CTO playbook
The stage gates behind the Startup Readiness Review.
A public view of the model I use to assess whether a SaaS startup is ready for the next commitment, and what evidence, risk and operating intent need to move with it.
How the model is used
Readiness scoring, with practical support around the CTO.
The same underlying model can assess whether a company is ready to move from POC to Pilot, from Pilot to Production, or from early Production into scale. It can also support a small SaaS leadership team by connecting evidence, summaries, risks, policy intent and tasks into a current operating view.
The journey
The stages that matter
Each stage exists to answer a different risk question: what can stay throwaway, what must become governed, and what needs to be true before customers rely on the platform. The gate makes that question testable through evidence, risks, tasks and operating intent.
Stage 1
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.
Stage 2
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, pretending to be an enterprise or giving a proof of concept the same permanence as a Production system. 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.
Stage 3
Are we ready for a Pilot?
Before moving from POC to Pilot, the company needs a data governance baseline. This is separate from technical governance. Technical governance asks who can deploy, who can access Azure and how the environment is built. Data governance asks what information the company collects, where it is stored, why it is allowed to hold it and how it protects it.
Stage 4
Are we ready for Pre-Production?
Before moving from Pilot to Production, the company needs a pre-production governance stance. This is the point where the business has to decide what promises it is prepared to make, who is allowed to make changes, who can accept risk, and what evidence must exist before the production environment is created.
Stage 5
Are we ready for Production?
Before moving from Pilot to Production, the company needs a pre-production governance stance. This is the point where the business has to decide what promises it is prepared to make, who is allowed to make changes, who can accept risk, and what evidence must exist before the production environment is created.
Stage 6
Are we ready to scale Production?
Production is a different level of commitment. By this point the company is no longer just proving that the product can work. It is making an operational promise to customers, investors and itself.
Gate model
Move forward through evidence, not drift.
The research defines each transition from Day Zero to Production Scaling as a gate: what must be true, what evidence should exist, which risks are being accepted and which operating commitments need to mature next.