Startup Operations

Guide founders from chaotic early-stage operations to structured, scalable processes for hiring, goal-setting, and board management.

Workflow

1. Diagnose Need

Ask: "What operational challenge are you facing?"

2. Hiring

Build a hiring system that attracts talent and makes consistent decisions.

Job Description Framework

Structure:

[Role Title]
[Company] | [Location] | [Remote Policy]

About Us
[2-3 sentences: What you do, for whom, why it matters]
[Stage, funding, notable investors/customers]

The Role
[What this person will own and accomplish—outcomes, not tasks]
[Why this role matters now]

What You'll Do
- [Outcome-focused responsibility 1]
- [Outcome-focused responsibility 2]
- [Outcome-focused responsibility 3]

What We're Looking For
- [Essential skill/experience 1]
- [Essential skill/experience 2]
- [Desirable: nice-to-have]

Compensation
[Salary range] + [Equity range]
[Key benefits]

Job Description Rules:

• Lead with outcomes, not tasks ("Own the customer onboarding experience" vs "Build onboarding flows")
• Be specific about stage ("0-1 experience", "scaling from $1M to $10M ARR")
• Include salary range—saves everyone time
• Keep requirements list short (5-7 items max)—long lists reduce diversity
• Use standard titles (no "ninja" or "rockstar")

See references/job-descriptions.md for role-specific templates.

Interview Scorecard

Every interview should use a scorecard to reduce bias and enable comparison.

Scorecard Structure:

Scoring Guide:

• 5 = Exceptional, exceeds requirements
• 4 = Strong, meets all requirements
• 3 = Acceptable, meets most requirements
• 2 = Weak, gaps in key areas
• 1 = Poor, significant concerns

Interview Best Practices (First Round):

• Same questions for all candidates (enables comparison)
• Score immediately after interview (memory fades)
• Hide feedback until all interviewers submit (prevents groupthink)
• Focus on evidence, not impressions ("They described X" vs "They seemed smart")

See references/interview-scorecards.md for role-specific scorecards.

Hiring Plan

For scaling teams, create a hiring plan that ties headcount to goals.

Hiring Plan Template:

Prioritization Questions:

• What breaks if we don't hire this role?
• Can we outsource or defer this?
• What's the cost of a bad hire vs. waiting?

3. OKRs & Goal Setting

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) create focus and alignment. Use them to ensure everyone works on what matters most.

OKR Framework

The Formula:

I will [OBJECTIVE] as measured by [KEY RESULTS]

Objective: Qualitative, inspiring, time-bound (what you want to achieve)

• Formula: Verb + what you're going to do + so that/in order to
• Example: "Deliver a must-have product in order to delight customers and grow our user base"

Key Results: Quantitative, measurable (how you'll know you achieved it)

• Formula: Verb + what you're going to track + from X to Y
• Example: "Increase NPS score from 40 to 50"

Key Initiatives: Actions you'll take to achieve key results (optional)

• Measured as % completed
• Example: "Build a dashboard to track UX performance issues"

OKR Examples (Early-Stage Startup)

Company-wide OKRs:

Objective 1: Hit $10M ARR by EOQ
  KR1: 110% net revenue retention
  KR2: Grow weighted pipeline to $8M+ by EOQ
  KR3: Close rate of 15% from initial meeting to close-won

Objective 2: Hire and retain the best team
  KR1: Average time to fill < 45 days from JD posted
  KR2: <10% quarterly regrettable attrition

Objective 3: Deliver a fast, reliable AI product experience
  KR1: Achieve 99.9% uptime for the inference API
  KR2: Reduce average response latency from 800ms to 300ms
  KR3: Increase task success rate from 60% to 80%

OKR Best Practices (Liz Wessel / Google)

Writing OKRs:

• ✅ 3 objectives max per company/team/individual per cycle
• ✅ 1-3 key results per objective
• ✅ Key results must be quantifiable—use numbers
• ✅ Revisit frequently—don't set and forget
• ❌ Don't make KRs a task list ("launch feature X")
• ❌ Avoid vague objectives ("Be the best")
• ❌ Don't conflate KPIs (what you track) with OKRs (what you're trying to change)

OKR vs KPI Distinction:

• KPIs = metrics you always track (revenue, churn, NPS)—health of business
• OKRs = outcomes you're trying to change this quarter—direction of change

If a KPI is underperforming, create an OKR to address it.

OKR Superpowers Checklist:

• Focus: What can be eliminated?
• Alignment: Who are the stakeholders?
• Tracking: Can we measure success?
• Transparency: Where are bottlenecks?
• Stretch: Is it propelling business forward?

Necessary & Sufficient Test:

1. Are all Key Results necessary to achieve the Objective?
2. Will accomplishing Key Results be sufficient to achieve the Objective?

OKR Cadence for Startups

See references/okr-templates.md for tracking spreadsheet and more examples.

4. Board Management

Build trust with investors through consistent, transparent communication.

Investor Update Email

Send monthly (or at minimum quarterly) to keep investors informed and engaged.

Structure:

Subject: [Company] Update - [Month Year]

ASKS
- [Specific ask with context—intros, advice, resources]

GOING WELL ✅
- Hiring: [Team changes]
- Launched: [Product updates with links]
- [Key metric]: XX,XXX (+Y% m/m vs. +Z% target)

NOT GOING WELL ⚠️
- [Key metric]: XX,XXX (+Y% m/m vs. +Z% target)
  - [Brief explanation]
- [Issue with context]

COMPANY HEALTH
- Cash: $X.XM
- Burn: -$XXXK/month
- Runway: X months
- Team: X people (Y FT, Z contractors)

PRIORITIES (Next 30 Days)
1. [Priority 1]: [Brief description, <500 chars]
2. [Priority 2]: [Brief description]
3. [Priority 3]: [Brief description]

SHOUT OUTS
- [Person/firm] for [specific help]

Investor Update Rules:

• Lead with asks—make it easy to help
• Be honest about what's not working—builds trust
• Include runway—investors need to know
• Keep it short—bullet points, not paragraphs
• Send consistently—monthly builds muscle memory

See references/investor-updates.md for full templates.

Board Deck Structure

For formal board meetings (typically quarterly after seed).

Recommended Slides (12-15 total):

1. Agenda — Topics + time allocation + focus session
2. Key Concerns & Asks — What's keeping you up at night, specific help needed
3. Executive Summary — State of company, 90-day goals
4. Highlights — 3-5 wins with owners credited
5. Lowlights — 3-5 challenges, what you're doing about them
6. KPIs Dashboard — Key metrics vs. targets, trends
7. Financial Summary — Cash, burn, runway, budget vs. actual
8. Product Update — Shipped, in progress, roadmap
9. Team Update — Hires, departures, org chart, open roles
10. Sales/Pipeline — Pipeline, conversion, customer wins
11. Competitive/Market — Industry updates, competitive moves
12. Focus Session — Deep dive on one strategic topic
13. Priorities — Next 90 days
14. Action Items — Board commitments, decisions needed

Board Meeting Best Practices:

• Send deck 3-4 days in advance
• Use consistent structure meeting-to-meeting
• Don't read slides—they're discussion prompts
• Reserve 30%+ of time for discussion
• Assign a note-taker immediately
• End with clear action items and owners
• Save all decks for due diligence later

See references/board-decks.md for slide templates.

Board Meeting Cadence

5. Operational Anti-Patterns

Hiring Mistakes:

• Writing job descriptions with 15+ requirements
• No structured interview process (gut-feel hiring)
• Not checking references
• Hiring too senior too early (they need structure you don't have)
• Outsourcing founder-led sales too early

OKR Mistakes:

• Too many OKRs (more than 3 objectives)
• Key results that are tasks, not outcomes
• Setting OKRs and never reviewing them
• No connection between company and team OKRs
• Treating OKRs as performance reviews

Board Mistakes:

• Only sending updates when fundraising
• Hiding bad news
• No consistent format (makes comparison hard)
• Not asking for specific help
• Running overtime with no discussion time

Deliverables

1. Job Description

Create using docx skill:

• Role-specific template from references/job-descriptions.md
• Customized for company stage and culture
• Clear outcomes and requirements

2. Interview Scorecard

Create using xlsx skill:

• Role-specific criteria
• Weighted scoring system
• Evidence capture fields
• Recommendation section

3. OKR Tracker

Create using xlsx skill:

• Company/team/individual OKRs
• Progress tracking (weekly/monthly)
• Owner assignments
• Status indicators (on track, at risk, off track)

4. Investor Update Email

Create as markdown or docx:

• Monthly update following template
• Metrics formatted consistently
• Clear asks at top

5. Board Deck

Create using pptx skill:

• 12-15 slide structure
• Consistent with previous decks
• Focus session identified

Reference Files

• references/job-descriptions.md — Templates by role (engineer, PM, sales, ops)
• references/interview-scorecards.md — Scorecard templates and question banks
• references/okr-templates.md — OKR tracker spreadsheet, examples by function
• references/investor-updates.md — Email templates and reporting cadence
• references/board-decks.md — Slide templates and meeting agendas

Integration with Other Skills

• Use idea-validation skill before hiring for unvalidated products
• Use business-model skill for compensation benchmarking
• Use fundraising skill for investor relationships
• Use product skill for roadmaps that inform OKRs
• Use go-to-market skill for sales hiring plans
• Use docx skill for job descriptions and updates
• Use xlsx skill for OKR trackers and scorecards
• Use pptx skill for board decks

Adapted from Linas Beliūnas's The One-Person Unicorn founder skill set.