Groundwork
Your tech team is busy. Work still isn't landing.
For founders, CEOs, and MDs who don't speak 'tech' but can tell delivery is broken — and for startups that hired developers before they hired leadership.
Answer a few plain questions about how the team ships. Get a short playbook, GitHub templates, and a weekly rhythm someone can install this week — without inventing a bureaucracy.
The usual mess
You hired developers. There is no real tech lead — or there is someone with the title who is still just coding. Features slip. Nobody can say when something is actually finished. Releases feel risky. You are not technical enough to debug the process, but you can see the team is not working as a team.
What you actually need
Not a consultancy. Not another tool. A short contract for done. A pull request that can be reviewed. A release that is boring. Named owners. One automation that earns its keep. Hand it to the team — or to the person who should be leading them — and stop guessing.
In the Starter Kit
- A clear Definition of Done, fitted to how the team actually ships
- PR, testing, and release standards the team can follow without you
- Named ownership so work does not quietly depend on one hero
- A 30/60/90 and weekly rhythm for whoever is running engineering
- GitHub PR/issue templates and a CI starter workflow
- An automation backlog — not a tool catalogue
Not this
- A course you have to finish before anything changes
- A Jira replacement
- A 50-page PDF of 'best practices'
- Another SaaS you have to log into to do the work
Free tools
Use these without buying anything. Good for spotting what is broken before you buy the kit — including if you are not technical.
Definition of Done generator
A short, honest done-contract for the team — including what you are explicitly not requiring yet.
Team foundations check
Ten yes/no questions. A score. The three things to fix this month, in order.
Engineering process health check
A 20-minute monthly check. If a line stays red, that is the work.
GitHub templates
Copy-paste Definition of Done, PR template, issues, and CI. MIT.