How to set OKRs for a startup with fewer than 15 people
Set startup OKRs in five steps: three objectives at most, key results that are numbers, and a fortnightly check-in. With three worked examples and a template.
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To set OKRs for a startup under 15 people: write at most three objectives for the quarter, give each two to four key results that are numbers with a starting value and a target, name one owner per key result, and check in every two weeks. Score each key result from 0.0 to 1.0 at the end. Keep tasks out of it; an OKR says what changes, not what you will do.
That is the whole method. The rest of this post explains why each part matters at this size, where small teams get it wrong, and what the OKRs look like written down. We run a company of this size on them, including through the quarters we got wrong.
What an OKR is, in one paragraph
An OKR pairs an objective with its key results. The objective is a short sentence describing an outcome you want to be true at the end of a period, usually a quarter. The key results are the measurements that would prove it: a number today, a number you are aiming for, and a way of measuring it that nobody argues about. The glossary entry on OKRs covers the history; the practical point is that the objective is the ambition and the key results are the evidence.
Why small teams need fewer OKRs, not more
A 500-person company runs OKRs so that forty teams pull in one direction. A team of eight does not have that problem; everyone knows what everyone else is doing. What it lacks is a way to say no. Every request from a customer, investor or teammate sounds reasonable on its own, and without a short, agreed list of what matters this quarter, the team does a bit of everything.
So the number is the rule. Three objectives at company level, at most. If you have twelve people and distinct product and sales functions, a team-level objective each is fine, but they should roll up to the company three. Our test: if you cannot recite the quarter's objectives from memory in a meeting, there are too many.
Each objective also costs attention every fortnight. Three objectives with three key results each is nine numbers to update; five with four each is twenty, and the check-in becomes a chore that gets skipped.
The five steps
- Start from the one thing that would make the quarter a success. Ask the founders separately, then compare answers. If they differ, that conversation is the most valuable part of the process. Write the winner as a plain sentence: "Customers renew because the product is part of their week," not "Improve retention."
- Add a second and, only if necessary, a third objective. A common shape for an early-stage team is one product objective, one revenue objective and one objective about the team or the company itself (hiring, runway, compliance). Three is the ceiling, not the target.
- Write two to four key results per objective, as numbers. For each, record the starting value measured today, not estimated, the target, and the source: a dashboard, a database query, a count of tracked issues. A key result you cannot measure on a Tuesday afternoon in ten minutes is not a key result.
- Name one owner per key result. The owner reports the number at check-ins. They are not the only person working on it, but they are the only person who says what it is.
- Book the check-ins before the quarter starts. Six fortnightly slots of 30 minutes, in the calendar, with the OKR page open. More on the format below.
Three worked examples
These are illustrative. The numbers are chosen to show the shape of a good key result, not taken from any real company. Replace every one of them with your own measured starting values.
Product OKR (illustrative)
Objective: New customers reach the moment the product is useful in their first week.
| Key result | Start | Target | Measured by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of new workspaces that complete setup within 7 days | 38% | 60% | Product analytics, weekly cohort |
| Median time from sign-up to first shared document | 4 days | 1 day | Event timestamps in the database |
| Support tickets about onboarding per 100 sign-ups | 11 | 4 | Tagged tickets in the help desk |
Revenue OKR (illustrative)
Objective: Revenue grows from customers we already have, not only from new sign-ups.
| Key result | Start | Target | Measured by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly recurring revenue | $18,000 | $27,000 | Billing provider dashboard |
| Net revenue retention, trailing 3 months | 94% | 105% | Billing export, monthly |
| Customers on the yearly plan | 9 | 25 | Subscription records |
Hiring OKR (illustrative)
Objective: The team has the engineering capacity the roadmap assumes, without burning the people we have.
| Key result | Start | Target | Measured by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineers started, of 2 open roles | 0 | 2 | Signed offers with start dates |
| Median days from application to decision | 31 | 14 | Hiring pipeline timestamps |
| On-call incidents handled by one person in a row | 6 | 2 | Incident log |
Notice what the key results are not. "Ship the new onboarding flow" is a project; it belongs on the board. "Launch a referral programme" might be how you move the revenue number, but it is not the number. "Hire two engineers" is close, and the version above is better because it says what counts as hired.
The mistake: OKRs as a task list
The most common failure in small teams is writing key results that are things to do. It happens because tasks are easy to write and comfortable to tick off. By the end of the quarter every key result is at 1.0 and nothing has changed for the business.
A quick test for each key result: could it be 100% done while the objective is 0% achieved? "Ship the new onboarding flow" can be fully shipped while the setup completion rate stays at 38%. "Setup completion rate reaches 60%" cannot. If the answer is yes, you have written a task. Move it to the project board and write the number it is supposed to move.
The second version of this mistake is subtler: key results that are numbers but measure effort rather than outcome. "Make 200 sales calls" is a number, and it is still a task. "Twelve qualified opportunities created" is the outcome.
The third is picking numbers you already control. If the only way a key result can miss is for someone to forget, it is a chore, not a goal. Good key results are uncertain at the start of the quarter; an ambitious one landing around 0.6 to 0.7 is a good result.
Fortnightly check-ins: the format
Weekly is the textbook cadence and suits larger companies with dedicated owners. Under 15 people, we found weekly check-ins produced nothing new half the time because the numbers had barely moved, and the meeting got dropped. Fortnightly gives the numbers time to move and keeps the habit.
Each check-in has the same shape, and it takes under 30 minutes for three objectives:
- The owner of each key result reads out the current value. No slides.
- Each key result gets a status: on track, at risk, or off track. The status is a judgement about the end of the quarter, not about this fortnight.
- Anyone at risk or off track says, in one or two sentences, what they will change. Write it down next to the number.
- Record the values. The point of the record is the trend line at the end of the quarter, so the history matters more than any one reading.
Book the check-ins as recurring meetings and treat them like customer calls; skip two and the habit dies.
A plain-text OKR template
The full OKR template has a scoring guide and three worked examples you can copy. The skeleton is short enough to paste into any document:
== Objective
Outcome: [One sentence. What is true at the end of the quarter.]
Why now: [What happens if this slips a quarter.]
Owner: [Name] Level: [Company / Team] Period: [Start] to [End]
== Key results (2 to 4)
KR1: [What changes, as a number] | Start: [ ] | Target: [ ] | Measured by: [ ] | Owner: [ ]
KR2: [What changes, as a number] | Start: [ ] | Target: [ ] | Measured by: [ ] | Owner: [ ]
KR3: [Optional] | Start: [ ] | Target: [ ] | Measured by: [ ] | Owner: [ ]
== Check-in (every two weeks)
Date: [ ]
KR1: current [ ] | status [on track / at risk / off track] | change: [ ]
KR2: current [ ] | status [ ] | change: [ ]
KR3: current [ ] | status [ ] | change: [ ]
== End of quarter
Score per KR: (current - start) / (target - start), capped between 0.0 and 1.0
What we learned: [Two or three lines. Keep, change, drop.]
Where to keep them: document, dedicated tool or workspace
A document works for a quarter or two. After that you want history, trend lines and a reminder when a check-in is owed, and that is when teams look at software. The options for a team this size, as of October 2026:
| Option | Fits a team under 15 when | Cost as of October 2026 | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| A shared document or spreadsheet | You are running your first one or two quarters | Free with whatever you already use | No reminders, history is manual, numbers drift from the source |
| Perdoo | You want a dedicated OKR tool and nothing else from it | Free for up to 5 users; Premium 6.40 EUR and Supreme 8.00 EUR per user per month, shown on an annual or quarterly toggle | Separate login from where the work happens; prices shown in EUR |
| Weekdone | You are 3 people or fewer and want OKRs with weekly plans | Free for teams of up to 3 users, 14-day trial beyond that; paid prices not confirmed on Weekdone's own page, so check it | Same separation from the work |
| Atrix AI (Goals) | You want OKRs next to the issues, docs and CRM that move the numbers | Included in Builder ($39/month, 5 seats) and Studio ($149/month, 15 seats); 7-day trial, card required, no free plan | Not a dedicated OKR product; weekly nudge rather than fortnightly |
Perdoo and Weekdone are the honest recommendation if OKRs are the only thing you want from a tool: they are built for it, and under 5 users Perdoo costs nothing.
Atrix is the option we use, because the key results sit next to the work that moves them. Goals in Atrix have a level (company, team or personal), a period, two to four key results with a start, target and current value, and check-ins that record a status and a note alongside the new numbers. Progress is calculated from the numbers, not typed in. The workspace flags any open goal that has not had a check-in since Monday, which is a weekly rhythm; if you run fortnightly, as we suggest, you will ignore every other nudge. The project management features cover how goals relate to cycles and issues.
FAQ
How many OKRs should a startup have?
Three objectives at most at company level, each with two to four key results. A team of under 15 rarely benefits from more; the cost is attention at every check-in, and the benefit of OKRs at this size is the short list of things you are not doing.
What is the difference between an OKR and a KPI?
A KPI is a number you watch all the time, such as monthly revenue or uptime. A key result is a number you have decided to move this quarter, from a start value to a target. Many key results are KPIs with a target attached; most KPIs are not key results in a given quarter.
How often should a small team check in on OKRs?
Every two weeks works for teams under 15. Weekly check-ins tend to show numbers that have barely moved, and the meeting gets dropped; monthly leaves only three readings in a quarter, too few to react to. Six fortnightly check-ins of 30 minutes is the practical rhythm.
What is a good OKR score?
Between 0.6 and 0.7 on an ambitious key result is a good quarter. Scoring 1.0 on everything suggests the targets were safe. Scoring under 0.3 on everything suggests the targets were guesses, usually because the starting values were never measured.
Do OKRs replace a project board or sprints?
No. OKRs say what should change; the board and the sprints say what you will do about it. A healthy small team can draw a line from most issues on the board to one of the three objectives, and the issues that cannot be connected are the ones to question.
Next step
Copy the OKR template into a document, write your three objectives with measured starting values, and book six fortnightly check-ins before the quarter starts. If you want goals, key results and check-ins next to the work itself, Atrix AI's plans include them on every tier, with a 7-day trial.