Scrum and Kanban: agile methods for startups

Startups work in uncertainty: requirements change, priorities shift and customer information upends plans. Agile methods aim to cope by splitting work into small pieces, delivering often and correcting course with feedback.

The core idea of agile

• Short cycles instead of big plans
• Working product over perfect documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over blindly following the plan

Scrum

Scrum splits work into fixed-length cycles (sprints, usually 1–2 weeks).

Key elements:

1. Product backlog: A prioritised list of all work
2. Sprint planning: Choosing what to do in the cycle
3. Daily stand-up: A 15-minute status share
4. Sprint review: Demonstrating the output
5. Retrospective: Discussing what to improve in the process

Best for: Teams with clear goals who want regular delivery.

Kanban

Kanban visualises work on a board with columns (To do, Doing, Done) and limits work in progress (WIP limit).

Key elements:

1. A visual board
2. WIP limits
3. Measuring flow (time from start to finish of an item)
4. Continuous improvement

Best for: Continuous, unpredictable work; support and maintenance teams.

Which to choose?

| Situation | Suggestion | |---|---| | Product development, planned delivery | Scrum | | Interrupted flow with shifting priorities | Kanban | | Very small team of 2–5 | Light Kanban + weekly review |

A simple set-up for small teams

1. Set up one shared board.
2. Hold a 30-minute weekly planning.
3. Take at most 2 items per person at a time.
4. Do a short review each week end.
5. Tie priorities to the product roadmap and the North Star metric.

Team and culture

Agile is more a culture than a tool: it needs transparency, feedback and ownership. See startup culture and building a software team.

Common mistakes

• Adding meetings and slowing delivery
• Never prioritising the backlog
• Constantly changing goals mid-sprint
• Never planning for technical debt; see technical debt