Startup playbook: from POC to Production
Useful for
Defines the public entry point for the startup CTO playbook. It explains why agentic delivery needs company governance, assurance and operational structure around it.
Public purpose
Defines the public entry point for the startup CTO playbook. It explains why agentic delivery needs company governance, assurance and operational structure around it.
Curation guidance
Use this page to explain the overall argument: this is a CTO playbook that augments the agentic SDLC with the company, governance, assurance and operational work needed to operate a SaaS product. Make it clear that the public website is the human-readable overview of the structure, not the full assessment method.
Use the gate introductions as the stage overview. Do not include control checklists on this page.
Summary intent
The reader should understand that this is the startup CTO playbook in a wider family of possible CTO playbooks. It is organised around decision gates. The POC can be disposable, but the operating habits should not be.
How Brokenhouse helps
Turn this into a practical plan.
I help technology teams turn this guidance into decisions, implementation plans, governance evidence and production-ready operating models.
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Startup playbook: from POC to Production
This is a CTO playbook for augmenting the agentic SDLC with the company work that sits around the software. Most startup writing focuses on building the product. This playbook focuses on the identity, governance, data protection, delivery, cloud and operational decisions that allow a small SaaS company to move from idea to production without creating avoidable risk.
Is the company ready?
The first few months of a software business are not just about building the product. They are about creating the conditions that allow the product to be built, deployed, governed and supported without the company tripping over its own foundations.
Can we start the POC?
Before starting the POC, there is a small amount of governance that should be put in place. This is not about slowing the team down or pretending to be an enterprise. It is about creating enough shape that the first few months do not become a mess of forgotten passwords, inconsistent names, unclear decisions and accidental access.