Project Management For Startups

i'm not convinced traditional product management is good for startups this is what we've tried instead, which has worked well for us so far: 1. PMs don’t control engineers. why? because this slows them down. we want to ship fast, and putting PMs in charge adds latency 2. engineers make product decisions. this works because engineers understand the technical constraints + the possibilities better than anyone else. 3. product managers exist to give engineers context – e.g. based on in-depth data analysis, user interviews, etc. this plays to their strengths and gives engineers extra context for making decisions. 4. accountability through feedback loops. engineers set their own goals, but product managers own and run regular growth reviews. these exist to highlight opportunities and problems, but it's up to engineers to decide if they should change their goals based on reviews. in summary: - great PMs don't control the team or roadmap. they uncover insights that amplify the team’s impact, and ensure they don’t drift off course. - great product engineers don't need instructions. they drive product decisions using context PMs provide, and their knowledge of what’s possible. getting this dynamic right is how we ship fast, build right, and win. you can read my full post about this in our newsletter: https://dub.link/Baqz4N3

Building product needs some structure - and we just updated ours 🔥 Let's take a look at our secret sauce to moving fast without breaking things (well, not too often anyway! 😉). Defining our roadmap pipeline had a simple aim: speed up our product and engineering efforts 🏎️ rather than adding admin work. Essentially, our framework should help us ... 1⃣ work on the right things (validation) 2⃣ at the right time (prioritization) 3⃣ with the right people (ownership) So how does it work? 🎯 Every idea starts as a spark in our backlog, and like any good story, not all make it to the final chapter. We use focused discovery to collect insights from users and assess each idea on its impact and complexity, bravely discarding most of them. 🏗️ Relevant ideas are prioritized and worked on in design and engineering. None of these tasks should take more than 1-2 days of work. Communication happens (mostly) asynchronous on Slack/Linear. The result? We're seeing a (pretty) smooth flow where ideas come to life with a clear trail of why's and how's, and great alignment on the work that needs to be done across the team ✅ A few rules are needed to make this work ... 1⃣ Ownership: Every ticket has an owner, ensuring personal accountability and momentum. 2⃣ Partitioning: No ticket takes more than 1-2 days of work. Bigger tasks? They become projects. 3⃣ Collective brainstorming: Everyone on the team actively contributes ideas and suggestions to the backlog (and only there). 4️⃣ Regular assessments: Weekly planning sessions keep us context-rich and prioritize the most relevant tasks, assigning resources as needed. 5️⃣ Adapting: The roadmap pipeline is here to help us, not to govern us. We still freestyle as priorities shift 🏄 🔥 If you're stoked about crafting products at light speed, let's chat. Minoa might just be the place for you to shine. 🌟 #ProductDevelopment #saas #startup

Your business shouldn't collapse when someone takes vacation. Yet most creative firms operate exactly this way. While building Essajees Atelier, I took pride in our personal approach. Every project relied on - individual expertise - relationships, and - institutional knowledge in people's minds Then reality hit. When a key team member called in sick or left, projects would stall. Our trusted contractor handled approvals seamlessly, but when he moved on, we realized we had no documentation of his process. It's like being just one resignation away from chaos. That's when we got feedback from one of our clients, which stung, but it was accurate. Our business depended entirely on people being available and engaged. That's not scalable and definitely not sustainable. We went from being people-driven to systems-driven. 1-This meant documenting everything: When that contractor handled approvals, we had to break down every step he took. What documents he reviewed, whom he notified, and which checkpoints he monitored. The level of detail required was exhausting. 2-We started tracking clear metrics at every handoff: This included timelines met, budget variances, client satisfaction scores, and error rates. These numbers showed us whether our process changes actually improved consistency. Because the devil is really in the details. The hardest part isn't building systems. It's enforcing them. People naturally revert to old habits when they've developed their own shortcut.  I had to find a way to keep us all aligned. » Every morning we review which workflows stalled overnight and why. » When someone deviates from documented procedures, we coach them. » This cycle of build, audit, and adjustment became our daily discipline. That's how you scale without sacrificing quality. I discovered that I love designing systems because it's creative problem-solving. Making people follow them requires different skills entirely. You have to make a system so clear and useful that following it becomes an instinct. Now when team members take time off, projects continue smoothly. Our knowledge lives in systems, not just in people's heads. Do you run a people-driven or systems-driven business? #business #systems #operations #entrepreneurship

Tell us your story, then tell us again! While running a session at the University of Glasgow Advanced Research Centre this week, I was asked a great question. What key skills should founders and startups look to develop? Without hesitation, my answer is that we all need to work to improve our communication skills. I know I do! Whether in a meeting, at a networking event, in a LinkedIn post or when writing an email or proposal, this is where we must be clear and memorable. In the early stages, you’re not just building a product. You’re building something people need to quickly understand and decide if they care about. That’s way harder to achieve than it sounds. 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱. 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲. The startups that cut through aren’t always the most technically advanced. They’re the ones that can clearly say what they do, who it’s for, and why it matters. No fluff. No overcomplication. Just a story that makes sense. That’s where narrative earns its place. It takes something messy and makes it usable. It gives people a way to remember you. And in a crowded market, being remembered is half the battle. And if you can personalise your "story", ie, tell us why it matters to you, then you greatly increase your chances of securing our engagement. Because here’s the reality: investors, customers, partners, they’re all hearing variations of the same pitch every day. If your message isn’t clear and easy to repeat, it gets lost. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s forgettable. When you get it right, something changes. A clear narrative sticks. It travels. People start repeating it back to you. They introduce you using your own words. That’s when momentum starts to build. Not because you’ve said more, but because you’ve said it better. That said, a good story on its own won’t carry you very far. Consistency is what gives it weight. You have to show up with the same message over and over again. In meetings. In posts. In conversations. In every introduction. Not word-for-word, but close enough that the core idea never shifts. This isn’t about being repetitive for the sake of it; this is how you reinforce your message. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. So if I had to boil it down, it’s this: get your story straight, make it easy to remember, and keep showing up with it. Again, again and again. So, what's your story? Add it in the comments section below and tell the world.

A few weeks ago, I was coaching a client involved in a major pitch. He used phrases like, "Moving forward, we will amplify the idea. But first, let's socialize it within the team and set up the next steps which will give us the pillars of the project and which milestones we need to achieve first. It's obvious the low-hanging fruit will be an actionable, easy first piece of the puzzle." After about 20 minutes of listening, I stopped him and asked, "What are you trying to say?" To which he replied, "We haven't really worked that out yet." I said, "Thanks for being honest, because that's what it sounds like." Everything he said sounded knowledgeable and professional, but none of it made any sense. He said, "But that's how everyone talks." Why are you doing this course? Is it to sound knowledgeable, professional, and impressive? Or is it to be effective, have an effect on people, so you can motivate them to do something that will help you both? The key to effective communication isn't about filling the air with buzzwords or sounding impressive. It's about being clear, concise, and impactful. Here are a few tips to ensure your communication is truly effective: 1. Clarity Over Complexity: Avoid jargon and buzzwords. They often obscure your message rather than clarify it. Be direct and clear in what you're trying to convey.     2. Purpose-Driven: Always have a clear purpose for your communication. What do you want your audience to do, understand, or feel after listening to you? 3. Be Honest: If you don’t have all the answers, it’s okay to admit it. Authenticity builds trust and makes your communication more relatable. 4. Action-Oriented: Focus on actionable insights. What are the next steps? What do you want your audience to do with the information you've given them? 5. Engage Your Audience: Make your communication interactive. Ask questions, invite feedback, and ensure you’re not just talking at people, but with them. Remember, effective #communication is not about impressing others with how much you know. It’s about making sure your message is understood, resonates, and motivates action. So next time, before you speak, ask yourself: Is my goal to sound impressive, or to be truly effective? The answer will guide you to communicate more powerfully and authentically. #archanaparmar #leadershipcommunication #leadershipdevelopment #leaders

Product Operations is a game changer when it focuses on real pain points. When Shintaro Matsui joined Amplitude as the first product ops hire, he didn’t try to fix everything at once. He leaned on his experience at Uber Eats during a period of hypergrowth and took a strategic, iterative approach: start small, learn fast, and build trust. This was his approach: 1. Listening Tour: He kicked things off by doing 35 one-on-one interviews with stakeholders across product, UX, engineering, sales, and more. His goal was to uncover the highest-impact pain points and opportunities. "I felt like a therapist," he joked, because people were eager to talk. 2. Targeted Conversations: Shintaro recommends speaking with 15 to 20 people from different functions. One question he asked: “What’s painful when working with product management?” That question consistently revealed where product ops could actually make a difference. 3. Cluster for Impact: By drafting an impact-over-effort matrix, Shintaro could prioritize issues based on their potential return. He mapped pain points by team and asked, "If I could fix one thing for you, what would it be?" This clarity was pivotal in identifying quick wins. 4. Plotting Impact and Effort: Using a 2x2 matrix, Shintaro focused on immediate needs, setting the stage for impactful and fast results. Matsui's story shows what product ops is really about: enabling better product management. When you start with real problems, align cross-functionally, and deliver early wins, you create the conditions for long-term success. If you’re launching a product ops function, start here. And if you’ve already done it, what worked best for you?

Please stop bringing your COMMs team into projects at the very last minute when you need them to "whip up a quick flyer" or "post this to social media"... 🙏🏾 A good communications strategy starts at the BEGINNING of a project, not the end. Bringing in your communications professional early in the process allows them to ask the right questions and build a thoughtful strategy: 👉🏽 Who’s involved in this project? Are there partners or stakeholders to consider? 👉🏽 What are we trying to accomplish? Awareness, engagement, attendance, or something else? 👉🏽 What’s the context of this project? Communications professionals need to understand the details and nuances of your work and the project - what matters, why it matters, and how to communicate it correctly and effectively. 👉🏽 What, if anything, has already been done? Knowing what’s in place prevents duplicating efforts, gives us an opportunity to identify any gaps that need filling, and ensure a consistent look and feel. When communications professionals are involved early, we can think strategically about the project instead of rushing to create something last minute. Not many people enjoy “building the plane while flying it.” That’s unnecessarily stressful. If you want the best possible marketing and Communications efforts, bring your comms to the table from the start. This helps everyone involved. Fellow communications professionals: How do you advocate for being involved early in the process? 🤔

This $1.2B firm was losing 60+ hours/month to disconnected systems. The more they grew - the slower they became. The fix? Simpler and cheaper than you'd think: Calderys operates in 100+ global markets. But behind the scenes? A mess of disconnected workflows and manual re-entry. Orders got stuck between systems. Customer complaints piled up. Teams scrambled to reconcile spreadsheets across 30+ countries. Classic enterprise paradox: success creates its own bottlenecks. But the real cost wasn’t time - it was agility. While teams cleaned up data, customers waited. While leaders hunted reports, opportunities slipped. Here’s how they turned chaos into scale... The transformation started with one principle: 👉 Compliance and ops shouldn’t require heroic effort. They should run on rails. Step 1: They mapped every workflow. Over 200 manual touchpoints emerged. One order touched 12 spreadsheets before it shipped. Step 2: They rebuilt those workflows inside Process Street. Now data flows automatically. Tasks trigger in sequence. Every step gets tracked - no chasing, no chaos. Step 3: They rolled out real-time dashboards. Country managers got hours back each week. Executives saw risk early and acted faster. 📊 In 6 months, Calderys achieved: • 60+ hours/month reclaimed • Manual errors eliminated • New market expansion without adding ops headcount • Audit prep time cut from 2 weeks to 2 hours • 40% faster employee onboarding The turning point? They stopped trying to fix everything. And started by automating one painful process: order intake. That win changed everything. They had thought the challenge was tech... It was change. Once people saw their daily pain disappear? They became their biggest advocates. And that’s what Process Street enabled: Simple, scalable, audit-ready workflows that drive real results. --- If you’re scaling fast but feel slower than ever... If operations still run on spreadsheets and hope... If audits, onboarding, and reporting all require heroics... You’re not the problem. Your system is. At Process Street, we’ve helped firms like Calderys turn operational drag into acceleration. Interested in finding out how we can apply the same for your organization? Drop me a message, or check out the link in the comments below!

To some, we're a small team, but we operate like we're 10x our size. Most founders think the way to get there is to give every person on the team an AI tool for their individual tasks. That's not it. The real unlock is building workflows that run without anyone touching them at all. Start by picking one place to run your business from. For us, that's Claude Code. Everything: notes, tasks, CRM updates, deployment, connects back to it. The goal is that when something happens in one part of the business, the rest of the business already knows. Then build one workflow end to end before you do anything else. We started with our sales process. When we get off a call, our note-taker captures everything. Claude Code reads those notes and does four things automatically: creates a task in our product board for whatever we need to build, updates our CRM with the contact, logs action items, and flags anything that needs a follow-up. Nobody has to touch four different tools. Nobody has to remember to do it later. Once that workflow runs cleanly, pick the next one. We have done this across workflows both external like customer support responses and internal like daily standups pulling from multiple sources. Every tool we picked has one thing in common: it runs from the command line. If it doesn't, we don't use it. Last thing: build this into onboarding from day one. When someone joins our team, they don't get a laptop and a Slack invite. They get the full setup, every connection, every MCP, every tool ready to run. Because teams don't rise to the level of the goal. They fall to the level of the system. The question to ask your team this week: which workflow still requires a human to remember to do it?

Your ops stack can make or break your startup. Building a startup is exhilarating, but it's the unsexy parts that often determine success. Here's what we've learned at Clarify after 9 months of building our foundation. 🏗️ 🔍 Do your homework: Don't just copy your friends' stack. What works for them might not work for you. We evaluated alternatives for each tool. It took time, but saved us from "referral hell" and tool regret later on. ⚒️ Get your hands dirty: Resist the urge to hire an "ops person" right away. I set up and ran our system for months. It was tough, but gave me invaluable insights into our operations. ⚖️ Balance innovation and stability: As a startup, it's tempting to try every shiny new tool. Be cautious with core systems (HR, finance, etc.). We're bold with low-impact tools, conservative with the essentials. 🔗 Integration is key: Great individual tools don't always play nice together. We prioritize integration capabilities when choosing new tools. 🧑💻 Adoption > features: The fanciest tool is useless if your team hates using it. We involve key team members in tool decisions and provide thorough onboarding. 🌱 Plan for scale, but don't overdo it: Early on, we over-engineered our stack, preparing for 100+ employees when we were just 10. Now we choose tools that can grow with us, but optimize for our current needs. 🛡️ Security isn't optional: In the rush of startup life, it's easy to backburner security. Big mistake. We bake security considerations into every tool choice from day one. ♻️ Continuous improvement is key: Your ops stack isn't set-it-and-forget-it. We do quarterly reviews, gathering feedback and reassessing our needs. Remember, your stack shapes employee experience, operational efficiency, and your ability to make data-driven decisions. It's about building a foundation for scale. Here's where we landed after 9 months: 📨 Email: Google Workspace 🤝 HRIS: Rippling (onboarding, payroll, devices) 💬 Comms: Slack (pro tip: custom emojis boost culture) ✍️ Docs: Notion + Google Docs (company wiki vs. collaborative editing) 🛣️ Project management: Linear (roadmaps, projects, milestones) 🎨 Design: Figma (open access) 💰 Banking: JPMorganChase + Mercury (stability meets UX) 💳 Credit cards: Ramp (expense management on steroids) 🤔 Financial planning: Causal (because spreadsheets don't cut it forever) 📅 Calendars: Cal.com, Inc. + CalendarBridge (bye-bye, scheduling headaches) Takeaway: Stay flexible and keep optimizing – your needs will evolve. For folks building a company: What's been your biggest ops stack challenge or win?