Jaroslav GergicVP, R&D and Operations, GoodDatajaroslav.gergic@gooddata.com

eClub (Entrepreneurs Club)@ CVUT Media Lab

April 11 2013

How to organize workin a small startup?

Reporting & BI has always been aVALUE CHAINMultiple PRODUCTSMultiple DEVELOPMENT CYCLESHigh IMPLEMENTATION COSTSHigh SUPPORT COSTSDedicated HARDWAREDedicated IT RESOURCES

Data Warehouse

Report

ETL

Datamart Datamart

Cube Cube Cube

Dashboard XLS

The old way…

Helping

organizations….analyze their own data embed analytics into their solution

Internal Powered By

How to organize work in a small start-up?

What is a start-up?

● start-up is a Company

What is a start-up?

What is a Company?

● Externally

What is a Company?

● Externally○ Brand○ Products ○ Services

What is a Company?

● Externally○ Brand○ Products○ Services

What is a Company?

● Internally

● Externally○ Brand○ Products○ Services

What is a Company?

● Internally○ People & Culture○ Functions○ Processes○ Tools

Marketing

Functions of a Company

Sales

Account Management

Services

Support

Product Management

Development

Operations

General & Administration (Finance, Accounting Legal, Facilities)

● 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

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!

How to organize work in a small start-up?

Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct

● focus on core competencies

Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct

● focus on core competencies● build only what gives you a competitive advantage

Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct

● focus on core competencies● build only what gives you a competitive advantage● buy everything else

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)

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

Building a Modern Company: Basic Instinct

● 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

Build versus Buy

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

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

Build versus Buy example: GoodData

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

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

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

SaaS Software Development Methodology

Kanban in a glance

● 3 basic principles○ Visualize Workflow○ Limited Work in Progress (WIP)○ Measure Lead Time (Cycle Time)

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)

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

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

Kanban in a glance

● 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

Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams

● Goals○ Increased Productivity○ Scalability of the organization

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

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

Autonomous Cross-Functional Teams

Thank You!