Sen for startups: plan the launch without a PMO
A startup has no project office and no time. It still has dates, a runway and a small team. Sen gives you the structure of a full plan in an afternoon.
These are the eight planning threads the Krong course is built around. The highlighted ones are covered here. What are the planning threads?
It looks complex. It is logical.
Sen has many tabs. They follow one idea: every task has a time, a cost, an owner and a risk. Start with tasks and durations. Everything else is optional, and you add it when you need it.
A first afternoon
- Name the goal. One sentence in the Business case tab, plus what is out of scope.
- List the work. Add tasks in the Schedule tab. Set the unit to days.
- Link them. Type the predecessor for each task. Sen draws the critical path.
- Add milestones. Launch day, first customer, funding round.
- Put numbers on it. Budget per task. The Cash flow tab shows the monthly spend and the S-curve.
- Name three risks. Score them. See which tasks they touch.
Why a startup should care
- Runway: the cash flow view shows when the money is needed, not just how much.
- Capacity: with a team of four, one overloaded week matters. The Resources tab shows it.
- What if: copy the plan, move the launch date, compare the cost and the risk side by side.
- Investor updates: the status report is one page, built from the live plan.
What it will not do
Sen is a planning tool, not a task board. It will not replace the tool where your team does daily work. Plan in Sen, then export a task file to that tool.
Questions people ask
Do I need project management training?
No. The guides explain each idea in plain English. The course goes further if you want to plan with more judgement.
Can I use it for a product roadmap?
Sen suits a plan with a start, an end and dependencies, such as a launch. For a rolling roadmap, use it for the launch phases.
What does it cost?
Sen is free to start. See the course page for what the paid access adds.
See it in a real plan
Open Sen and explore the Caldera Freight example. Every figure on this page comes from it. Copy it, change a task, and watch the plan move together.
Open Sen, free About the course