The “Cyclone” is an approach to product development, where three teams work in staggered phases. Each team sequentially assumes responsibility for idea generation, product launch, and feature maintenance. Ensuring a new marketable product feature is launched every month.

What You’ll Need

• 1 founder / engineer
• 1 founder / designer
• 6 senior engineers
• 1 senior marketer
• 2 junior engineers

Setting Up the Cyclone

Start by dividing the senior engineers into three pairs. Let’s assign them color codes for easier reference: Cyan, Magenta, and Crimson. Prioritize the compatibility of the team members when forming these pairs.

Begin with Team Crimson working on a feature set to complete within a month. During this time, the senior marketer, the designer founder, and one of the junior engineers work closely with Team Crimson. This collaboration ensures all marketing aspects, design and supportive tasks are attended to, thereby facilitating a smooth feature launch. Once this ‘marketable’ launch is achieved, rotate Team Crimson to the Cyan phase.

Simultaneously, initiate Team Magenta on a feature that has a longer development cycle, approximately two months. The founder/engineer should work with Team Magenta during the first month to cover all technical aspects and strategic considerations of the feature. At the end of the first month, Team Magenta transitions into the Crimson phase.

Meanwhile, Team Cyan should focus on enhancing the overall product experience, fixing bugs, and improving the development tools and infrastructure. Have the remaining junior engineer assist this team. After a month, Team Cyan rotates into the Magenta phase.

To ensure continuous support, rotate the junior engineers monthly between Teams Cyan and Crimson. And make sure all members stay in sync on a regular cadence.

If team Crimson is unable to launch on schedule, either pause development on that feature for 1 month (pause throughout the Cyan phase) or scrap it altogether — make sure you plan better next time.

This process creates a virtuous cycle, or the ‘Cyclone’, propelling your startup towards a consistent monthly feature launch. This dynamic system not only accelerates product development but also ensures ongoing improvements and maintenance.