How It Began

Forum Ventures was founded over a decade ago by Michael Cardamone, a former operator at high-growth companies who understood firsthand the challenges and isolation founders face. Built on the belief that founders need unwavering support to succeed, Forum takes an immersive, hands-on approach–becoming an extension of the founding team to provide critical resources, mentorship, and operational expertise. 

This founder-first philosophy shapes everything Forum does, from investing in entrepreneurs to ensuring they have the right tools to support and scale. That’s why choosing the right partners is crucial. 

Forum first began its relationship with Justworks as a PEO customer, experiencing its seamless operations and dedicated support. However, seeking to explore additional options, they switched to another PEO provider only to find it fell short of their needs. Faced with platform limitations and the absence of the high-touch support they valued, Forum opted to return to Justworks. This decision reinforced their confidence in Justworks HR and payroll solutions.

I experienced terrible customer support from another PEO provider. You got bounced around, it was difficult to actually get a person, and everything just went to a centralized system. With Justworks, I have actual direct emails—I know exactly who to go to for PEO, for payroll, for partnerships.

- Taylor Walker, Head of People

Recognizing the value Justworks brought to their own business, Forum saw an opportunity to extend that same level of support to their founders. As a venture studio that builds from zero to one with early-stage startups, they needed an HR and Payroll partner that could scale alongside their portfolio companies–one that founders could trust to handle compliance, payroll, and benefits without adding unnecessary complexity to their journey. Today, Forum is both a customer and a partner, leveraging Justworks not only to power their own operations but also as a trusted resource for the startups they support. 

The Challenge: Finding the Right HR and Payroll Solution for Scaling Startups

Forum has a portfolio of over 500 startups, with 100 companies currently engaged across three funds. Many of these early-stage businesses lack in-house HR or operations expertise, making it crucial to find a solution that is cost-effective, easy to use, and scalable. 

As a venture studio, Forum needed an HR and payroll provider that could: 

• Support founders with little to no HR experience

• Offer an intuitive platform with straightforward onboarding

• Scale alongside startups, allowing them to start with Payroll and seamlessly transition to a PEO as they grew

• Provide exceptional customer and partner support, ensuring founders have access to real people when they need help

With Justworks, I always know I’m reaching an actual human, not just getting triaged through a system. If I email the wrong person, they don’t just tell me to contact someone else—they forward it and make sure the right person follows up with me. That’s not typical in customer support, and I really appreciate it.

- Taylor Walker, Head of People

For Forum, finding the right partner wasn’t just about checking a box–it was ensuring their founders had access to a solution that truly simplified HR and payroll. 

That’s where Justworks stood out. With its intuitive platform, founders with no HR experience can confidently manage payroll, benefits, and compliance without unnecessary complexity. Seamless onboarding ensures startups can get up and running quickly, while the ability to scale from Payroll to PEO means businesses never have to switch providers as they begin to grow. Most importantly, Justworks provides exceptional customer and partner support, ensuring both Forum and the startups they work with always have access to real people who are ready to help–whether answering compliance questions, troubleshooting issues, or guiding founders through critical transitions. 

Why Justworks? 

Designed for Busy Founders

For many early-stage startups, HR and payroll can feel overwhelming. Founders shouldn’t need deep HR experience to confidently manage their teams. Justworks simplifies the entire experience, offering an intuitive platform that makes payroll, compliance, and benefits management straightforward–so founders can focus on building their business, not navigating red tape. 

Founders don’t want to think about the operations side of stuff when they’re building a product or fundraising—that’s not where their attention goes. Justworks takes that burden off their plate.

- Taylor Walker, Head of People

An Intuitive Platform with Seamless Onboarding

Early-stage companies need a platform that works out of the box–not one that requires weeks of setup or dedicated HR professionals to manage. Justworks streamlines onboarding, making it easy for founders to set up payroll, add benefits, and ensure compliance with just a few clicks. This simplicity allows Forum’s companies to scale quickly without administrative burden. 

Every founder we’ve worked with has called out how easy it’s been to get up and running.

- Taylor Walker, Head of People

Scaling Without the Growing Pains

Many of Forum’s portfolio companies start with a small team where a payroll-only solution makes sense. But, as they grow their needs change–they require better benefits, stronger compliance support, more HR resources, and, at times, the ability to hire internationally. With Justworks, startups can seamlessly transition from Payroll to PEO without switching systems, ensuring continuity and ease of operations as they scale. 

I like that we can keep them in the same system. Most of [our companies] start off as just a founder [or] founder and co-founder. So they don’t use a PEO right away. They just do payroll. And then when they bring on actual employees, then we transition them to PEO. That way, they can provide insurance, the compliance stuff is there—all that jazz. So I like that we can just stay within the same world.

- Taylor Walker, Head of People

A True Partner, Not Just a Platform

For Forum, Justworks isn’t just an HR and payroll provider–it’s an extension of their team. With a dedicated Partner Manager and a highly responsive support team, both Forum and its founders have access to real people who understand their challenges and provide timely, expert guidance. Whether troubleshooting an issue or navigating compliance, Justworks ensures that support is always just a call or message away. 

I compare a lot of other systems we use to Justworks because the customer support is just that exceptional. Justworks actually meets our needs instead of just saying, ‘Here’s what we offer—figure it out.’

- Taylor Walker, Head of People

A Partnership That Empowers Growth

By partnering with Justworks, Forum ensures its founders have the HR tools and support they need to scale seamlessly. With an intuitive platform, a smooth Payroll-to-PEO transition, and a dedicated support team, Justworks makes growth simpler for startups. Whether for their own operations or their portfolio companies, Forum knows they have a trusted partner in Justworks.

If you’re ready to simplify scaling for your startups, let’s talk. The Justworks Partnerships team is here to help you. 

Want to learn more about Forum Ventures? You can check them out at www.forumvc.com.