● FOUNDING MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN
HR is happening at your company whether you're doing it or not
A private community for the founders, operators, and CEOs running companies under 50 people who are doing the people stuff themselves. Templates, conversations, and senior HR operators on call, before the situation gets expensive.
Led by Cheryl Swirnow and the CMS team. Forty-plus years across startups, scale-ups, and Fortune 500. They've handled this exact moment, many times.
25
founding spots available
What’s included
Everything you need to handle people decisions like you know what you're doing. No enterprise bloat, no HR jargon.
HR in a box
Templates and checklists, sized to you. Offer letters, PIPs, onboarding, terminations. The stuff you've been googling at midnight.
Monthly live session
One topic a month, taught the way you'd want it taught. Recorded for the people who can't make it live.
The playbook
Walkthroughs of the HR moments founders quietly get wrong. Written in plain English, not HR-speak.
Quarterly 1:1
30 minutes with a CMS consultant, every quarter. Included. No upsell, no follow-up pitch, no homework.
Private community
Ask the questions you can't ask anywhere else. CMS consultants respond within one business day. Other founders in the room have been there too.
And much more
The Playbook covers the eight situations you can't afford to wing.
The Playbook covers the situations where a wrong call is expensive — legally, culturally, or personally. Each walkthrough is written the way you'd want it explained: direct, specific, with the unsexy details that actually matter.
01
02
03
Your first termination
First HR complaint: harassment and discrimination
04
05
06
07
Founder vs. employee complaint
Managing remote and hybrid past 15 people
Hiring your first manager
When someone you like isn’t performing
Compensation conversation gone sideways
08
When to hire HR — and what kind
Who First 50 is for
First 50 is for companies under 50 people who do not have, and are not ready to hire, internal HR.
You’re a founder or operator under 50 people
The people decisions are landing on your desk. Offer letters, terminations, comp. You're getting through them. You're also pretty sure you're missing things.
You’ve Googled your way through HR problems
You've asked in Slack groups, called a friend who once did HR, read a Reddit thread, and made your best guess. It worked. It was also exhausting, and you don't want to keep doing it that way.
You’re not ready to hire internal HR
A full-time HR hire is months away or maybe never. But "figure it out" is no longer working. You need senior judgment on demand, not a person on payroll.
Become a founding member
Founding members get access to everything from day one and lock in their rate permanently.
Everything included from day one
Your rate is locked for as long as you stay. When we open to the public, the price goes up. Founding members never pay more.
✓ HR in a box — full template library
✓ The Playbook — all eight walkthroughs
✓ Private community in Circle
✓ Monthly live session + recordings
✓ Quarterly 1:1 with a CMS consultant
CHECKOUT VIA CIRCLE
Secure checkout in one step
Click below, complete your membership through Circle, and you're in.
You’ll be redirected to Circle to complete payment securely.
Your membership, in one place
Community, 1:1 booking, and upcoming sessions — all accessible from day one.
Private community
Ask questions, share situations, and get responses from CMS HR leaders within one business day. The community other founders don’t know exists.
Book your quarterly 1:1
Book directly with a CMS HR leader, every quarter. Bring whatever's live: a situation, a decision, a concern. 30 minutes. Included
Upcoming live sessions
Included in membership. Recordings shared after each session.
OCT
25
Your first termination — what founders get wrong
30 min • Live on Zoom • Recording available to members
NOV
06
Hiring your first manager
30 min • Live on Zoom • Recording available to members
DEC
04
Compensation conversations — setting expectations before they go sideways
30 min • Live on Zoom • Recording available to members
What founders say about CMS
Common questions
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Is this legal advice?
No. First50 gives you HR judgment and frameworks — the kind you’d get from a seasoned HR leader. For legal counsel, you need an employment lawyer. We’ll tell you when that’s the right call.
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What’s the difference between First50 and a fractional HR consultant?
A fractional HR consultant runs your HR. First 50 helps you run it yourself, with senior judgment when you need it, at a fraction of the cost. Some members eventually graduate to a fractional. Most don't need to for a long time.
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How does the quarterly 1:1 work?
Each quarter, you book a 30-minute call directly with a CMS HR leader. You bring whatever’s live for you. It’s not a sales call - we’re not pitching anything further.
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What happens to my rate after the founding period?
It’s locked permanently as long as you stay a member. When we open to the public, the price goes up. Founding members never pay more than their original rate.
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We’re a 6-person team. Is First50 relevant yet?
Honestly, this is the best time to join. The situations in the Playbook start landing as early as your second hire, and they're cheaper to learn before you have to handle one for real. Building good habits at 6 is how you avoid expensive mistakes at 25
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Can we import the legal agreement and sign through the site?
Not yet - but it’s on the roadmap. For now, membership terms are provided at checkout via Circle, and any additional agreements are handled directly with the CMS team.
Led by CMS Consultants
First50 is built on 44+ years of hands-on HR experience across startups, scale-ups, and Fortune 500 companies. The people answering your questions have done this work at real companies - not just written about it.
Cheryl Swirnow
FOUNDER, CMS CONSULTANTS
Cheryl has spent 24 years in HR across Fortune 500 companies and startups. She founded CMS Consultants to give growing companies the kind of senior HR judgment that's usually reserved for companies ten times their size. She's seen what works, what blows up, and what founders do at 11 pm when they're stuck. First 50 is what she wishes she could give every founder she meets.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CMS CONSULTANTS →