Answer extracted from the The Conference Room with Simon Lader podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How should organizations assess whether their technology stack actually supports their growth stage?
First, identify your growth stage—startup, grow up, scale up, established, or hyper growth—and match your tools to that phase, not the reverse. A startup doesn't need enterprise software like Salesforce because processes are still fluid. Second, audit how many software platforms you actually use and whether teams are truly using them; most organizations accumulate 30 to 50 different pieces of software without realizing existing platforms already contain the features they need.
Stage-First Assessment: The Foundation
The biggest mistake organizations make is selecting technology based on what competitors use or what the industry expects. Your tools must reflect where you are, not where you aspire to be in five years. A startup with founder-led operations has different needs than an established business with formal processes and multiple departments.
As Val Coyne explains in the episode, early-stage businesses often have agility as their competitive advantage. Implementing rigid enterprise systems too early locks you into structures that may not match how you actually operate. The flexibility to pivot and adapt—something easier with lighter software—disappears once you're invested in a massive platform.
The Hidden Software Audit: What You Don't Know
Most organizations don't know how much software they've accumulated. Conducting a full inventory reveals redundancy that consumes budget and creates confusion. Businesses often discover teams using Google Drive for what another department does with a paid platform, or realizing a feature built into existing software handles a problem they thought required a separate tool.
The pattern is consistent: software platforms gain 10 or more new features over 3 to 6 years that users never discover. This happens because teams don't revisit platform capabilities once deployment is complete. A quarterly check-in of your software inventory paired with one full annual audit prevents this waste, as detailed in this podcast.
"Technology always, always, always comes last. Typically, first comes process, second comes people, and third comes technology."
Val Coyne — Systems and Technology Strategist. Val brings over a decade of experience helping C-suite executives and accidental CEOs align their operations. She began her career building systems in hospitality, managing a family restaurant in Italy and later a chain across Australia's Sunshine Coast, before transitioning to technology as a founding member of a disability-sector software startup. She now consults with CEOs and COOs to ensure technology, people, and process work together as one integrated system.
This principle anchors the entire assessment. If you select technology first and then try to fit your people and processes around it, you've already lost. Process design and team structure must come first; technology is the enabler that follows, not the foundation.
For a more detailed exploration of why this sequencing matters and how it transforms organizational outcomes, listen to the full conversation between Simon Lader and Val Coyne.
Key takeaways
- Align your technology to your current growth stage (startup, scale up, established, hyper growth) rather than choosing tools based on industry norms or future aspirations.
- Most organizations carry 30 to 50 overlapping software platforms; auditing your inventory reveals redundancy and hidden feature overlap.
- Software platforms accumulate features over years that users never discover; quarterly check-ins and annual full audits prevent budget waste.
- Technology must follow process and people decisions, never precede them—selecting software first forces you into misaligned operations.
See also
Why should process and people considerations come before technology in organizational transformation?
If you start from technology alone, you replicate exactly what you're doing today with software and call it automation, but you haven't truly transformed your operations or become more efficient.
What is the true definition of digital transformation beyond simply implementing software?
Digital transformation is the process of digitizing your business and taking a step back to examine your operations—identifying where processes can be genuinely improved, not just automated.
What early challenges did Dr. Sherry Zhang face as an immigrant pursuing higher education in the United States?
Dr. Zhang's visa was rejected three times before she could start her PhD at Marquette University in Wisconsin; she arrived late for her start date, but persevered through these obstacles.