Fintech startup Bolt has undergone a significant operational overhaul, which included the elimination of its entire human resources department. This move, part of a broader restructuring earlier this year, coincided with layoffs affecting nearly 30% of the company’s workforce.
Ryan Breslow, CEO and co-founder of Bolt, defended the controversial decision, asserting that the HR function had become a source of unnecessary internal friction. "We had an HR team and that HR team was creating problems that didn’t exist," Breslow explained at a recent event. He added, "Those problems disappeared when I let them go."
Breslow, who returned to lead Bolt in 2025 after stepping down in 2022, is spearheading a "wartime" operating model focused on lean efficiency and startup-style discipline. The company, founded in 2014, had previously experienced rapid growth in the online commerce and checkout technology sector but later faced valuation pressures and repeated layoffs.
Bolt no longer maintains a traditional HR department. Instead, its functions are managed by a smaller "people operations" team, which handles essential employee support and compliance tasks like mandatory training. This shift, according to Breslow, aims to reduce bureaucracy, empower managers for quicker decision-making, and keep employees focused on core execution.
The CEO also criticized the culture that developed during Bolt's high-growth years, suggesting the company became complacent when venture capital was abundant. "There’s a sense of entitlement that had festered across the company," Breslow stated, noting that many employees "weren’t actually working hard." As part of the extensive overhaul, Bolt also rolled back several employee-friendly policies, including four-day work weeks and unlimited paid time off.
Breslow emphasized the necessity for Bolt to return to a more "gritty" culture, prioritizing efficiency, accountability, and ultimately, survival in a competitive market.