Why the Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 1 with Shirley Baumer  Co-founder at Dream Team

Why the Best People Teams Think Like Product Teams - Part 1 with Shirley Baumer  Co-founder at Dream Team

Description:

Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup people topics with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Shirley Baumer, Co-founder at Dream Team and former Product Manager at Monday.com, we explore how people teams can adopt product-led thinking to drive real business impact. Shirley shares insights from her journey at Monday.com, where she was the first product manager and witnessed the company scale from 30 to over 2000 employees. We unpack the parallels between product teams and people teams, and why this mindset shift is critical for HR leaders who want to move beyond administrative work to become trusted strategic partners. Keep watching to discover practical frameworks for transforming your people operations from reactive to impact-driven.Shirley is Co-founder and CPO of DreamTeam, the AI-native people management platform now launching its first-ever AI agents for HR. Before DreamTeam, Shirley led product management at monday.com, joining as the first PM when the company had 30 employees and $6M ARR. She watched it scale to $1B ARR and 2,000 employees globally, experiencing firsthand how critical people management becomes during rapid growth. Shirley also co-founded STEPS&, a platform connecting healthcare providers with patients, and is a recognized speaker on product management and entrepreneurship

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the FNDN Series

02:21 Guest Introduction: Shirley  and Dream Team

04:46 What is Product-Led Thinking for People Teams?

06:04 Moving from Operational to Strategic: The Brand Challenge

07:08 Why This Approach Matters Now More Than Ever

09:01 Signs Your Team Needs a Product-Led Shift

11:04 Having a Seat at the Table: What Success Looks Like

12:22 Case Study: Rethinking Performance Reviews

18:02 The Myth of Best Practice and the Power of Context

19:59 Overcoming the Speed vs Quality Debate

23:28 The Safety of Admin Work and Why We Must Move Beyond It

24:34 Essential Skills for Product-Led People Teams

27:53 Breaking the HR Brand Stereotype

29:01 Starting Small: No Grand Announcements Needed

30:48 Conclusion and Wrap-Up

Connect with Shirley:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirleyjb/ 

Visit: dreamteam.ai

Newsletter: https://agilehr.substack.com/

Resources and Companies Mentioned:

Monday.com - Work management platform where Shirley served as first Product Manager and led core product with $850M ARR

Dream Team - AI-native people operating system co-founded by Shirley, focused on zero admin work for HR teams

Books and Resources:

The Mom Test - Book on conducting effective user interviews (recommended by Luke Armani)

Jessica Zweig - Thought leader on product-led thinking for HR

Luke Armani - Thought leader on product-led thinking for HR

More FNDN Episodes:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM 

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484