can cause long-term issues for your team and in turn, your customers.

Learn which gaps exist in your talent function and how you can fill them. Download the Cultivate Talent services one-pager. Then get your free consultation with talent expert Julie Barker.

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Start the Conversation

Julie Barker has 15+ years’ experience in talent and human resources with the last 13 focused specifically on startup and scaleup tech organizations.

Julie’s three years as VP of Talent at Zylo were focused on growth culture and all things people in a scaleup. Prior to Zylo, she oversaw global recruiting and HR talent strategy for companies like Appirio, Interactive Intelligence, Teradata and Aprimo. She has lead talent functions through periods of extreme growth, acquisitions and integration.

Julie currently chairs DisruptHR Indianapolis – an HR information exchange and idea accelerator.

Your Tech Startup's Talent Expert​