Ryan Breslow, co-founder and chief executive of Bolt, made the comments after the company cut around 30 per cent of its workforce in April – its fourth round of layoffs in four years.

Speaking at a Fortune event, Breslow said removing the HR function formed part of a wider effort to restore a start-up culture at the online checkout software company.

“We had an HR team, and that HR team was creating problems that didn’t exist,” he said. “Those problems disappeared when I let them go.

“We’re back in start-up mode again, and those HR professionals have really important insights when you’re in a peacetime and when you’re at a larger company.”

Bolt has replaced the department with a smaller people operations team focused on training and employee support.