Startup Infrastructure
What tools and systems do you need in place to start a business? The right infrastructure enables speed without chaos.
The Stack
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 |
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).
The 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 |
Context
- Business Artifacts — Documents needed at each stage
- Business Models — How value flows
- SaaS Stack — Horizontal software tools
- Platform Engineering — Technical infrastructure