We don’t like to talk about governance in early-stage tech. We talk about shipping. Velocity. Moats. TAM. GMV. We do not talk about: who actually has the keys, who can move money, who can change production systems at 2am without a second pair of eyes. I’ve been around long enough. In early Bitcoin, Ethereum, Web3 infra, and now at the intersection of AI and humanoid robotics, to see a pattern that doesn’t care about your valuation, your narrative, or your investor deck: not If you don’t design governance, you are designing drift. If you don’t design governance, you are designing drift. And drift always shows up. In Web3, it looks like companies shutting down out of nowhere, and CEOs that don't like questions. In AI, it looks like unlogged access, unreviewed model changes, and behavior nobody can fully explain after the fact. This piece is for founders, CTOs, and engineers who are accidentally running a multi-million dollar system “on vibes.” Especially in Web3 and AI, where the blast radius is high and the paper trail is thin. Let’s talk about what “real governance” actually means in practice. 1. If your code has permissions, your company should too. 1. If your code has permissions, your company should too. Developers understand permissions intuitively. You wouldn’t give every microservice root access to your database. root You wouldn’t let every junior engineer SSH into production with full sudo. You wouldn’t hardcode a private key into a frontend and call it “move fast.” Yet a surprising number of early-stage companies do the organizational equivalent: One founder with unilateral access to all banking, exchange accounts, and multisigsNo written policy on who can sign what, or for how muchNo requirement for a second approval on big transfers“We trust each other. We’re a family.” One founder with unilateral access to all banking, exchange accounts, and multisigs No written policy on who can sign what, or for how much No requirement for a second approval on big transfers “We trust each other. We’re a family.” That works until it doesn’t. Baseline rule: If your app has role-based access control, your company should too. Baseline rule: If your app has role-based access control, your company should too. Baseline rule: app company Start simple: Map the “critical actions”: move money, sign contracts, deploy code, rotate keys, change access.For each action, define:Who can do itWho must approve itHow it’s logged and reviewed Map the “critical actions”: move money, sign contracts, deploy code, rotate keys, change access. For each action, define: Who can do it can Who must approve it must How it’s logged and reviewed This is no more exotic than designing a permissions model. You’re just applying engineering discipline to human behavior. 2. Separation of duties is not corporate theatre 2. Separation of duties is not corporate theatre In security and finance, separation of duties exists for a reason: The person who initiates a transaction should not be the only person who can approve it.The person who builds a control should not be the only one who can bypass it.The person who benefits from a decision should not be the only one who can make it. The person who initiates a transaction should not be the only person who can approve it. The person who builds a control should not be the only one who can bypass it. The person who benefits from a decision should not be the only one who can make it. In an early-stage tech company, this feels “heavy.” It’s not. You can implement separation of duties with: A dual-signature rule: any transfer above $X requires two peopleA rule that founders cannot both initiate and approve large treasury movementsA simple policy: no one deploys to production alone on systems that touch real money or real-world safety A dual-signature rule: any transfer above $X requires two people A rule that founders cannot both initiate and approve large treasury movements A simple policy: no one deploys to production alone on systems that touch real money or real-world safety In Web3, that might look like: Multisig treasuries with at least one independent signerOperational wallets are separate from long-term reservesOn-chain spending policies encoded as smart contracts, not just “we’ll remember” Multisig treasuries with at least one independent signer Operational wallets are separate from long-term reserves On-chain spending policies encoded as smart contracts, not just “we’ll remember” In AI and robotics, it looks like: Clear separation between people who can change models, change policies, and change logsNo single admin who can silently alter all three Clear separation between people who can change models, change policies, and change logs No single admin who can silently alter all three If your system allows one person to quietly change code, controls, and cash, you don’t have governance. You have a single point of failure with a LinkedIn profile. code, controls, and cash 3. Treasury controls: stop treating millions like testnet tokens 3. Treasury controls: stop treating millions like testnet tokens Web3 and AI founders love to say “we’re still early.” Banks, regulators, and future prosecutors do not care. If you are holding: Customer assetsToken treasuriesInvestor fundsPrepaid credits for compute or robotics services Customer assets Token treasuries Investor funds Prepaid credits for compute or robotics services …you are running a treasury, not a Discord server. treasury At minimum: Segregate accounts Segregate accounts Operating account (burn, salaries, vendors)Treasury/reservesCustomer funds (if you ever touch them - ideally, you don’t) Operating account (burn, salaries, vendors) Treasury/reserves Customer funds (if you ever touch them - ideally, you don’t) Define thresholds and workflows Define thresholds and workflows Under $X: 1 signer + logging$X–$Y: 2 signersAbove $Y: 2 signers + board / investor rep notification Under $X: 1 signer + logging $X–$Y: 2 signers Above $Y: 2 signers + board / investor rep notification Instrument your treasury like a production system Instrument your treasury like a production system Alerts on large transfers, new counterparties, unusual patternsMonthly reconciliations: what went in, what went out, why Alerts on large transfers, new counterparties, unusual patterns Monthly reconciliations: what went in, what went out, why If this sounds like “too much process,” ask yourself: Who is blocking governance and why If the answer is no one, fix it now, while the numbers are still small. 4. Audits and logging: build the forensic trail you hope you never need 4. Audits and logging: build the forensic trail you hope you never need In engineering, we log because we know things break. In governance, you log because people are human. people are human. For Web3 and AI systems, auditing is not just: “We did a smart contract audit once.” “Our lawyers read the terms.” You need two kinds of auditability: wo kinds Technical audits Technical audits Smart contracts, custody systems, key management, agent behavior, robotics control loopsRegular, not one-offDone by people who are paid to be skeptical Smart contracts, custody systems, key management, agent behavior, robotics control loops Regular, not one-off Done by people who are paid to be skeptical Behavioral audits Behavioral audits Who accessed what, whenWho approved which transactionsWho changed which configuration, policy, or permission Who accessed what, when Who approved which transactions Who changed which configuration, policy, or permission Operationally, that can look like: Operationally, that can look like: Using proper logging/observability for all privileged actionsPeriodic “go back 90 days and sample check” approvals and transfersHaving someone outside the direct benefit chain periodically review the logs Using proper logging/observability for all privileged actions Periodic “go back 90 days and sample check” approvals and transfers Having someone outside the direct benefit chain periodically review the logs outside If something ever goes wrong (and statistically, something always does), you want to be the person who can say: “Here’s the trail. Here’s what happened. Here’s how we’re fixing it.” 5. Board oversight: your board is not a group chat 5. Board oversight: your board is not a group chat Early-stage founders often treat the board as: A formality to close the roundA place for glossy updates and sanitized metricsA WhatsApp thread for “quick approvals.” A formality to close the round A place for glossy updates and sanitized metrics A WhatsApp thread for “quick approvals.” That’s not a board. That’s an audience. A real board: Asks uncomfortable questions about access, controls, and riskExpects real numbers, not vibesHas at least one member who is not personally dependent on the CEO/founder for their entire economic upside Asks uncomfortable questions about access, controls, and risk Expects real numbers, not vibes Has at least one member who is not personally dependent on the CEO/founder for their entire economic upside You don’t have to become a public company overnight. But you can: Bring in at least one independent director with finance, legal, or risk experience Give your board explicit visibility into: Treasury policiesMajor counterpartiesKey system risks (smart contracts, AI agents, robotics deployments) Treasury policies Major counterparties Key system risks (smart contracts, AI agents, robotics deployments) Normalize the phrase: “I’m not comfortable with that risk profile.” If your board never pushes back, you don’t have a strong vision. You have weak oversight. 6. Transparency, compliance, and ethics are not branding — they’re survival 6. Transparency, compliance, and ethics are not branding — they’re survival In Web3, “trustless” systems often hid very trust-full human bottlenecks. trust-full In AI, “alignment” can be a nice word on a slide while internal policies live in Notion and never make it to production logs. When I talk about transparency, compliance, and ethics, I’m not talking about: Posting your values on XPublishing a one-off “we care about safety” blog postAdding “responsible AI” to your tagline Posting your values on X Publishing a one-off “we care about safety” blog post Adding “responsible AI” to your tagline I’m talking about decisions like: We will not run customer assets through opaque offshore entities.We will not give any single individual unilateral treasury control.We will not deploy AI or robotics systems whose decisions we can’t reconstruct after the fact.We will not design structures where nobody is clearly accountable. We will not run customer assets through opaque offshore entities. not We will not give any single individual unilateral treasury control. not We will not deploy AI or robotics systems whose decisions we can’t reconstruct after the fact. not We will not design structures where nobody is clearly accountable. not Compliance becomes uncomfortable when it’s retrofitted under duress. Ethics becomes a buzzword when it’s only invoked after a blow-up. The founders I respect most in this cycle are the ones who are engineering governance in on day zero (especially in Web3 and AI, where the externalities are real). e 7. “We’re small. We’ll fix it when we’re big.” No, you won’t 7. “We’re small. We’ll fix it when we’re big.” No, you won’t There’s a lie that a lot of early-stage teams tell themselves: “We’ll put in real governance once we’ve raised the next round.” By then: Bad habits are normalizedInformal power structures are entrenchedThe person who “just handled all the money” has years of precedent Bad habits are normalized Informal power structures are entrenched The person who “just handled all the money” has years of precedent And if something goes wrong, your size won’t save you. Regulators, courts, and journalists do not care that you were “just a startup.” The good news: you don’t need a 40-page policy manual to be responsible. You can start with: Clear separation of dutiesSimple treasury controls and thresholdsBasic logging and periodic reviewsAt least one independent adult in the room at the board level Clear separation of duties separation of duties Simple treasury controls and thresholds treasury controls and thresholds Basic logging and periodic reviews logging and periodic reviews At least one independent adult in the room at the board level independent adult in the room That’s it. That alone puts you in a different category from 90% of early-stage teams still running “on trust.” 8. Build like someone will eventually ask hard questions 8. Build like someone will eventually ask hard questions If you’re working in Web3, AI, or robotics, someone will eventually ask hard questions: will A regulatorAn enterprise customerAn auditorA reporterA user whose assets or safety were on the line A regulator An enterprise customer An auditor A reporter A user whose assets or safety were on the line You can’t control when that happens, or what triggers it. What you can control is whether your answer is: can “Here’s how we designed this from day one. Here’s the proof.” or “We never thought we’d get this big.” If you’re an early-stage founder, operator, or engineer: governance is not something you bolt on at Series C. It’s something you quietly design now, while you still have the chance to do it cleanly. Your company deserves more than vibes. So do your users.

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

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Your Startup Needs Governance, Not Vibes

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