# Teams

URL: /agents/teams · Id: `page:agents/teams`

> The org chart every Startup inherits, which Roles are awake at each Lifecycle state, and the one weekly loop that runs them.

Every [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) inherits one org chart: eleven [Teams](/business/nouns/team), each a department of [Roles](/business/nouns/role) that [Agents](/business/nouns/agent) fill from the first day. Only the Roles the Startup has earned are awake; the rest wake on triggers.

## The departments
Each Team owns its records, its [Processes](/business/nouns/process) and the [Metrics](/business/nouns/metric) that judge it. A department's page lists its Roles, its [Plays](/business/nouns/play) and its playbook.

| Team | Roles | Works with |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Founding Team](/agents/founding) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder), [Strategist](/agents/founding/strategist) | [Product Team](/agents/product), [Operations Team](/agents/operations), [Finance Team](/agents/finance), [Legal Team](/agents/legal), [People Team](/agents/people) |
| [Product Team](/agents/product) | [Product Lead](/agents/product/product-lead), [Designer](/agents/product/designer), [Researcher](/agents/product/researcher) | [Engineering Team](/agents/engineering), [Marketing Team](/agents/marketing), [Customer Team](/agents/customer), [Quality Team](/agents/quality) |
| [Engineering Team](/agents/engineering) | [Engineering Lead](/agents/engineering/engineering-lead), [Reliability Engineer](/agents/engineering/reliability-engineer), [Integration Engineer](/agents/engineering/integration-engineer), [Security Engineer](/agents/engineering/security-engineer), [Data Engineer](/agents/engineering/data-engineer) | [Operations Team](/agents/operations), [Quality Team](/agents/quality), [Legal Team](/agents/legal) |
| [Marketing Team](/agents/marketing) | [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead), [Analyst](/agents/marketing/analyst), [Content Lead](/agents/marketing/content-lead), [Paid Media Manager](/agents/marketing/paid-media-manager), [Video Producer](/agents/marketing/video-producer), [Communications Lead](/agents/marketing/communications-lead) | [Sales Team](/agents/sales), [Finance Team](/agents/finance) |
| [Sales Team](/agents/sales) | [Sales Lead](/agents/sales/sales-lead), [Sales Engineer](/agents/sales/sales-engineer), [Prospector](/agents/sales/prospector), [Partner Manager](/agents/sales/partner-manager) | [Customer Team](/agents/customer), [Legal Team](/agents/legal), [Finance Team](/agents/finance) |
| [Customer Team](/agents/customer) | [Customer Lead](/agents/customer/customer-lead), [Onboarding Specialist](/agents/customer/onboarding-specialist), [Success Manager](/agents/customer/success-manager) | [Operations Team](/agents/operations), [Finance Team](/agents/finance), [Legal Team](/agents/legal) |
| [Operations Team](/agents/operations) | [Operations Lead](/agents/operations/operations-lead), [Delivery Manager](/agents/operations/delivery-manager), [Supply Manager](/agents/operations/supply-manager), [Risk Analyst](/agents/operations/risk-analyst) | [Finance Team](/agents/finance), [People Team](/agents/people), [Quality Team](/agents/quality) |
| [Finance Team](/agents/finance) | [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead), [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist), [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer) | [Legal Team](/agents/legal) |
| [Legal Team](/agents/legal) | [Legal Lead](/agents/legal/legal-lead), [Compliance Officer](/agents/legal/compliance-officer), [Privacy Officer](/agents/legal/privacy-officer), [Contracts Manager](/agents/legal/contracts-manager) | [Quality Team](/agents/quality), [People Team](/agents/people) |
| [People Team](/agents/people) | [People Lead](/agents/people/people-lead), [Recruiter](/agents/people/recruiter), [Payroll Specialist](/agents/people/payroll-specialist) | [Operations Team](/agents/operations) |
| [Quality Team](/agents/quality) | [Quality Lead](/agents/quality/quality-lead), [Reviewer](/agents/quality/reviewer), [Tester](/agents/quality/tester) | [Product Team](/agents/product) |

## Who is awake
A Startup testing an [Idea](/business/nouns/idea) needs one Role: the [Founder](/agents/founding/founder), finding out whether anyone wants it. Roles wake as the Startup earns them, and each one wakes to work already waiting.

| State | Roles awake | What woke them |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Idea](/business/lifecycle/states/idea) | Founder | A [Hypothesis](/business/nouns/hypothesis) to test |
| [Building](/business/lifecycle/states/building) | + [Product Lead](/agents/product/product-lead), + [Sales Lead](/agents/sales/sales-lead) | A committed buyer and something to build |
| [Live](/business/lifecycle/states/live) | + [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead), + [Customer Lead](/agents/customer/customer-lead) | Demand to grow and [Customers](/business/nouns/customer) to keep |

The other departments wake on the [Events](/business/nouns/event) their [Workflows](/business/nouns/workflow) wait for. A [Change](/business/nouns/change) wakes the [Engineering Team](/agents/engineering) and the [Quality Team](/agents/quality). A contract to review wakes the [Legal Team](/agents/legal), and the first [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice) wakes the [Finance Team](/agents/finance).

A [Human](/business/nouns/human) joining wakes the [People Team](/agents/people), and an outcome delivered by human supply wakes the [Operations Team](/agents/operations). A sleeping department costs nothing and loses nothing; its records wait where they are.

Take a Startup that sells a scheduling agent to physiotherapy clinics. For three weeks only its Founder works: fifteen [Interviews](/business/nouns/interview) and a smoke page. The first paid deposit moves it to Building and wakes the Product Lead and the Sales Lead the same hour.

## Filling a Role
Every Role starts with an Agent [Worker](/business/nouns/worker) that takes a default name in each new Startup. To change who does the work, hire another Agent or a Human into the Role, or let a Human share it with the Agent.

A Worker seated in a Role is a team member, wherever it came from. It acts under the Startup's [Permissions](/business/nouns/permission), [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate) and [Limits](/business/nouns/limit), keeps its own [Memory](/business/nouns/memory), and appears on the chart. Work ordered from another Startup under an [Agreement](/business/nouns/agreement) is a supplier's work and stays off it.

## How work moves
Roles pass work along declared handoffs, never by chat. When an [Action](/business/nouns/action) would cross a Limit, or the law reserves it to a [Person](/business/nouns/person), the Role escalates to the Founder with the reason attached.

The Founder answers with a [Decision](/business/nouns/decision): the options, the choice, the reason and the stakes. The next Worker in any seat inherits the reasoning along with the result.

## The operating week
One loop runs the whole chart. At the start of each week the [Weekly review](/workflows/processes/iteration/weekly-review) reads the weakest [Evidence](/business/nouns/evidence) and picks one change. The awake Roles run it during the week.

At the end of the week, [office hours](/workflows/processes/office-hours) reads the graded Evidence and records one Decision: persevere, iterate or pivot. Everything else on the calendar serves that loop.

[Rhythm](/workflows/rhythm) lists every Workflow by when it runs. The [founding playbook](/start/founding-playbook) explains the loop from the deciding seat.