Why Great Startups Lose Great People | How to Retain Top Talent with Smart Compensation & Incentives

Описание: Why Great Startups Lose Great People | How to Retain Top Talent with Smart Compensation & Incentives


When you’re building a healthcare startup, there’s one resource you can’t afford to waste—your people.

Too often, founders lose top talent because they rely on quick fixes instead of designing compensation and incentives that keep employees engaged for the long haul.

In this episode, I sat down with Scott Trumpolt, a compensation consultant with 30+ years of HR experience, including 12 years advising startups and healthcare companies.

We explore how founders can balance equity vs. pay, stay transparent with teams, and build incentive structures that attract talent, retain high performers, and strengthen investor confidence, all while making people feel valued and aligned with the mission.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
🔑 How compensation and engagement together drive retention
🔑 Ways early-stage founders can balance equity, cash, and variable pay
🔑 Why transparency builds trust and loyalty inside small teams
🔑 How tying incentives to milestones strengthens investor confidence

Timestamps:
00:00:00 – Why talent needs more than pay to stay
00:01:47 – Why retention matters in early-stage startups
00:03:16 – Scott’s 30-year journey in HR and consulting
00:05:58 – Appreciation as a retention factor
00:08:52 – Equity, variable pay, and survival mode
00:12:25 – Capital Engine: investor readiness support
00:16:51 – Hiring for today’s needs vs. future scalability
00:19:59 – Candidate frustrations: ghosting and misfit hiring
00:23:05 – Keeping people engaged during slow growth phases
00:25:23 – Career architecture as a hiring tool
00:29:51 – Using long-term incentives for senior leaders
00:33:15 – Sabrina’s closing call: apply lessons to your team
00:34:32 – Six key learning points from today’s episode

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