Startup org chart template
This startup org chart shows an 11-person team in three levels. The Founder (CEO) is at the top, three leaders report to the Founder, and seven individual roles report to those leaders. It is for operations, HR, finance, support and IT managers who need a clear picture of who owns what, who approves what, and where hand-offs between teams happen.
Example: Org chart for a startup team: click to open it in the editor and change it.
The reporting structure
The Founder (CEO) sits at the top. Three direct reports each own one function, and the chart color-codes each branch.
| Leader | Function | Direct reports |
|---|---|---|
| CTO | Technology | Frontend Dev, Backend Dev, Designer (Product) |
| COO | Operations | Ops Lead, Support (Customer success) |
| Head of Growth | Marketing | Content, Sales (Revenue) |
Hand-offs and decision points
- Sales to Support: a closed deal passes from the Growth branch to the Operations branch. Each side has a different manager, so agree on who owns onboarding.
- Support to Backend Dev or Frontend Dev: bug reports cross from the COO's team to the CTO's team. Exceptions often go up to the COO and CTO before an engineer picks them up.
- Designer to the devs: this hand-off stays inside the CTO branch, so the CTO is the approval point.
- Cross-branch conflicts: the chart has only one shared manager, the Founder, who becomes the final decision point.
Where this process usually slows down
- The Founder is the only link between the three branches. Escalations and budget approvals can queue up there and create a bottleneck.
- The CTO has the widest span, with three reports. Design reviews and code approvals compete for the same owner's time.
- The Support to engineering path has no named owner for triage, so SLA breaches often happen at this hand-off.
How to adapt it for your project
- Rename the nodes to match your company's real job titles and add people's names.
- Add or remove reports under each leader. For example, add Finance or HR under the COO.
- Note approval limits on each leader, such as spend amounts the COO can sign off without the Founder.
- Mark the owner of each cross-team hand-off, such as Sales to Support or Support to engineering.
Tip: Write the escalation path for exceptions directly on the chart, for example "Support → COO → CTO". New hires then know who to contact without waiting on the Founder.
Frequently asked questions
What roles are in a startup org chart?
This one has a Founder/CEO, three leaders (CTO, COO, Head of Growth) and seven roles: Frontend Dev, Backend Dev, Designer, Ops Lead, Support, Content and Sales.
How many levels should a startup org chart have?
This template uses three levels: CEO, function leaders and individual contributors. That keeps approvals short while each function still has a clear owner.
Who does Customer Support report to in a startup?
In this chart, Support reports to the COO under Operations, alongside the Ops Lead. Some startups move it under Growth or Product instead, so adjust the line to match your company.
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