Agile for Startups vs. Enterprises
Agile in a 500-person enterprise means 3-hour sprint planning meetings, release train engineers, and SAFe frameworks. Agile for a 3-person startup means: ship every week, learn from users, adjust. Same principles, radically different execution.
The Minimal Viable Agile Process
For startups (2–8 people), keep it simple:
- 1-week sprints (2 weeks maximum — longer = less feedback loops)
- Daily standup: 10 minutes, 3 questions: what did I do, what will I do, any blockers
- Sprint planning: 30 minutes, pull from backlog, commit to what you can ship this week
- Friday demo: 15 minutes, show what shipped to whole team
- Retrospective: 20 minutes every 2 weeks, one thing to keep, one to change
Writing User Stories That Work
Format: "As a [user type], I want to [action], so that [benefit]." But add: acceptance criteria (how do we know it's done?) and a definition of done checklist.
Bad story: "Improve the dashboard." Good story: "As a paying customer, I want to see my AI usage this month vs. my plan limit, so I know when to upgrade before hitting the cap."
Backlog Prioritization
Use ICE scoring: Impact (1–10) × Confidence (1–10) × Ease (1–10). Run your backlog through this every sprint planning. The highest ICE score items go into the next sprint. This removes politics and gut-feeling prioritization.
When to Break Agile Rules
When you need to: ship a major architectural change, respond to a critical bug, chase a time-sensitive market opportunity. Agile is a tool, not a religion. Break the rules intentionally, then return to the process.