Opitor GuidesNotes on how a small company runs, from the people building Opitor.https://opitor.comA calendar of deadlines, not meetings: how a small company sees the monthhttps://opitor.com/guides/a-calendar-of-deadlines-not-meetingshttps://opitor.com/guides/a-calendar-of-deadlines-not-meetingsPut due dates on a calendar instead of meetings, and three patterns appear that no single conversation will show you: the crowded week, the empty week, and the stacked person.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTDrafts, not sends: how signed AI writing keeps trust inside a teamhttps://opitor.com/guides/drafts-not-sendshttps://opitor.com/guides/drafts-not-sendsWhen a name is on a message, a person should have stood behind the words. Here is the boundary that keeps that true, and why it makes teams braver, not more cautious.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTFrom group thread to todo: the handoff small teams misshttps://opitor.com/guides/from-group-thread-to-todohttps://opitor.com/guides/from-group-thread-to-todoA decision in a group thread is not a commitment until it has a person, a thing and a date attached. Here is the smallest handoff that works.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTOnboarding a new teammate into a running systemhttps://opitor.com/guides/onboarding-a-new-teammatehttps://opitor.com/guides/onboarding-a-new-teammateMost small-company onboarding is a pile of links and one sentence that does all the work. Here is a version that survives contact with a running system.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTStarting alone: using a chief of staff before your company decides anythinghttps://opitor.com/guides/starting-alonehttps://opitor.com/guides/starting-aloneA decision for ten people can take a quarter. One person can start this week, alone, and have something real to show before anyone has to agree.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhat a chief of staff reads for you, and what it leaves alonehttps://opitor.com/guides/what-a-chief-of-staff-reads-for-youhttps://opitor.com/guides/what-a-chief-of-staff-reads-for-youReading is the whole basis of the help, which makes the edges of what it reads the first thing worth knowing. Here they are, plainly.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTDeadlines that stay visible: how a small team stops dropping dateshttps://opitor.com/guides/deadlines-that-stay-visiblehttps://opitor.com/guides/deadlines-that-stay-visibleWhy a small team loses dates rather than tasks, and what it takes to keep a deadline where the people planning around it can actually see it.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTDirect messages and groups: keeping internal communication readablehttps://opitor.com/guides/direct-messages-and-groups-readablehttps://opitor.com/guides/direct-messages-and-groups-readableHow internal communication in a small company stops being readable, what direct messages and groups are each good for, and the habit that keeps decisions findable.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTHow a ten-person company runs on one systemhttps://opitor.com/guides/how-a-ten-person-company-runs-on-one-systemhttps://opitor.com/guides/how-a-ten-person-company-runs-on-one-systemThe four things a small company has to get right every day, why they get lost between tools, and a daily and weekly rhythm that holds them.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTMemory you confirm: why a chief of staff should forget by defaulthttps://opitor.com/guides/memory-you-confirmhttps://opitor.com/guides/memory-you-confirmWhy remembering everything by default is the wrong design for an AI that works for one person, and what memory looks like when nothing is kept until you confirm it.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTOne AI chief of staff per person, not one for the companyhttps://opitor.com/guides/one-ai-chief-of-staff-per-personhttps://opitor.com/guides/one-ai-chief-of-staff-per-personWhy the unit matters: whose context the AI holds, whose boundary it respects, and what only works when every person has their own.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTQuarterly goals for a ten-person companyhttps://opitor.com/guides/quarterly-goals-for-a-ten-person-companyhttps://opitor.com/guides/quarterly-goals-for-a-ten-person-companySmall companies rarely fail at writing quarterly goals. They fail at looking at them again. A version that survives a busy quarter at ten people.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTChoosing a Slack alternative for a small company: seven questionshttps://opitor.com/guides/slack-alternative-for-a-small-companyhttps://opitor.com/guides/slack-alternative-for-a-small-companySeven questions worth asking before a small company moves off Slack, and why each one matters more at ten people than at a thousand.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTHow to run a weekly review in a small company without a meetinghttps://opitor.com/guides/weekly-review-without-a-meetinghttps://opitor.com/guides/weekly-review-without-a-meetingThe weekly meeting was supposed to produce four things. A small company can get all four without putting everyone in a room for an hour.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhat an AI chief of staff never doeshttps://opitor.com/guides/what-an-ai-chief-of-staff-never-doeshttps://opitor.com/guides/what-an-ai-chief-of-staff-never-doesFour hard limits — it never sends as you, never lets an administrator in, never keeps what you did not confirm, never replaces you — and why they matter.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT