Runbook Startup Mvp

Triggers

• startup MVP
• MVP build
• minimum viable product
• rapid product build
• startup launch
• product-market fit
• quick launch
• lean startup
• fast build
• 4-week build
• 6-week build
• idea to product
• validate idea
• startup sprint
• rapid development
• MVP validation

Instructions

This runbook covers building a startup MVP — a new product that needs to validate product-market fit quickly. Speed matters, but so does quality. Go from idea to live product with real users in 4-6 weeks.

Agent Roster

Core Team (Always Active) — use organization_spawn:

• Agents Orchestrator: Pipeline controller
• Senior Project Manager: Spec-to-task conversion
• Sprint Prioritizer: Backlog management
• UX Architect: Technical foundation
• Frontend Developer: UI implementation
• Backend Architect: API and database
• DevOps Automator: CI/CD and deployment
• Evidence Collector: QA for every task
• Reality Checker: Final quality gate

Growth Team (Activated Week 3+):

• Growth Hacker: Acquisition strategy
• Content Creator: Launch content
• Social Media Strategist: Social campaign

Support Team (As Needed):

• Brand Guardian: Brand identity
• Analytics Reporter: Metrics and dashboards
• Rapid Prototyper: Quick validation experiments
• AI Engineer: If product includes AI features
• Performance Benchmarker: Load testing before launch
• Infrastructure Maintainer: Production setup

Week 1: Discovery + Architecture (Compressed Phase 0 + 1)

Day 1-2 — Compressed Discovery:

• Trend Researcher: Quick competitive scan (1 day, not full report)
• UX Architect: Wireframe key user flows
• Senior Project Manager: Convert spec to task list

Day 3-4 — Architecture:

• UX Architect: CSS design system + component architecture
• Backend Architect: System architecture + database schema
• Brand Guardian: Quick brand foundation (colors, typography, voice)
• Sprint Prioritizer: RICE-scored backlog + sprint plan

Day 5 — Foundation Setup:

• DevOps Automator: CI/CD pipeline + environments
• Frontend Developer: Project scaffolding
• Backend Architect: Database + API scaffold
• Quality Gate: Architecture Package approved

Week 2-3: Core Build (Compressed Phase 2 + 3)

Sprint 1 (Week 2) — use agency-phase-3-build skill mechanics:

• Agents Orchestrator manages Dev-QA loop
• Frontend Developer: Core UI (auth, main views, navigation)
• Backend Architect: Core API (auth, CRUD, business logic)
• Evidence Collector: QA every completed task
• AI Engineer: ML features if applicable
• Sprint Review at end of week

Sprint 2 (Week 3):

• Continue Dev-QA loop for remaining features
• Growth Hacker: Design viral mechanics + referral system
• Content Creator: Begin launch content creation
• Analytics Reporter: Set up tracking and dashboards
• Sprint Review at end of week

Week 4: Polish + Hardening (Compressed Phase 4)

Day 1-2 — Quality Sprint:

• Evidence Collector: Full screenshot suite
• Performance Benchmarker: Load testing
• Frontend Developer: Fix QA issues
• Backend Architect: Fix API issues
• Brand Guardian: Brand consistency audit

Day 3-4 — Reality Check:

• Reality Checker: Final integration testing
• Infrastructure Maintainer: Production readiness
• DevOps Automator: Production deployment prep

Day 5 — Gate Decision:

• Reality Checker verdict
• IF NEEDS WORK: Quick fix cycle (2-3 days)
• IF READY: Proceed to launch
• Executive Summary Generator: Stakeholder briefing

Week 5-6: Launch + Growth (Phase 5)

Week 5 — Launch:

• DevOps Automator: Production deployment
• Growth Hacker: Activate acquisition channels
• Content Creator: Publish launch content
• Social Media Strategist: Cross-platform campaign
• Analytics Reporter: Real-time monitoring
• Support Responder: User support active

Week 6 — Optimize:

• Growth Hacker: Analyze and optimize channels
• Feedback Synthesizer: Collect early user feedback
• Experiment Tracker: Launch A/B tests
• Analytics Reporter: Week 1 analysis
• Sprint Prioritizer: Plan iteration sprint

Key Decisions

Common Pitfalls & Mitigations

• Scope creep: Sprint Prioritizer enforces MoSCoW — "Won't" means won't
• Over-engineering: Rapid Prototyper mindset — validate first, scale later
• Skipping QA: Evidence Collector runs on EVERY task — no exceptions
• No monitoring: Infrastructure Maintainer sets up monitoring in Week 1
• No feedback mechanism: Analytics + feedback built into Sprint 1

Use knowledge_write to persist architecture decisions, sprint results, and launch metrics.

Deliverables

• Competitive scan and validated concept
• Architecture Package (compressed)
• Working CI/CD pipeline
• Core features implemented and QA'd
• Reality Checker READY verdict
• Production deployment
• Active acquisition channels
• Week 1 analytics report
• User feedback collection active

Success Metrics

Verify

• The deploy command was actually run and the build/log output (or deploy URL) is captured
• The deployed URL was opened and returned a 2xx; key routes were sampled, not just the index
• Environment variables required by the app are present in the target environment; missing-var failures were ruled out
• A rollback plan (previous deployment ID, git SHA, or one-line revert command) is documented before promoting to production
• Health/observability check (logs, error tracker, status page) was inspected post-deploy; baseline error rate is recorded
• DNS / domain / SSL configuration was confirmed, not assumed to carry over from previous deploys