|
Let’s talk about why your systems keep cracking, Reader.
It’s probably not your emails.
It’s probably not your tool.
It’s probably not even your offer.
It’s that you built it for one perspective—
and systems that scale have to work for every stakeholder involved.
The most effective systems solve obstacles across four key layers:
1. The Customer
What friction are they hitting right before this system shows up?
- Is it confusion? (about the offer, the timing, the next step?)
- Is it mistrust? (do they need reassurance or social proof?)
- Is it overwhelm? (too many choices, not enough direction?)
Design your system to remove that, not to look polished.
2. The Founder
What is still dependent on them showing up?
- Are they manually pushing every piece of the puzzle?
- Are decisions still sitting in their inbox, stalling ops?
- Does the system trigger guilt when they see it?
Build to reduce mental load, not just calendar time.
3. The Team
Where do things break down after handoff?
- Is ownership unclear?
- Are there steps no one knows how to do but “just happen”?
- Are they stuck translating founder-speak into action?
Make sure every flow has real lanes and repeatable steps.
4. The Tech
What needs to be hardwired, not handcrafted?
- Where is human behavior being relied on for timing?
- What’s fragile (based on “when they remember to click X”)?
- Where are people entering with no context or automation trigger?
If it only works when you babysit it—it’s not a system.
How to audit what you're building:
Start with a flow - onboarding, delivery, retention, re-engagement, whatever.
Then ask:
- Who touches this?
- What are they experiencing right before it?
- What gets in their way at this exact point?
- What insight or support would actually help them succeed here?
That’s your system brief.
Then you build automation.
Then you map tools.
Too many founders (and ops people) build systems like they’re optimizing a factory.
But the best ones?
They’re not just efficient.
They’re designed with multi-stakeholder clarity from the start.
That's what we're doing on this side. Drinking our own champagne.
No duct tape. No chaos loops.
Just systems that serve everyone they touch.
Ready for help to streamline your operations for scale? Reply to this email. I read every one.
More soon,
Starlight
| 