NEW DELHI — Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow is defending his decision to eliminate the fintech startup’s human resources department, saying the move helped reduce internal friction and improve the company’s speed.
Speaking at Fortune’s Workforce Innovation Summit, Breslow said the decision was part of a broader effort to make Bolt more efficient after a sharp reversal in the company’s fortunes.
“We had an HR team, and that HR team was creating problems that didn’t exist,” Breslow said during a conversation with Fortune editorial director Kristin Stoller. “Those problems disappeared when I let them go.”
Bolt, founded in 2014, was once one of the fastest-growing fintech startups of the pandemic-era technology boom. The company reached a valuation of $11 billion in 2022, but its position later weakened significantly. After Breslow stepped down as CEO that year, Bolt’s valuation reportedly fell to about $300 million by 2024, a decline of nearly 97%.
Breslow returned to lead the company in 2025 and has described Bolt’s current phase as “wartime,” requiring a more aggressive operating style. Earlier this year, the company laid off nearly 30% of its workforce and dismantled its HR department.
According to Breslow, traditional HR structures are more useful at large, stable companies than at startups trying to move quickly in a competitive market.
“We’re back in startup mode again, and those HR professionals have really important insights when you’re in a peacetime and when you’re at a larger company,” he said.
Instead of a conventional HR department, Bolt has created a leaner people operations team focused on employee training and support.
Breslow has repeatedly criticized traditional HR practices. In a LinkedIn post earlier this year, he wrote that “HR is the wrong energy, format, and approach,” and said people operations teams can help companies “move at lightning speed” by empowering managers and streamlining decisions.
At the Fortune event, Breslow also criticized what he described as inefficiency inside HR teams.
“We need a group of people who are very oriented around getting things done,” he said. “There is just a culture of not getting things done and complaining a lot.” (Source: IANS)
