Fractional HR for Tech, Gaming & Creative

HR that generates
real leverage —
built for founders.

Dream Lab is a fractional HR practice for gaming studios, esports orgs, and creative companies. We embed in your business, move at your pace, and scale with your needs — no full-time headcount, no bloated retainers.

Start with an evaluation See what we do

Clients in

🎮 Gaming Studios 🏆 Esports Orgs 🌐 eCommerce & Web3 🎬 Media & Creative

The problem we solve

Your company is moving fast. Your people ops should too.

Founders in gaming, tech, and creative industries face the same inflection point: you need real HR leadership, but building a full in-house team isn't the right move yet.

Dream Lab embeds as your fractional people partner — with the depth and judgment that comes from decades inside companies like Riot Games, Microsoft, and Meta — so your team gets the support it needs without the overhead.

We adjust dynamically as your needs evolve. No locked-in retainers, no generic playbooks — just practical, experienced people operations built around your actual situation.

20+

Years of HR experience across gaming, tech & creative industries

3×

Industry verticals served: Gaming Studios, eCommerce/Web3, and Media

1:1

You work directly with a senior HR professional, not a junior associate

15+

Client companies across gaming, media, eCommerce, and Web3

Our proficiencies

Broad and deep — across the full HR spectrum

Subject matter expert partnerships fill any gaps. Whatever your company needs, we've done it before.

⚙️

People Operations

The infrastructure that keeps everything running

Full Cycle Recruiting

"Keep the Lights On" Administration

Onboarding & Offboarding

Employee Wellbeing (Leaves & EAP)

Legal & Compliance

Immigration & Relocation

Rewards & Recognition

Fair & Equitable Comp Structure

Performance Management

Market Benchmarking

Equity Plan Administration

🧭

Business Leadership

Strategic HR that moves the business forward

Mission / Vision / Strategic Pillars

Annual Operations & FP&A Planning

Change Management

Organizational Design

Leadership Coaching

Employee Relations

Engagement & Culture

Learning & Development

Programs That Scale

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Engagement Event Planning

How it works

Simple to get started

We start with a deep dive, build a tailored strategy, then execute alongside you — adjusting as your needs evolve.

Initial Evaluation

A 2–4 week deep dive into your business, team, and HR gaps. We deliver a needs analysis and a go-forward people strategy — not a sales pitch.

Scoped Engagement

Based on the evaluation, we propose a monthly engagement sized to your actual needs — from foundational ops to full strategic HR support.

Execute & Evolve

We build your HR infrastructure with a phased roadmap. As your company grows and changes, our engagement dynamically adjusts with it.

Where we always start

The Initial Evaluation — a deep dive for precise scoping

Before any ongoing engagement, we spend 2–4 weeks doing a thorough needs analysis of your business. This isn't a sales exercise — it's a real diagnostic that surfaces exactly where your people operations need attention and in what order.

At the end, you get a clear picture of your HR landscape and a proposed strategy for what to tackle next — scoped precisely to your situation.

✓

Comprehensive HR infrastructure audit

✓

Prioritized needs analysis and gap assessment

✓

Go-forward people strategy and roadmap

✓

Scoped engagement proposal — sized to your situation

Where every engagement starts

2–4 Week Deep Dive

A thorough diagnostic before a single dollar of ongoing work is scoped.

Comprehensive HR infrastructure audit

HR strategy document

Phased roadmap

Scoped proposal — sized to your situation

Book your evaluation

Flexible by design

Scoped to where you actually are

We don't do packages. Every engagement is scoped to exactly where your company is — and evolves as you grow.

Stage 1 of 4

Just Founded

You're a newly funded team building from scratch — no real HR infrastructure yet, founders wearing every hat, and a handful of hires on the horizon. We come in and build the foundation: payroll, compliance, your first policies, and an onboarding process that actually works.

Payroll Setup Compliance Basics Offer Letters Onboarding Flows Employee Handbook

Wherever you are on this spectrum, we scope to fit. No guesswork, no one-size-fits-all.

Tell us where you are

Our team

Seasoned HR professionals who've been in your world

We've worked at the biggest names in gaming and tech. We know the culture, the complexity, and what great people operations actually look like.

KC Hicks

Founder & Principal

A seasoned HR leader with deep roots in gaming and tech. KC has built and scaled people operations at some of the most recognized companies in the industry — bringing the judgment and infrastructure of large-scale orgs to founders who need it most.

Previously at

Microsoft Riot Games Meta

Chris San Mateo

Founder & Principal

Chris specializes in generating real leverage for founders — holistic, fractional HR tailored to early-to-mid stage startups. He's worked across enterprise tech and fast-moving game studios, bringing both strategic depth and hands-on execution to every engagement.

Previously at

Microsoft Riot Games Scopely

Current & former clients

Trusted across gaming, media & beyond

We've partnered with studios, esports orgs, media companies, and digital brands at every stage of growth.

Gaming Studios

BRINK BOUND Games

MAESTRO Interactive

GAMING247

Media & Entertainment

GCN

Gaming Community

VENN

eCommerce, Web3 & Consumer

WENEW

Client voices

What our partners say

We measure success by the outcomes our clients achieve — and the relationships we build along the way.

“KC and the team have been an invaluable ‘secret sauce’ to keeping our fast growing company on-track and ensuring we are gaining strategic insights, as well as, hands-on HR implementation and feedback. KC’s willingness to sit back and listen, and then respond with intelligent, strategic advice and guidance is truly appreciated. He is always a thoughtful and measured voice all while keeping the employee at the forefront. He has been an amazing partner and great resource for us.”

Chris Kindt

CMO — Gaming Community Network

“We brought the Dreamlab team into Donut during a critical juncture in our growth. As a fast-growing startup, we needed proper HR support for our business and employees, but were not at the size where we could justify the budget to get a top quality HR staff. That’s where Chris and KC stepped in. They were able to give us the level of support, infrastructure, and knowledge that is usually only available to top tech companies. It allowed our executive team to focus on growing the business with the comfort that our people operations were the best they could be.”

Matt Levin

Donut Media

“KC has been a pillar of wisdom, practicality, and candor for me as both a member of my team at Riot, and as a consultant at Phoenix Labs. KC is pragmatic, efficient and effective across a wide array of people related topics. He’s the first person I call when I have people related questions and is a delight to interact with. I am grateful to learn from and work with KC as a person and a professional.”

Sean Bender

Phoenix Labs (formerly Riot Games)

Who we serve

Made for companies in our world

We focus where we have deep expertise — gaming, tech, media, and creative industries where culture and speed matter.

🎮

Gaming Studios

Indie to mid-size studios navigating rapid hiring, contractor vs. FTE complexity, and the unique culture of game development.

🏆

Esports Organizations

Rosters, content creators, and ops staff — we understand the talent structures and speed unique to competitive gaming.

🌐

eCommerce & Web3

High-growth ecommerce and Web3 companies that need scalable people infrastructure built fast — and built right.

🎬

Media & Creative

Agencies, studios, and media companies scaling teams of creators, freelancers, and full-timers across complex org structures.

🚀

Tech Startups

Early-to-mid stage tech companies that need real HR leadership but aren't ready to build a full-time People team yet.

🔄

Companies in Transition

Orgs navigating layoffs, reorgs, leadership changes, or M&A who need experienced HR support to manage the complexity.

About Dream Lab

Seasoned HR professionals who speak your language.

After years working in HR for gaming, esports, and tech companies, we kept seeing the same gap: growing teams were either winging it on people operations or overpaying for large generalist firms that didn't understand their world.

Dream Lab was built to be the resource these companies deserve — experienced HR professionals who get the culture, understand the talent market, and can move at the speed your business demands.

When you work with Dream Lab, you work directly with senior HR talent who are invested in your company — not account managers or junior associates. We're an extension of your leadership team, not a vendor.

Deep specialization in gaming, esports, tech, and media HR

Hands-on experience with payroll systems, HRIS platforms & compliance frameworks

Strategic and operational HR — from founder coaching to payroll setup

Trusted by founders, executives & People teams across the industry

HR that generates real leverage — built for founders.