Verticulate Insights https://verticulate.io/insights Essays, playbooks, original research and a monthly newsletter on how owner-led companies run, from Verticulate. en-us © 2026 Verticulate Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Whether a new system streamlines your operations is decided before you build it https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/most-of-a-software-projects-value-is-decided-outside-the-code https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/most-of-a-software-projects-value-is-decided-outside-the-code Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A new system streamlines your operations when the work is mapped, the right problems are chosen and the team is ready to use it. Blog Mihkel Sinikas State of Operations 2027 https://verticulate.io/insights/research/state-of-service-operations-2027 https://verticulate.io/insights/research/state-of-service-operations-2027 Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A planned annual report on how owner-led companies run, with the measures and the method behind it. No results yet. Research Mihkel Sinikas Show the fix before you build it, while a change still costs hours https://verticulate.io/insights/newsletter/show-the-fix-before-you-build-it https://verticulate.io/insights/newsletter/show-the-fix-before-you-build-it Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A change on a clickable screen costs hours and the same change after launch costs weeks, so show the fix first. Newsletter Mihkel Sinikas What business owners ask before buying operations help https://verticulate.io/insights/research/what-service-firm-owners-ask-before-buying-help https://verticulate.io/insights/research/what-service-firm-owners-ask-before-buying-help Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT The questions hundreds of owners and executives ask before they buy help, and the answer each one deserves. Research Mihkel Sinikas Everything that runs through you has a price, and you can estimate it in ten minutes https://verticulate.io/insights/newsletter/everything-that-runs-through-you-has-a-price https://verticulate.io/insights/newsletter/everything-that-runs-through-you-has-a-price Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT The cost of doing nothing rarely shows up in a budget, and a ten-minute estimate puts a number on it. Newsletter Mihkel Sinikas A 14-day operations diagnostic should hand you three things you keep https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/what-a-14-day-diagnostic-should-hand-you https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/what-a-14-day-diagnostic-should-hand-you Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A diagnostic should end with a process map, a clickable prototype and a roadmap that you keep and can act on, even if you stop there. Blog Mihkel Sinikas To tell a process problem from a software problem, ask two people to describe the same task https://verticulate.io/insights/newsletter/process-problem-or-software-problem https://verticulate.io/insights/newsletter/process-problem-or-software-problem Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT One question tells a process problem from a software problem: do the people doing the work agree on how to do it? Newsletter Mihkel Sinikas Write an approval rule an AI can follow https://verticulate.io/insights/playbooks/write-an-approval-rule-an-ai-can-follow https://verticulate.io/insights/playbooks/write-an-approval-rule-an-ai-can-follow Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Write one page that says what AI may do alone and what a person approves, then run it in draft mode for four weeks. Playbooks Mihkel Sinikas AI earns its place when it drafts and a person approves https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/ai-earns-its-place-when-it-drafts-and-a-person-approves https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/ai-earns-its-place-when-it-drafts-and-a-person-approves Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT AI pays off in a company where it drafts and a person approves, until your own data shows the approval can go. Blog Mihkel Sinikas The tool you bought sits unused because nobody mapped the work first https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/the-tool-you-bought-sits-unused-because-nobody-mapped-the-work https://verticulate.io/insights/blog/the-tool-you-bought-sits-unused-because-nobody-mapped-the-work Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Software goes unused when it is bought for a process nobody mapped, so map the work before you decide what to buy. Blog Mihkel Sinikas Run a keep, connect or replace review of your tools https://verticulate.io/insights/playbooks/run-a-keep-connect-or-replace-review https://verticulate.io/insights/playbooks/run-a-keep-connect-or-replace-review Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Give every tool you pay for one of three verdicts, and in about two hours you will know what to keep, connect or cancel. Playbooks Mihkel Sinikas Map one process in an afternoon https://verticulate.io/insights/playbooks/map-one-process-in-an-afternoon https://verticulate.io/insights/playbooks/map-one-process-in-an-afternoon Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Walk one real job through one process with the people who did it, and in about four hours you will know where the time goes. Playbooks Mihkel Sinikas