Custom Internal Operating System for Chronicle Studios

With many years of experience in investment firms, Chronicle's cofounders know the value of setting up solid operational foundations for their startup if they want to achieve their vision and the scale needed for impact, without sacrificing organization and clarity for everyone involved. In this project, I had the chance to collaborate with the Chronicle team to craft their custom internal operating system primarily using Coda.

As a recently started venture, Chronicle lacked any clear operational structure that could support their team scaling up and their number of initiatives increasing. Thanks to his experience, Will knew that having strong operations can make or break a company, particularly one that seeks scale.

He envisioned a situation where Chronicle would have great operating systems that support everyone on the team to do their best work delightfully, finding all the data they need at the right time in the right place.

With a fresh slate (i.e., no legacy systems to convert or heavy data migration), Will and I set out to identify, map, and implement scalable operational workflows for the current and future teams. We worked in iterative cycles, including live meetings and asynchronous task tracking. We moved quickly thanks to Will's engagement and responsiveness — an often-overlooked factor that I find significantly influences the success of this type of project.

The final result is a centralized, integrated Coda workspace that houses all company data and supports internal workflows. Everyone on the team can access and manage their work and internal documentation in one place. The team is aligned, and by adopting the system early, they embed efficiency into the company and positively influence every new hire at Chronicle as the company grows. This boosts team productivity, brings operational clarity to complex media projects, and produces tangible impact that increases the company's valuation both on paper and in practice.