Shared Platform
What if you could start a business tomorrow and spend all your energy on the work that matters?
The Problem
Non-domain decisions consume founders. Property, fit-out, legal structure, insurance, tooling, payroll — none of it relates to what you're actually good at. Every choice is one-off, expensive, and unrelated to your value proposition.
Tech stack selection is a minefield. Wrong choice and data gets siloed, migration costs compound, integrations break. Product overlap means paying for three tools that do the same thing. Data repetition means the same customer address lives in six places, wrong in three of them. Every new business rediscovers the same 95% commodity problems independently. The person who's brilliant at making cheese shouldn't spend six months choosing accounting software.
The Solution
Collective wisdom that evolves. Standards that compound. A shared platform where the 95% commodity is solved, so you go straight to your value proposition.
Businesses pop up like mushrooms on mycelium — the network does the unglamorous work so you can do the work that matters. Templates capture what's been learned. Standards encode what's been proven. The platform carries the weight so the founder carries the vision.
Stackmates
Continuous innovation on an open platform of Phygital Mycelium where true value flows freely. The layers build in sequence — each one enabling the next.
COMMUNICATION → OPERATIONS → FINANCE → LEGAL → DATA
| Layer | Purpose | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | Talk to team and customers | Day 1 |
| Operations | Get work done | Week 1 |
| Finance | Manage money | Before first dollar |
| Legal | Protect the business | At incorporation |
| Data | Track what matters | When patterns emerge |
The Stack
Reference tables for each layer. Start with the minimum viable option, upgrade when the constraint bites.
Communication
How you talk to your team and customers.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 | Day 1 | |
| Team Chat | Slack, Discord, Teams | Day 1 |
| Video Calls | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams | Day 1 |
| Customer Support | Intercom, Zendesk, Crisp | Before launch |
| Phone/SMS | OpenPhone, Twilio | When needed |
Minimum viable: Google Workspace gives you email, docs, drive, and meet for ~$6/user/month.
Operations
How you get work done.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Project Management | Linear, Notion, Asana, Monday | Week 1 |
| Documentation | Notion, Confluence, GitBook | Week 1 |
| Password Management | 1Password, Bitwarden | Day 1 |
| File Storage | Google Drive, Dropbox, Box | Day 1 |
| Calendar | Google Calendar, Calendly | Day 1 |
| CRM | HubSpot, Pipedrive, Attio | Before sales |
| Contracts | DocuSign, PandaDoc | Before first contract |
Minimum viable: Notion + Google Workspace handles most early-stage needs.
Finance
How you manage money.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Banking | Mercury, Brex, Chase, Wise | At incorporation |
| Accounting | QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks | At incorporation |
| Invoicing | Stripe Invoicing, Wave, PayPal | Before first invoice |
| Payments | Stripe, Square | Before selling |
| Expense Management | Ramp, Brex, Expensify | When expenses grow |
| Payroll | Gusto, Deel, Remote | Before first hire |
| Cap Table | Carta, Pulley, Captable.io | With investors |
Minimum viable: Mercury (banking) + QuickBooks (accounting) + Stripe (payments).
Financial Artifacts
| Artifact | Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Cash Flow Forecast | Google Sheets, Runway | Predict runway |
| Budget | Google Sheets, Fathom | Plan spending |
| Financial Model | Google Sheets, Causal | Raise capital |
| Cap Table | Carta, Pulley | Track ownership |
| Invoice Template | Stripe, QuickBooks | Get paid |
Legal
How you protect the business.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporation | Stripe Atlas, Clerky, FirstBase | Day 0 |
| Registered Agent | Incfile, Northwest | At incorporation |
| Contract Templates | Clerky, Orrick, Y Combinator | Before first contract |
| IP Protection | Trademark Engine, USPTO | When brand matters |
| Compliance | Vanta, Drata, Secureframe | Before enterprise sales |
Minimum viable: Stripe Atlas for incorporation + standard SAFE/contract templates.
Legal Artifacts
| Artifact | Template Source | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporation | Stripe Atlas, Clerky | Legal existence |
| Operating Agreement | Clerky, lawyer | Governance |
| SAFE | Y Combinator | Early fundraising |
| Employment Agreement | Orrick, Cooley | Hire employees |
| Contractor Agreement | Clerky, lawyer | Hire contractors |
| NDA | Docracy, template | Protect confidential info |
| Terms of Service | Termly, lawyer | User agreement |
| Privacy Policy | Termly, Iubenda | Data compliance |
Data & Analytics
How you track what matters.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Product Analytics | PostHog, Mixpanel, Amplitude | At launch |
| Web Analytics | Plausible, Google Analytics | At launch |
| Error Tracking | Sentry, LogRocket | During development |
| Customer Feedback | Canny, Productboard | After launch |
| Business Intelligence | Metabase, Tableau | When data grows |
Minimum viable: PostHog (open source, covers most analytics needs).
AI Infrastructure
How you leverage AI.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| AI Assistants | Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini | Day 1 |
| AI Coding | Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot | Day 1 |
| AI APIs | OpenAI, Anthropic, Together | When building AI features |
| Vector Database | Pinecone, Weaviate, Supabase | For RAG applications |
| AI Agents | LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGPT | When automating workflows |
Minimum viable: Claude (thinking) + Cursor (coding) + Anthropic API (building).
Crypto Infrastructure
How you leverage crypto rails.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Wallets | Phantom, MetaMask, Rabby | When needed |
| Custody | Fireblocks, BitGo | With significant assets |
| Payments | Coinbase Commerce, BitPay | To accept crypto |
| Treasury | Circle, Coinbase Prime | For stablecoin operations |
| Smart Contracts | Foundry, Hardhat, Anchor | When building on-chain |
| Token Launch | Pump.fun, Jupiter | When tokenizing |
Minimum viable: Phantom wallet + Circle USDC for treasury.
Development
How you build product.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Version Control | GitHub, GitLab | Day 1 |
| CI/CD | GitHub Actions, Vercel | During development |
| Hosting | Vercel, Railway, AWS | Before launch |
| Database | Supabase, PlanetScale, Neon | During development |
| Monitoring | Datadog, Grafana | Before launch |
| Feature Flags | LaunchDarkly, PostHog | At scale |
Minimum viable: GitHub + Vercel + Supabase.
Marketing
How you acquire customers.
| Tool Type | Options | When to Set Up |
|---|---|---|
| Email Marketing | Resend, Mailchimp, ConvertKit | Before launch |
| Social Scheduling | Buffer, Typefully | With content strategy |
| SEO | Ahrefs, Semrush | When organic matters |
| Landing Pages | Framer, Webflow, Next.js | Before launch |
| Forms | Typeform, Tally | Before launch |
Minimum viable: Resend (email) + Framer (landing page) + Tally (forms).
Minimum Viable Stack
Starting today? Set up these first:
| Category | Tool | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Email/Docs | Google Workspace | $6/user/mo |
| Chat | Slack (free tier) | $0 |
| Project Management | Notion (free tier) | $0 |
| Passwords | 1Password | $4/user/mo |
| Banking | Mercury | $0 |
| Accounting | QuickBooks | $30/mo |
| Payments | Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Incorporation | Stripe Atlas | $500 one-time |
| Code | GitHub (free tier) | $0 |
| Hosting | Vercel (free tier) | $0 |
| AI | Claude Pro | $20/mo |
Total: ~$60/month + Stripe Atlas + transaction fees
Scaling Infrastructure
As you grow, upgrade in this order:
| Stage | Add |
|---|---|
| Pre-revenue | Basic stack above |
| First customers | CRM, support tools, better analytics |
| First hires | Payroll, HR tools, better docs |
| Growth | Marketing automation, business intelligence |
| Scale | Enterprise security, compliance, SOC 2 |
Persuasion Loop
Infrastructure enables the assets that sell your idea:
IDEA → PITCH DECK → LANDING PAGE → SALES PITCH → PRESENTING → SELLING → FEEDBACK
| Asset | Infrastructure Needed |
|---|---|
| Business Idea | Docs, research tools |
| Pitch Deck | Design, presentation tools |
| Landing Page | Hosting, analytics, forms |
| Sales Pitch | CRM, video calls |
| Presenting | Recording, scheduling |
| Selling | Payments, contracts |
| Feedback | Analytics, customer feedback |
The pattern: Each asset requires specific infrastructure. Build what you need for the next asset, not everything at once.
Context
- Business Development — The one-page plan
- Business Instruments — Control loops at each stage
- Business Models — How value flows
- Dreamineering Ventures — See the infrastructure in action
- SaaS Stack — Horizontal software tools
- Platform Engineering — Technical infrastructure
Links
- Templates — The gravity well for shared knowledge
- Standards — Compound knowledge
- Mycelium — The network
Questions
What would happen if every new business inherited the tooling lessons of every business before it?
- Which of the 95% commodity decisions are you currently solving from scratch — and what would you build if those were already handled?
- At what point does shared infrastructure become a constraint rather than an enabler — and how do you preserve the freedom to diverge?
- If the platform carries the weight, what's the minimum a founder needs to bring — and is that minimum character, capital, or conviction?