When progress has stalled and the usual answers don’t apply.
Startup Patterns works with founders, CEOs, and senior leaders—when pressure has increased, alignment is fraying, and moving forward requires judgment, not more activity.
This is deliberate, situational work—not a program or a growth play.
When to Engage
You engage this work when you’re facing decisions that can’t be solved by adding more effort, process, or consensus.
Specifically:
When progress has slowed or stopped, despite capable people and sustained effort
When leadership alignment exists in principle, but not in execution
When responsibility is unclear and decisions keep recycling
When you’re carrying too much of the system personally and it’s no longer sustainable
When the organization reacts quickly but moves unpredictably
When the next decision feels consequential, but the path forward isn’t obvious
These are not growth problems.
They are judgment problems inside living systems.
This work exists for moments when the cost of getting it wrong is real—and the system needs to change how it decides, not just what it does.
What this work involves
This work is centered on decision-making under constraint.
It typically involves:
Making the real dynamics of a situation visible
Clarifying where authority, responsibility, and judgment actually sit
Slowing down decisions that are being rushed—and accelerating the ones that are stuck
Helping leaders see the system they’re inside, not just the outcomes they’re chasing
It does not involve:
Predefined programs or playbooks
Motivational coaching or culture theater
Delegating responsibility for hard decisions
The work is thinking work, done in close proximity to real consequences.
How Startup Patterns operates
Startup Patterns is a consulting practice, not an agency and not a scaled firm.
You work directly with me.
In some cases, I involve a small number of trusted collaborators when the situation calls for it.
Engagements are:
Scoped intentionally
Time-bounded
Oriented around specific decisions and constraints
This structure exists to preserve judgment, focus, and accountability—on both sides.
Where this thinking has been exercised
This work has been applied inside:
Growth-stage and established technology companies
Product, engineering, and executive leadership teams
Situations involving scale, conflict, stalled execution, and leadership transition
The specifics vary.
The pattern is consistent: capable people, real pressure, and decisions that matter.
“I am grateful personally and on behalf of Evisions and our clients for the contributions you’ve made to set us up for greater success. And not just in product and dev, but elsewhere too, as your concepts and leadership guidance have permeated beyond the prescribed focus areas.”
– Joe Potenza, CEO of Evisions
Ways to engage the thinking directly
If you want to explore this work on your own before talking:
Writing — long-form essays on leadership, decision-making, and organizational dynamics
Tools — practical artifacts designed to force clarity and surface assumptions
These are independent resources.
They are not prerequisites for working together.