Stack for Startups
Last updated: 2026-05-18
AI Stack for a 5-Person Startup
A 5-person startup needs shared tools, limited budget, and speed. You're moving fast and covering multiple roles. This guide covers team vs. individual tool selection, core shared infrastructure, and a sample stack at different spend levels.
The Constraint
Shared tools where possible. Limited budget. Moving fast. Some roles need personal tools; others should be shared. Balance cost with flexibility.
Team Stack vs. Individual Stacks
Shared — Tools everyone uses: project management, communication, core LLM or API access. One subscription or team plan.
Individual — Tools where personal preference matters: coding (Cursor vs. Copilot), writing (Notion AI vs. a dedicated assistant). Let people choose within a budget.
Rule of thumb: share core infrastructure and collaboration tools; allow individual choice for productivity tools where preference affects output quality.
Core Shared Infrastructure
Team LLM — API access (OpenAI, Anthropic) or team seats (ChatGPT Team, Claude for Teams). One plan for the team with shared context and prompts.
Project management — Notion, Linear, or similar with AI features. One source of truth for tasks and docs.
Communication — Slack or Discord. AI for summarization and search when available.
By Function
Product and dev — Cursor or Copilot for coding. Shared docs (Notion, Confluence). AI for PRD drafting and specs.
Marketing — Writing assistant, content calendar, social scheduling. Shared or per-seat depending on volume.
Sales — CRM with AI (HubSpot, Pipedrive). Meeting transcription. Outreach automation.
Operations — Workflow automation (Make, n8n). Document processing. AI for internal Q&A.
The Per-Seat Pricing Trap
Many tools charge per user. $20/user times 5 equals $100 for one tool. Across multiple tools you can hit $500+ quickly. Mitigate by:
- Using API access instead of seats where possible
- Sharing a single seat for low-use tools (e.g., one image tool for the whole team)
- Choosing flat-rate tools when they fit your usage pattern
Collaboration Features to Prioritize
- Shared workspaces — Where the team stores prompts, templates, and outputs
- Team prompts — Reusable prompts everyone can access
- Knowledge bases — Shared context for RAG and internal docs
- Integration — Tools that connect to your project management and communication stack
Sample Stack
$200/month — ChatGPT Team or Claude for Teams ($25/user times 5 = $125) plus Notion ($10) plus one automation tool ($15) plus one specialized tool ($50).
$350/month — Above plus coding Copilot ($20/user times 2 devs = $40) plus CRM with AI ($50) plus meeting transcription ($30).
$500/month — Above plus writing assistant ($30) plus image credits ($20) plus extra automation. Full coverage across marketing, sales, product, and ops.
Run Smart Match with context: "5-person startup, shared tools, budget $X." Hok returns a Strategy Brief and stack for that context.