eClub - Czech Technical University in Prague Topic: How to organize work in a small startup? - Get organized as soon as possible. - We will give you some practical tips on how to use the workflow and task managing SW. - How to discuss team problems, how to keep the spirit high. - We explain the kanban, a scheduling system for lean and just-in-time (JIT) production.

1. How to organize work
in a small startup?
Jaroslav Gergic eClub (Entrepreneurs Club)
VP, R&D and Operations, GoodData @ CVUT Media Lab
jaroslav.gergic@gooddata.com April 11 2013

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5. How to organize work in a small start-up?

6. What is a start-up?

7. What is a start-up?
● start-up is a Company

8. What is a Company?

9. What is a Company?
● Externally

10. What is a Company?
● Externally
○ Brand
○ Products
○ Services

11. What is a Company?
● Externally ● Internally
○ Brand
○ Products
○ Services

12. What is a Company?
● Externally ● Internally
○ Brand ○ People & Culture
○ Products ○ Functions
○ Services ○ Processes
○ Tools

13. Functions of a Company
Account Management
Marketing Support
Sales Operations
Services Development
Product Management
General & Administration (Finance, Accounting Legal, Facilities)

14. How to organize work in a small start-up?
● a start-up has to act as a company
○ limited # of people means everybody has to play multiple
functions
○ make sure you do not forget to get all necessary
functions recognized and covered
○ make sure you have the right people on the team

15. How to organize work in a small start-up?
● a start-up has to act as a company
○ limited # of people means everybody has to play multiple
functions
○ make sure you do not forget to get all necessary
functions recognized and covered
○ make sure you have the right people on the team
● use the right tools to support your functions & processes
○ functions mature over time
○ people start specializing
○ processes evolve rapidly during periods of growth
○ get ready for disruptive changes!

16. Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct

17. Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct
● focus on core competencies

18. Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct
● focus on core competencies
● build only what gives you a competitive advantage

19. Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct
● focus on core competencies
● build only what gives you a competitive advantage
● buy everything else

20. Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct
● focus on core competencies
● build only what gives you a competitive advantage
● buy everything else
● ... ideally as a service
○ (pay-as-you-go - OPEX vs. CAPEX)

21. Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct
● focus on core competencies
● build only what gives you a competitive advantage
● buy everything else
● ... ideally as a service
○ (pay-as-you-go - OPEX vs. CAPEX)
Build versus Buy

22. Build versus Buy
● Build (develop)
○ core components of your products and services
○ integration
● Buy (rent)
○ all other components of your products and services
○ certain business functions - e.g. accounting
○ internal systems
■ email, calendar, documents
■ project management
■ CRM
○ development tools & services
○ platform as a service

23. Build versus Buy example: GoodData
● Build (develop)
○ analytical engine & visualization engine
○ GoodData application (business logic)
○ integration & adaptation of 3rd party components
○ processes & tools unique to GoodData services

24. Build versus Buy example: GoodData
● Build (develop)
○ analytical engine & visualization engine
○ GoodData application (business logic)
○ integration & adaptation of 3rd party components
○ processes & tools unique to GoodData services
● Buy (rent)
○ productivity: GoogleApps, Asana.com
○ Sales - CRM: SalesForce.com
○ Marketing: Marketo.com
○ Support: Zendesk.com
○ Log Analysis: Splunk.com
○ development tools: Jira, Confluence, GitHub
○ platform as a service: AWS and Rackspace

25. SaaS Software Development Methodology
● 3 sources of change requests in a SaaS company
○ Customers - escalated support tickets
○ Internal - proactive improvements & infrastructure
○ Product Management - new features

26. SaaS Software Development Methodology
● 3 sources of change requests in a SaaS company
○ Customers - escalated support tickets
○ Internal - proactive improvements & infrastructure
○ Product Management - new features
● Kanban over SCRUM
○ need to incorporate operational aspects
○ customer problems can't wait until the next iteration
○ splitting development and sustaining teams destroys
sense of ownership

27. SaaS Software Development Methodology
● 3 sources of change requests in a SaaS company
○ Customers - escalated support tickets
○ Internal - proactive improvements & infrastructure
○ Product Management - new features
● Kanban over SCRUM
○ need to incorporate operational aspects
○ customer problems can't wait until the next iteration
○ splitting development and sustaining teams destroys
sense of ownership
● Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams
○ versus traditional Development / QA / Operations split
○ difficult with the respect to regulatory compliance

28. Kanban in a glance

29. Kanban in a glance
● 3 basic principles
○ Visualize Workflow
○ Limited Work in Progress (WIP)
○ Measure Lead Time (Cycle Time)

30. Kanban in a glance
● 3 basic principles
○ Visualize Workflow
○ Limited Work in Progress (WIP)
○ Measure Lead Time (Cycle Time)
● KPIs we use
○ Cycle Time
○ Velocity (Throughput)
○ Business Value (Output)

31. Kanban in a glance
● 3 basic principles
○ Visualize Workflow
○ Limited Work in Progress (WIP)
○ Measure Lead Time (Cycle Time)
● KPIs we use
○ Cycle Time
○ Velocity (Throughput)
○ Business Value (Output)
● Advantages
○ simple & flexible (low prescriptivity)
○ ability to incorporate operational aspects

32. Kanban in a glance
● 3 basic principles
○ Visualize Workflow
○ Limited Work in Progress (WIP)
○ Measure Lead Time (Cycle Time)
● KPIs we use
○ Cycle Time
○ Velocity (Throughput)
○ Business Value (Output)
● Advantages
○ simple & flexible (low prescriptivity)
○ ability to incorporate operational aspects
● Disadvantages
○ additional layer needed to manage complex projects

33. Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams
● versus traditional functional separation:
○ Development - write code
○ Quality - assure quality
○ Operations - deploy & manage
● problems of traditional setup
○ handovers - lack of ownership
○ delays due to handovers and prioritization on team level
○ bottlenecks as the organization growths

34. Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams
● Goals
○ Increased Productivity
○ Scalability of the organization

35. Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams
● Goals
○ Increased Productivity
○ Scalability of the organization
● 1 team consists of
○ DevOps roles
■ Development
■ Quality
■ Operations
○ Product Management & User Experience roles

36. Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams
● Goals
○ Increased Productivity
○ Scalability of the organization
● 1 team consists of
○ DevOps roles
■ Development
■ Quality
■ Operations
○ Product Management & User Experience roles
● Mechanics
○ Improved Communication
○ Established Ownership
○ Reduced cross-team Dependencies

37. Thank You!