The 5-Minute Startup CTO #43

Startups and Covid, Failed Spotify, Flow

Here are your 3 picks for this week:

🏢 Business, not as usual

We’re now well into the 4th month of the Covid-19 crisis, and how are (UK) startups coping? Sifted has the results of a recent survey, covering rent, advertising, salary cuts and more. A revealing view on the impact of the crisis, and a nice reference point to see how your own company is doing.

🔄 Process makes perfect

By now everyone’s heard of the Spotify model. But what if it didn’t work in the first place? That’s the view of Jeremiah Lee and several other former Spotify employees, and it is a pretty thought-provoking read.

I’ve never seen a company implementing the whole Spotify model - more just the core concepts (cross-functional squads, guilds) and these escapes pretty much unscathed. Also, some of the recommendations don’t feel particularly right (having a senior dev / tech lead in each squad doesn’t preclude people management being outside of squads). But it definitely makes you think - and question your assumptions.

The article also points to Shape Up as a better alternative - another great read, except it doesn’t tackle people management and cross-team communication.

👭 It’s all about People

Lastly, the X-Team with a short introduction to the concept of Flow, and how to fall into it more easily. And if you have more time, why not read the original book.

I hope you found this useful, have a great week and stay safe!

Fabrice

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The 5-Minute Startup CTO: every Sunday, 3 top insights in 5 minutes for startup CTOs and Tech Leads.

Hand-picked by Fabrice, a UK-based consulting CTO. Let me know if you need help with your startup!