clipstart
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intermediate3 agentsMixedcurrent

Startup Trio

A lightweight founder, engineer, and QA structure for a product team that needs clarity without heavy process.

Tested against paperclip 0.9
paperclip-company.yaml
company:
  name: "Startup Trio"
  mission: "Ship product changes with clear ownership"

agents:
  - name: "Founder"
    adapter: claude-local
    role: "product lead"
    reports_to: board
    budget: "$20/month"

  - name: "Engineer"
    adapter: codex
    role: "software engineer"
    reports_to: Founder
    budget: "$35/month"

  - name: "QA"
    adapter: claude-local
    role: "quality analyst"
    reports_to: Founder
    budget: "$15/month"

Prerequisites

  • Shared product goals documented somewhere the agents can read
  • Codebase with tests or at least a manual verification flow
  • One strong coding adapter and one strong reasoning adapter

Use this template

  1. Keep the founder agent focused on scope and prioritization, not implementation.
  2. Give the engineer a bounded repo area and explicit acceptance criteria.
  3. Use QA as a verifier, not a second builder.

Why this template works

The trio separates planning, building, and verification without adding middle management.

Common mistake

Teams often let the founder agent micromanage implementation. That slows everything down. Let it own the goal and the acceptance criteria instead.