Fractional HR · For Founders

Your first people hire
shouldn't be a full-time one.

Practical HR leadership for Indian and South Asian founders entering the US market — technical hiring, GTM and revenue teams, early leadership, compliance, comp, and culture. Without the overhead of a full-time head.

Let's Talk See how it works ↓
150+
people hired across
6 countries
0
external agencies —
ever
98%
offer acceptance rate
across all markets
15yr
building people functions
from scratch
Who This Is For

Built specifically for
founders like you.

If you're expanding to the US, you're about to face hiring laws, comp benchmarks, and employment norms that are completely different from what you know. Most founders find this out the hard way.

🌏
Indian & South Asian Founders Coming to the US
You have a working product and a team back home. Now you need to hire in the US — a market with different compensation expectations, employment law, equity norms, and candidate behaviour. I've built teams across both, so I know exactly where founders get it wrong.
🚀
Early-Stage Teams That Are Starting to Grow
You don't need a full-time HR head yet — but you need someone who can set the foundations correctly. The first 10 hires in a new market define your culture, your cost structure, and your ability to retain people for the next five years. Get those wrong and they're expensive to fix.
What I Bring

The things founders
usually figure out too late.

Drawn from 15 years building people functions from scratch — including 6 years inside a Sequoia-backed AI company, and hiring AI engineers and AI GTM specialists since 2018.

01
AI & Technical Hiring
I've been hiring AI engineers since before most companies knew they needed them — ML researchers, computer vision engineers, applied scientists, and senior technical ICs. Since 2018. I know what these candidates look for, what closes them, and what makes them leave six months later.
02
GTM, Revenue & Sales Hiring
AI GTM is a different profile from traditional sales. I've hired AI GTM specialists, revenue leaders, and sales engineers for technical products since 2018 — people who can sell something buyers are still learning to understand. Getting this wrong at the early stage costs more than the salary.
03
Early Leadership Hiring
First VP of Sales. First Head of Product. First country lead. These hires set the direction for everything that follows. I specialise in early leadership searches — the roles where fit, timing, and how the offer is structured matter more than any job description.
04
US Market Hiring
Comp benchmarks, candidate expectations, offer norms, and what actually closes talent in the US — including the differences most India-based founders don't realise until an offer gets turned down.
05
Compensation & Employment Law
Pay bands, equity structuring, variable pay, federal and state employment law, contractor vs employee classification, at-will employment, and the filings founders forget about until they get a letter.
06
Remote & Distributed Teams
Built and kept a team of 150+ engaged across 6 countries — all remote. Onboarding, culture, and performance systems that actually work when nobody's in the same room.
07
AI-Powered HR Operations
I use AI tools intensively to build automations across the people function — sourcing workflows, offer management, onboarding sequences, performance tracking. This isn't a side interest. If you want a people function that runs lean and moves fast, I can help you build the infrastructure to do that.
08
Employer Brand
When you're unknown in a new market, your ability to attract candidates depends entirely on how you show up. I've built employer brands from nothing that led to 98% offer acceptance and Glassdoor scores that stood up to scrutiny.
How It Works

Simple pricing.
No surprises.

A monthly retainer for ongoing HR leadership, with an optional recruiting add-on. No agency markups. No long-term lock-in to start.

Fractional HR · Monthly
People Leadership Retainer
$3,500
per month · cancel anytime after 3 months
Ongoing HR leadership — available as a thinking partner, a decision-maker, or a doer, depending on what you need that week.
  • US employment law guidance and compliance
  • Compensation design and benchmarking
  • Offer structuring and negotiation support
  • Remote team culture and onboarding frameworks
  • Performance and goal-setting processes
  • Equity and variable pay design
  • Weekly async or live sessions — your call
Start the Conversation
Recruiting Add-On · Monthly
Hands-On Hiring Support
+$1,500
per month · up to 2 active openings
Active recruiting for up to 2 roles at a time — sourcing, screening, and managing the process end to end. Placement fee if we close.
  • Up to 2 active openings worked simultaneously
  • Sourcing, outreach, and pipeline management
  • Screening and structured interview design
  • Offer strategy and candidate closing
  • 4% flat placement fee on successful hire
  • Market average is 15–20% — you keep the rest
Add Recruiting
On the recruiting fee: Standard agency rates in the US run 15–20% of annual salary. The flat 4% is intentional — it covers the work without creating an incentive to push candidates who aren't right for the role. You'll know exactly what a placement costs before we start.
Barkha
Sharma.
Head of Human Capital, Wobot AI
Founder, BASH AI (Seed Funded · Acqui-hired)
Dublin, CA · Bay Area
Sequoia Backed Company 15 Years 6 Countries Founder Bay Area

I started my career in recruiting, moved into HR business partnering, then founded BASH AI — an AI-driven recruitment platform that was seed funded and acqui-hired. Before the word AI was common vocabulary, I was selling it to enterprise HR teams in India and learning what that actually takes.

Since 2019, I've been Head of Human Capital at Wobot AI, a Sequoia-backed computer vision company. I joined when the team was 5 people and built the entire people function — hiring, compensation, culture, performance — across India, US, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam, and Mexico. We never used an agency. Our offer acceptance rate has sat at 98% across six years. We're Great Place to Work certified with a 97.5 eNPS.

I know what it costs to make bad early hires in a new market. I know what US candidates expect that founders from India often don't realise until an offer gets turned down. And I know how to build a people function that doesn't need to be rebuilt in two years.

If you're an Indian or South Asian founder expanding to the US, I'd genuinely like to talk.

Get in Touch

Send me a note.
I'll come back to you.

Tell me where you are — market you're entering, team size, what's on your mind on the people side. I'll respond within 48 hours.

Based in Dublin, CA — available for founders across the US and those expanding from India.

No spam. No newsletter. Just a reply from Barkha.