![Starter Pack
Category Notes Level 1 (Startup) Level 2
Core Collaboration Platform
(Email, Chat, Video, Calendar,
Docs/Drive, Planning, App
Building)
Consider enabling legal/litigation hold, for future
legal discovery needs.
Look here before investing in any other systems!
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Accounting System
Don’t rush into a big system until you really need
it
QuickBooks Online or Xero
NetSuite, Microsoft, or industry-
specific (e.g., Unanet, Deltek)
Sales
Keep this lean – you can go a long way on simple
spreadsheets instead of paying for pricey
systems
Spreadsheet, CRM/Pipeline
Management (e.g., HubSpot,
Pipedrive)
Consider Salesforce
Laptop Type Consistency is valuable BYOD (Employees use their own) Managed Windows or Mac endpoints
Smartphones
You may need to control data on endpoints as
you grow, depending on your culture and
compliance needs
BYOD (Employees use their own)
Consider Mobile Device Management
container (e.g., Microsoft Intune)
Forms/Approval Platform
Get approvals out of email chains and into a
system
Email
[Consider building with M365 or
Google Workspace]
Social Media Publishing Able to schedule posts across platforms HootSuite or Buffer HootSuite or Buffer
Email Newsletter Pick what’s easy for your team to use MailChimp or ConvertKit MailChimp or ConvertKit
Web Hosting
Focus on attractive UI and simple administration
(no patching!)
Wordpress.com or Wix Wordpress.com or Wix
Managed Service Provider
(MSP)
Outsourced IT operations/administration Not a Priority (N/P)
XPERTECHS, DP Solutions, DesignData,
RedRiver
Fractional CIO Service Pay for a sliver of CIO time (e.g., 2 hours/week) Not a Priority (N/P) Hartman Exec. Advisors
Note: No recommendations for Service Delivery (Ops), Contracts, or Legal, as they are industry-specific](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/techstrategyforearlystagecompanies-231005190032-fc30a368/85/Technology-Strategy-for-Early-Stage-Companies-12-320.jpg)
Uploaded byMichael King
Technology Strategy for Early Stage Companies
The document outlines a technology strategy for early-stage companies presented by Mike King, focusing on the importance of aligning IT priorities with business strategy and the fundamentals of cybersecurity. It emphasizes the need for simple, effective tools and frameworks while considering sustainability, outsourcing, and technical debt in technology decisions. Additionally, it provides a detailed agenda of tools and recommendations for IT management and cybersecurity across various levels of organizational maturity.
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Technology Strategy for Early Stage Companies
- 1. Technology Strategy for Early-StageCompanies Mike King (mikehking.com) Octber 5, 2023
- 2. Agenda • About Mike •Part 1: Principles • Start with Business Strategy • Define Your IT Priorities • Cybersecurity Fundamentals • Consider Sustainability, Outsourcing, and Tech Debt • How to Research Technology Product Categories and Vendors • Part 2: Tools • Starter Pack • Non-IT Technology Recommendations • IT Management Tools • Cybersecurity Tools (Core) • Cybersecurity Tools (Life Without MSSP) • Tactical Force Multiplier Tools and Culture Hacks • Questions? What’s not in today’s scope? • Covering every category of technology solution • Detailed discussion about specific technology product categories or vendors
- 3. About Mike • Investorand Advisor • Former technology executive (COO to CTO to CIO/CISO) at Halfaker and Associates from 2008 through its sale to SAIC in 2021 • Started my career at Lockheed Martin doing systems and security engineering • https://mikehking.com
- 4.
- 5. Start with yourBusiness Strategy 1. Don’t let IT or other things be a “tail wagging the dog” 2. Don’t throw technology at people or process problems -- develop holistic solutions 3. Realize entrepreneurship is continuous problems and opportunities – you’ll never finish all the things, so you need to prioritize what’s important instead of just trying to “catch up” Sept - Assess Assess current strategic issues and opportunities (SWOT, Strategic Retrospective) Oct - Collect Strategic Input Begin bottoms-up (crowdsourcing) brainstorming possible strategic goals for next year Nov -Draft Strategy Draft new 1- and 3-year strategic plans Dec - Finalize Strategy Refine strategy package, with clear, specific measures of success (e.g., OKRs) Jan - Launch Launch new strategy, ensuring priorities are clear across the organization Ongoing - Monitor and Adjust Establish recurring cadence to monitor strategic progress and issues (e.g. weekly, monthly, and quarterly reviews) Example Annual Strategy Cadence
- 6. Define Your ITPriorities 1. Don’t be overwhelmed by all the IT stuff you could work on – focus on identifying what’s the most important and attack the list in order (e.g., Quarterly Strategic Themes) 2. Align IT priorities with your business strategy 3. Align IT priorities with your company culture – don’t prioritize systems that won’t get used! 4. Be intentional with how fast you’ll complete IT priorities -- balance building corporate infrastructure (IT, cyber security, processes) with focusing on growth – avoid building a house of cards or rock-solid IT without revenue Business Strategic Goal Category IT Goal IT Measures Customer Satisfaction Deploy Customer Survey System >= 75% Customer Response Rate by Feb 28 Deploy Project Health Dashboard to show Customer-Facing Project Health (Revenue, Profit, Deliverable Compliance, Customer Experience, and Employee Experience) Version 1 deployed by Jun 30 Financial Performance Reduce Cyber Risk by Deploying new Endpoint Protection Tool Fully deployed by May 31 Process Maturity Establish new Quarterly Improvement Meeting for leaders to discuss how to improve company processes and technology Complete first meeting by Jan 31 Improve employee experience related to approval requests Define Forms technology approach/platform and deploy 3+ New Employee Self-Service Forms to Improve Tedious Processes by Aug 31 Talent Development Select new Payroll vendor and associated HR Information System, and build launch plan Complete by Aug 31
- 7. Cybersecurity Fundamentals 1. Don’tbe overwhelmed by cybersecurity – take a breath and think about the next step to make your company a little more secure 2. Focus on the fundamentals – don’t consider any complex cyber tools until you have a solid foundation 3. Pick a simple framework to measure yourself against, such as CIS Controls and then NIST Cyber Security Framework (CSF), and go in order making your company more secure 4. See Expel.io’s CSF assessment spreadsheet template
- 8. Consider Sustainability, Outsourcing, andTech Debt 1. Flee from complexity – use SaaS when you can, and avoid complex systems and processes 2. Use what you have – keep your infrastructure simple by using existing functionality instead of investing in other tools, which make things more complex to maintain and for employees to navigate (e.g., Consider using Microsoft Planner or Google Keep before investing in a tool like Trello) 3. Consider outsourcing functions where it makes sense (e.g., cyber monitoring (Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP), graphic design services) 4. Consider Technical Debt, the idea of taking shortcuts now will cost you more complexity/headaches/bad options later 5. Invest in consistency and clarity – do your employees know which technologies they should use for what?
- 9. What to Considerfor a Big System Rollout 1. Define, before selecting a technology, a System Charter for the project (Business Owner, IT Lead, Administration/Sustainment Owner, Problem Being Solved, Project Scope, Project Objectives, Target Timeline) 2. Define RACI chart of who will do what on the project to select, configure, and launch the system 3. Define system requirements and the source for each one (including functional, security, and compliance requirements) 4. Capture assumptions throughout the project 5. Define selection and launch project plans (timeline, milestones, collaboration tools) 6. Define information architecture (how the system will be configured/navigated) 7. Iteratively create and validate design package: User interface design, System workflow, System notification approach, Permissions model, SLAs and reporting approach, Testing Approach 8. Define Communication and Change Management Plan, including rigorous acceptance testing (is this ready to launch?), communication (multiple messages in multiple channels!), go-live activities, and post- launch triage (help me get to fully launched)
- 10. How to ResearchTechnology Product Categories and Vendors 1. Google for Gartner Magic Quadrants by category to find free versions of their analysis of competitors 2. Look on websites like YouTube, Reddit, and Quora for technology solutions 3. Engage with your local startup community (e.g., https://www.dcstartupweek.org) 4. Look at early-stage company-focused technology offerings, like https://appsumo.com
- 11. Part 2: Tools • Thefollowing slides show categories of technology products and suggestions by levels • The levels are not prescriptive – each organization should mature at different rates, based on business model, organizational culture, industry, etc.
- 12. Starter Pack Category NotesLevel 1 (Startup) Level 2 Core Collaboration Platform (Email, Chat, Video, Calendar, Docs/Drive, Planning, App Building) Consider enabling legal/litigation hold, for future legal discovery needs. Look here before investing in any other systems! Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace Accounting System Don’t rush into a big system until you really need it QuickBooks Online or Xero NetSuite, Microsoft, or industry- specific (e.g., Unanet, Deltek) Sales Keep this lean – you can go a long way on simple spreadsheets instead of paying for pricey systems Spreadsheet, CRM/Pipeline Management (e.g., HubSpot, Pipedrive) Consider Salesforce Laptop Type Consistency is valuable BYOD (Employees use their own) Managed Windows or Mac endpoints Smartphones You may need to control data on endpoints as you grow, depending on your culture and compliance needs BYOD (Employees use their own) Consider Mobile Device Management container (e.g., Microsoft Intune) Forms/Approval Platform Get approvals out of email chains and into a system Email [Consider building with M365 or Google Workspace] Social Media Publishing Able to schedule posts across platforms HootSuite or Buffer HootSuite or Buffer Email Newsletter Pick what’s easy for your team to use MailChimp or ConvertKit MailChimp or ConvertKit Web Hosting Focus on attractive UI and simple administration (no patching!) Wordpress.com or Wix Wordpress.com or Wix Managed Service Provider (MSP) Outsourced IT operations/administration Not a Priority (N/P) XPERTECHS, DP Solutions, DesignData, RedRiver Fractional CIO Service Pay for a sliver of CIO time (e.g., 2 hours/week) Not a Priority (N/P) Hartman Exec. Advisors Note: No recommendations for Service Delivery (Ops), Contracts, or Legal, as they are industry-specific
- 13. Non-IT Technology Recommendations • Forthese non-IT categories, refer to the great SignalFire Back Office Guide
- 14. IT Management Tools CategoryNotes Level 1 (Startup) Level 2 IT Asset Tracker • Track equipment (laptops, phones), software assets (licenses, SaaS subscriptions), etc. • Also known as Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Excel spreadsheet on Teams, SharePoint List, or Google Sheet Custom app (e.g., MS Power Apps or Google App Builder) or a system that aligns well with your IT ticketing system (e.g., ManageEngine) Data Backup Determine where your critical data is and how you’ll protect it, shaping the culture around it (e.g., Do employees keep critical info on their laptops? Or on cloud collaboration tools?) None (Remind employees to keep files/data on cloud services) Consider SaaS backup services for relevant platforms (e.g., Veeam) Availability Monitoring Relevant to monitor any websites/web apps you run, even if it’s just your company website StatusCake (Free plan) Site24x7, Pingdom, or NewRelic
- 15. Cybersecurity Tools (Core) CategoryNotes Level 1 (Startup) Level 2 MSSP / MDR (Managed Security Service Provider / Managed Detection & Response / SOC as a Service) Cyber Monitoring as a Service Not a Priority (N/P) Arctic Wolf, CrowdStrike, Sophos, RedZone Technologies Security Training Teach/remind your employees not to get hacked KnowBe4 (Free phishing assessment) KnowBe4 Password Vault Password vaults increase security and make employee separations easier to coordinate 1Password or KeePass 1Password or KeePass Identity Management and Single Sign On (SSO) Consolidate identity to make onboarding and offboarding easier and more secure None (Leverage Password Vault) Azure Entra, Okta SSO, Cisco Duo Endpoint Management (EDR, XDR) Protect laptops and smartphone devices Not a Priority (N/P) Microsoft Intune, CrowdStrike Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) or Regulation Operations (RegOps) Track relevant compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, CMMC), your compliance approach, and relevant evidence Compliance spreadsheet in cloud collaboration platform Spreadsheet or RegOps tool like RegScale or AuditBoard
- 16. Cybersecurity Tools (LifeWithout MSSP) Category Notes Level 1 (Startup) Level 2 Secure Email Gateway Provides security layer for incoming and outgoing emails, to increase security (e.g., phishing, credential attacks) N/P M365 E5 or Proofpoint Vulnerability Management Identifies vulnerabilities on devices (patches not applied) for computers and servers N/P Tenable or Rapid7 SIEM Collects alerts from systems to analyze possible attacks N/P ManageEngine, Rapid7, or Splunk (expensive) Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Monitor and control data moving into and out of company systems N/P Code42, Google Cloud DLP, Microsoft Information Protection, Netskope Note: See the CIS Top 18 Controls list for how to prioritize Cyber investments – start at the top and go in order. Note: At Level 2, start evaluating against NIST Cyber Security Framework.
- 17. Tactical Force Multiplier Toolsand Culture Hacks • In addition to core tools, consider where you could use focused tools to make dramatic improvements in your business capabilities, such as: • Loom video recorder (capture and share) • Fathom AI Notetaker • X Mind mind-mapping tool • Calendly for scheduling acceleration • (AppSumo.com to see startup tech tool trends) • Several years ago, Gartner popularized the idea of “culture hacks” – consider things like “office hours” or Amazon 6-pager docs as you shape your organizational culture Note: Shoutout to Ashlee Berghoff of https://asquaredonline.com for some great tool recommendations!
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