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Growth Path
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PART 9: THE GROWTH PATH — Phase-by-Phase
Phase 0: Pre-Seed (1-3 founders)
Systems to set up:
- Notion for everything (wiki, docs, project tracking)
- QuickBooks for bookkeeping
- ChatGPT Team for AI assistance
- GitHub for code + issues
- Clerky for incorporation
- Mercury/Relay for banking
SOPs to write (the 6 essentials):
- Decision journal (template)
- Communication charter (async protocols)
- Financial procedure (expenses, invoicing, burn tracking)
- Hiring & onboarding (for first hires)
- Engineering workflow (PR, review, deploy)
- Knowledge base rules (what gets documented)
AI: ChatGPT Team, GitHub Copilot, QuickBooks AI. Total ~$200-500/mo.
Phase 1: First Hires (3-15 people)
New systems:
- Linear for product/engineering
- HubSpot or Pipedrive for sales
- Deel for payroll/compliance
- Intercom or Zendesk for support
New SOPs:
- Product discovery & prioritization
- Sales pipeline management
- Customer support SLAs
- Remote work policy
- Performance review template
- Onboarding checklist
- Incident response (Engineering)
AI: Add CodeRabbit, AI support agent (Intercom Fin), AI SDR tool, Notion AI. Total ~$1,000-2,000/mo.
Phase 2: Scaling (15-50 people)
New systems:
- Formal KPIs and dashboards
- Guru for AI knowledge management
- Lattice/15Five for performance
- Ironclad for legal contracts
- Fractional CFO (8-16 hrs/month)
New SOPs:
- Department-level budgets
- ADRs (Architecture Decision Records)
- Quarterly OKR process
- SOC2 compliance preparation
- Cross-department handoff protocols
- Executive communication cadence
AI: Dedicated department agents. Custom AI trained on company docs. Internal chatbots. Total ~$2,000-5,000/mo.
Phase 3: Growth (50-150+ people)
New systems:
- NetSuite or similar for ERP
- Rippling advanced HRIS
- Formal security program (Vanta/Drata)
- Board reporting software
New SOPs:
- Succession planning
- Risk management framework
- Internal audit
- Strategic planning (annual + quarterly)
- Diversity, equity, inclusion programs
AI: Enterprise AI platform. Custom agents for every department. AI governance & compliance.
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