The 3 Categories of Startup Operations

All startup operations can be categorized in one of three ways. Keep the Lights on (KLO) Operations, Core Operations, and Quality Operations.

‘Operations’ can encompass a broad range of responsibilities in a startup. If it concerns the business of the business, it can be filed under Operations and categorized as KLO, Core, or Quality.

KLO Ops is what all companies need to be companies. Core Ops is what companies need to be good companies. Quality Ops is what companies need to be great companies.

A great company is one that can sustain growth over the long run, retain talent, and weather the ups and downs of the journey from startup to mature organization and beyond.

KLO Ops 💡

This is the keep the lights on stuff like payroll, accounting, banking, taxes, compliance, and legal.

Don't do these things and you don't have a business, or soon won't.

Anything in the KLO Ops category is largely commoditized. There are plenty of tools and contract professionals out there to check these boxes and ensure you have an operational company.

Core Ops 🌐

These are the table-stakes operations you need to get right to build a solid company capable of growth.

Think hiring & onboarding process, metrics collection/analysis systems, operational finance, and customer support.

Do these things well and sustained growth is possible. Without solid execution here… good luck.

Core Operations takes more skill to do well, and there’s a notable difference and advantage to investing in high-quality, tailor-built Core Ops systems and processes. Yet even the most sophisticated execution of Core Ops systems won’t guarantee a great company.

Quality Ops 🏆

This is the stuff that sets truly great companies apart from the rest.

In this category are goal-setting and alignment frameworks (e.g. OKRs or EOS), documentation and knowledge-sharing systems, grounded mission/vision/values, living company OS documents, working cadences, augmentation/automation frameworks -- and the list goes on.

Show us a company that sustains growth, retains top talent, and exhibits resilience amid turmoil, and we’ll show you a company that invested heavily in Quality Ops.

Operations that fall inside this category defy commoditization. To be effective, Quality Operations systems need to account for a company’s size/growth rate/industry/culture. Sure, there are guiding principles and best practices. Yet to extract value from this category and build a great company, custom implementation, and iteration are required.

Groundswell Ops specializes in solid Core Operations and world-class Quality Ops. We believe nailing these two operations categories sets startups up for rapid and sustainable growth.

🗓️ Schedule a free discovery call 🗓️ to explore how we can help you and your team build something truly great.