Building a hiring plan for your next fundraise

This guide explains how to build a strategic hiring plan to prepare for your next fundraise, including how to align headcount with business goals and model the impact on your cap table.

What is a hiring plan?

A hiring plan is a strategic document that outlines your company’s hiring needs over a specific period. More than a human resources checklist, a hiring plan is a detailed roadmap that translates your business goals into a tangible recruitment plan. It is the key output of your strategic workforce planning and the foundation of your entire recruitment strategy. It specifies which roles you need to fill, when you need to hire them, and the budget required to bring them on board, which is information that may be subject to pay transparency laws.

While a hiring plan has traditionally covered the next twelve to eighteen months, recent market shifts mean you’ll likely need a much longer runway, especially when you consider that there are over 1,500 active unicorns globally, many of which require multi-year staffing roadmaps.

This plan is also a core part of your fundraising narrative and a key component of your pitch deck. It shows investors that you have a clear plan for how you’ll deploy their capital to build the team that will execute your vision and hit critical milestones.

Why you need an investor-ready hiring plan

In today’s tough funding environment, investors view your hiring plan as a powerful signal of operational maturity, especially since data shows that leaner teams are more successful at fundraising. For instance, startups that closed seed funding in the first half of 2024 had an average of just 5.3 employees, down from 6.9 in the first half of 2021.

At most stages, successful fundraising teams have been smaller. It shows you’ve graduated from reactive, chaotic hiring to strategically planning for scale, which is critical when data shows that successful but lean startup teams average just four employees at their founding. This discipline de-risks their investment in your company and gives you a significant advantage when you’re asking for capital.

Detailed plan benefits:

• Builds investor confidence: A detailed plan demonstrates foresight and operational discipline. It shows you are a responsible steward of investors' capital.
• Justifies your valuation: Your plan connects the dots between the money you’re raising and the team you’ll build to hit the milestones that support your valuation.
• Manages your equity strategically: A hiring plan helps you think critically about your employee option pool and dilution for attracting top talent.

How to build your hiring plan

You should build a strong hiring plan on the foundation of your business goals and financial model. It’s a logical exercise in turning your hiring strategy into a list of necessary roles. We'll walk you through how to create a plan that will stand up to investor scrutiny and serve as a practical guide for your company's growth.

Step 1: Align headcount with your business goals

Start with your pitch deck and financial model, grounding your plan in core business dynamics and data. Your business goals are the "why" behind every hire. Map your key milestones for the next eighteen months (like a product launch or revenue target) to the specific roles required to achieve them. If your goal is to double your annual recurring revenue (ARR), you’ll likely need more sales and marketing staff.

Next, perform a simple skills gap analysis to create lists of current team member skills and needed skills to hit your next goals. The gaps represent your future hires.

Step 2: Define roles and responsibilities

For each planned hire, create a clear, outcome-oriented job description. Instead of just listing tasks, focus on what you expect the person in that role to achieve in their first six to twelve months. This clarity helps attract the right talent and shows investors the purpose and measurable return on investment for each role.

Step 3: Create a hiring budget and timeline

Forecast the total cost for each new hire, which includes salary, bonuses, benefits, and payroll taxes. Establish clear salary bands using data from similar companies.

Step 4: Model the impact on your cap table

Dilution impacts shareholder ownership when new shares are issued to grant equity to employees. Use equity management software to model the dilutive impact of your hiring plan.

Step 5: Assemble your hiring team

Define who is responsible for what in the hiring process. Ensure alignment on the hiring plan, budget, the importance of each role, and who makes hiring decisions.

How to use your hiring plan

Your hiring plan is a living document to guide recruitment efforts, manage budgets, and track progress. Review these numbers quarterly to inform your hiring initiatives and present your plan to investors during due diligence.