Day-Zero Core Services Setup ============================ Slide 1: Day-Zero Core Services Setup Narration Anna: Day-zero sounds dramatic, but it's literally the first five business days. Greg: Exactly—incorporation, domains, devices and security all race to go live together. Anna: Miss a step and you're chasing paperwork while customers wait. Greg: So we map the whole week before the first hire even signs their contract. On-screen text Day-Zero Core Services Setup Launch the company without losing the first week Slide 2: What "day zero" covers Narration Anna: What's actually included in this "day-zero" checklist? Greg: Anything that makes the company real—legal filings, domains, baseline tooling and who owns each task. Anna: So it's not just IT running off to configure email. Greg: Right, it's a cross-functional sprint with evidence you can show an MSP, investor or auditor. On-screen text What "day zero" covers - Incorporation paperwork, domains, devices and baseline tooling - Mapping who owns which setup tasks during the first 5 business days - Getting identity, communication and knowledge systems online together - Capturing decisions so MSPs, investors and auditors see a coherent plan Slide 3: Incorporation & registrations Narration Anna: We start with the boring stuff: entity registration and bank accounts. Greg: Boring until a contractor asks for payment and you realise payroll IDs aren't ready. Greg: Or until a contractor sends an invoice and you discover "Awesome Startup LLC" was never actually registered. Anna: Nothing kills the entrepreneur vibe faster than admitting you're technically a sole proprietorship. Anna: Or a founder leaves and there was never a signed agreement. Greg: That's why day-zero includes a data room folder for all those artefacts. On-screen text Incorporation & registrations - Lodge the legal entity, appoint directors and open a business bank account - Secure tax IDs and payroll registration before the first contractor invoice lands - Document ownership structure and sign founder agreements to prevent later disputes - Create a data room folder for incorporation artefacts and board resolutions Slide 4: Domains, DNS and website plumbing Narration Anna: Domains feel simple—just buy the .com and you're done, right? Greg: Until someone forgets the .co or country code and a squatter grabs it. Anna: Or when the CEO's ex-partner controls the domain and decides to get creative during the breakup. Greg: That's why we register defensives—and use business email, not the founder's hotmail-from-college account. Anna: Or the registrar is tied to a personal Gmail account you can't access during travel. Greg: Shared ops email, templated DNS records and uptime monitoring keep launches from face-planting. On-screen text Domains, DNS and website plumbing - Register primary domains plus defensives (.com, .co, relevant country codes) - Use registrar accounts tied to shared ops email, not a founder's personal inbox - Set up DNS hosting with templated records for MX, SPF, DKIM and verification tokens - Configure uptime monitoring so a silent DNS change does not break email launches Slide 5: Productivity suite and identity backbone Narration Anna: Choosing Google Workspace versus Microsoft 365 still sparks debates. Greg: The real question is which ecosystem your customers expect and what integrates with your stack. Anna: Either way, MFA on admin roles and shared mailboxes can't wait a month. Greg: And even if HR is a spreadsheet, sync it so joiners and leavers stay in lockstep. On-screen text Productivity suite and identity backbone - Choose Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 based on customer expectations and toolchain fit - Example: a B2B SaaS startup picked Google Workspace because enterprise buyers expected Google SSO integration - Compare costs early—Google Workspace Business Standard at $12/user/month vs Microsoft 365 Business Premium at $22/user/month - Establish a primary identity provider and enforce MFA on admin roles from day one - Create shared mailboxes (hello@, finance@) and delegated calendar access for founders - Sync HR roster or interim spreadsheet to drive joiner/mover/leaver workflows Slide 6: Communication and knowledge hubs Narration Anna: Where do we keep the policies and meeting notes so they don't vanish in chat history? Greg: Spin up a knowledge base on day one, even if it's a single-page Notion workspace. Anna: And pre-build channels for incidents, board updates and customer escalations. Greg: Templates save teams from reinventing emails at 2 a.m. when something breaks. On-screen text Communication and knowledge hubs - Stand up chat (Slack/Teams) with channels for founders, delivery, customers and incidents - Launch a lightweight knowledge base (Notion, Confluence, Google Sites) for policies and SOPs - Decide where meeting notes, board decks and investor updates live to avoid scattered history - Pre-create announcement, incident and customer escalation templates for fast reuse Slide 7: Device procurement and setup Narration Anna: Hardware always turns up late unless you plan buffers. Greg: Exactly—keep a few imaged laptops ready with asset tags and shipping labels. Anna: And there's always one founder who insists on a $4,000 gaming laptop "for better performance." Greg: Which promptly gets coffee spilled on it during the first investor meeting. Anna: And don't forget travel kits for sales or fundraising trips. Greg: Record serials and warranties so replacements aren't a scavenger hunt. On-screen text Device procurement and setup - Order a buffer of laptops with baseline images, asset tags and shipping templates - Plan inventory—for a two-person team, order three laptops so a backup is ready for demos or travel hiccups - Budget $1,500–2,000 per laptop including warranty, MDM licensing and shipping - Pre-stage admin accounts in MDM or Autopilot/Zero Touch before boxes leave the supplier - Document loaner process plus travel kits (power adapters, privacy filters, LTE dongles) - Track serial numbers, warranty dates and assigned owners in the asset register Slide 8: Security guardrails on hour one Narration Anna: Security feels like overkill before the first customer signs. Greg: Yet that's when attackers love to strike—defaults are still wide open. Anna: So we turn on password managers, logging and break-glass accounts immediately. Greg: And make sure founders know who to call—lawyers, insurers, incident responders—if something goes sideways. On-screen text Security guardrails on hour one - Enable password manager, phishing reporting button and security awareness bite-size modules - Turn on default logging, backup policies and conditional access before inviting new users - Generate break-glass accounts with hardware keys stored off-site under dual control - Recommend starter tooling: 1Password for teams ($8/user/month), Microsoft Defender for Business or Google Workspace security center - Add founders to incident bridge, legal counsel and cyber insurer contact lists Slide 9: Budgeting for day-zero services Narration Anna: Budgeting for day-zero services focuses attention on a concrete part of the work. Reserve $200–500/month for productivity suite licensing, domain registration and DNS hosting, Allow 2–3 weeks for hardware procurement, imaging and inevitable shipping delays, and Line up $1,000–3,000 for incorporation legal fees plus trademark searches. Greg: In practice, ask who owns the work, what evidence proves it happened, and what handoff comes next. Use the supporting details as a checklist: Allow 2–3 weeks for hardware procurement, imaging and inevitable shipping delays; Line up $1,000–3,000 for incorporation legal fees plus trademark searches; Pre-approve founder credit cards so vendor sign-ups are not stalled at payment screens. On-screen text Budgeting for day-zero services - Reserve $200–500/month for productivity suite licensing, domain registration and DNS hosting - Allow 2–3 weeks for hardware procurement, imaging and inevitable shipping delays - Line up $1,000–3,000 for incorporation legal fees plus trademark searches - Pre-approve founder credit cards so vendor sign-ups are not stalled at payment screens Slide 10: Early compliance and data residency Narration Anna: Early compliance and data residency focuses attention on a concrete part of the work. Confirm whether early contracts mandate specific data locations or certifications, Document which services store data in which regions (e.g. Slack US, email EU) to avoid surprises, and Draft a lightweight privacy policy before collecting any customer information. Greg: In practice, ask who owns the work, what evidence proves it happened, and what handoff comes next. Use the supporting details as a checklist: Document which services store data in which regions (e.g. Slack US, email EU) to avoid surprises; Draft a lightweight privacy policy before collecting any customer information; Flag GDPR, CCPA or industry rules that influence vendor shortlists and architecture choices. On-screen text Early compliance and data residency - Confirm whether early contracts mandate specific data locations or certifications - Document which services store data in which regions (e.g. Slack US, email EU) to avoid surprises - Draft a lightweight privacy policy before collecting any customer information - Flag GDPR, CCPA or industry rules that influence vendor shortlists and architecture choices Slide 11: When day-zero planning goes wrong Narration Anna: When day-zero planning goes wrong focuses attention on a concrete part of the work. Real examples teach better than theoretical checklists, and Let's see how a simple DNS mistake nearly derailed a promising startup. Greg: In practice, ask who owns the work, what evidence proves it happened, and what handoff comes next. Use the supporting details as a checklist: Let's see how a simple DNS mistake nearly derailed a promising startup. On-screen text When day-zero planning goes wrong Real examples teach better than theoretical checklists. Let's see how a simple DNS mistake nearly derailed a promising startup. Slide 12: Sarah's DNS cautionary tale Narration Anna: Remind me about Sarah's DNS incident—you keep telling teams that story. Greg: She registered the domain with her personal email, deleted a wildcard record at 1 a.m. and the demo site vanished for six hours. Anna: Investors called before breakfast and the sales team had to reschedule every meeting. Greg: Now she keeps registrar access in a shared vault with change windows, even with ten employees. On-screen text Sarah's DNS cautionary tale - Sarah, the CEO, registered the domain under her personal email and "learned DNS" at 1 a.m. - She deleted the wildcard record while experimenting, taking product demos offline for 6 hours - Sales woke up to bounced customer emails and a frantic investor asking about the outage - The fix: shared registrar access, documented records and change windows even for tiny teams Slide 13: First-week runbook Narration Anna: How do we keep momentum once the checklist starts? Greg: Daily stand-ups, a Kanban board and a link to evidence for every completed task. Anna: Plus async walkthrough videos so the next hire isn't blocked waiting for a founder. Greg: And note which lawyers, accountants or MSPs you escalate to if things stall. On-screen text First-week runbook - Create a simple Kanban board with day-zero tasks, owners and completion evidence links - Schedule daily 15-minute stand-ups to clear blockers and surface vendor delays - Record walkthrough videos for critical systems so future hires ramp without live hand-holding - Note dependencies on lawyers, accountants or MSPs and pre-book escalation contacts Slide 14: Key takeaway Narration Anna: So the goal is confidence that core services survive founder vacations and audits. Greg: Exactly—treat day-zero as a living runbook, not a one-off launch party. Anna: When everything's documented, due diligence calls become show-and-tell. Greg: And the team can focus on customers instead of chasing missing DNS logins. On-screen text Key takeaway A disciplined day-zero setup makes incorporation, domains, devices and security feel intentional. Treat the checklist as a living runbook that survives founder vacations, vendor turnover and the first due-diligence call. Your assignment: craft a day-zero checklist for a hypothetical startup, noting where outside experts are required.