Maybe not traditional HR people, but surely former startup people who were responsible for culture could be hired into head of HR roles. That's what I'd try for anyway.
Definitely. Culture is not trivial to get right, and the period of rapid growth when companies often mishire HR people is exactly when it is most needed.
I could see hiring a low level HR person in more of a clerical role and then hiring a community builder or evangelist or whatever to focus on culture.
