In early-stage companies, everyone wears multiple hats. Forge embraces this reality by keeping roles intentionally high-level—focused on responsibilities rather than titles. This structure helps your team stay aligned without getting bogged down in job descriptions, and it supports how the platform organizes work, artifacts, and guidance. ### Why Roles Matter in Forge Roles in Forge aren’t just labels—they’re a way to group key responsibilities so that decisions, documents, and tasks are clearly owned and actionable. They help: - Define what success looks like for each function - Connect work to broader business goals - Reduce confusion around ownership - Make the product and documentation easier to navigate ### 🧭 Founders Founders are responsible for setting the direction and keeping the momentum. Their work drives clarity of vision and purpose across the company. **Key Responsibilities:** - Inspire and align the team around a compelling [[Vision]] - Define the [[Mission]], strategic priorities, and company [[Goals]] - Establish a strong [[Target Market|market]] presence and guide customer focus - Secure resources (funding or revenue) to sustain and grow the business **Key Artifacts in Forge:** - [[Vision]] - [[Mission]] - [[Strategy]] - [[Goals]] - [[Roles and Responsibilities]] ### 🧪 Product Product leaders turn strategy into execution. They are the bridge between vision and delivery. **Key Responsibilities:** - Balance high-level company goals with day-to-day product decisions - Prioritize what gets built and why - Integrate customer insights into the development process - Work cross-functionally with Design and Development to execute effectively **Key Artifacts in Forge:** - [[Competitive Analysis]] - [[Work#📁 Epics|Epics]] - [[Work#📋 Stories|User Stories]] - [[Feedback]] ### 🎨 Design Design owns the user experience and makes sure the team builds something people actually want and can use. **Key Responsibilities:** - Advocate for users and ensure their problems are deeply understood - Translate research and product ideas into clear, testable concepts - Align closely with Product and Development for fast, iterative delivery - Validate design decisions through testing and feedback **Key Artifacts in Forge:** - [[User Research]] - [[Personas]] - [[Wireframes]] - [[User Testing]] ### 🛠 Development Development brings ideas to life. They turn direction from Product and Design into working software. **Key Responsibilities:** - Build features that match the intended user experience and business goals - Collaborate with Product and Design to iterate quickly - Maintain internal tools, documentation, and infrastructure - Troubleshoot, test, and deploy reliably **Key Artifacts in Forge:** - [[Documentation]] - [[Readmes]] - [[Troubleshooting]] - [[Internal development docs]] ### Putting It Together Even if you're the only person on your team right now, thinking through these roles can help you plan, prioritize, and scale more effectively. Forge’s structure gives you clarity without rigid structure—so you can grow confidently, with the right things in focus.