Building a Developer-First Engineering Culture
In a startup environment like ours, developer productivity is paramount. We are pumped about our mission and the real impact that we can have on peoples’ lives as they navigate a complex healthcare system, and we want to make sure we arrive at that vision as quickly as possible. It’s critical that we get process and tooling out of the way so that our developers can focus on building a great product.
At Granted, we've built a software development environment that prioritizes efficiency without compromising quality or structure. Our carefully curated stack and engineering processes reflect our commitment to developer empowerment and delivering high-quality, reliable software. Let’s dive into the philosophy behind our choices, the tools we’ve adopted, and what it’s like to work in this kind of environment day to day.
Our Process: Lightweight, But Structured
Lightweight, Not Loose
We believe in a lightweight, but structured development process—one that enables fast iteration without slipping into chaos. The goal is simple: empower developers to move quickly while still maintaining high standards of quality and accountability.
We’re intentional about avoiding process for process’ sake. Instead, we treat our workflow as something that should evolve over time, adapting as the organization grows and our needs change.
A Weekly Rhythm that keeps momentum
Our weeks follow a steady, predictable cadence. We kick things off with sprint planning, move into focused execution, and wrap up by reviewing what we’ve shipped. This rhythm creates momentum without overwhelming the team with ceremony.
Because we’re remote-first, we also rely on a daily standup as a consistent team touchpoint. These check-ins keep everyone aligned on priorities, unblock issues early, and maintain a sense of shared progress—even across time zones.
Plan → Build → Review
Clear tasks, fewer distractions
Good task tracking is essential to staying focused. We use Linear for issue tracking and sprint management because it’s fast, opinionated, and refreshingly simple.
By keeping planning lightweight and visibility high, sprint planning becomes less about overhead and more about identifying the highest-impact work. Engineers spend less time managing tools—and more time building.
Documentation as a force multiplier
For us, Notion is the nerve center of documentation and collaboration—and the platform this post lives on. We maintain a comprehensive internal wiki that covers our stack, workflows, and conventions, all designed to help new engineers hit the ground running from day one.
We also rely on lightweight design docs to capture important decisions. These docs create shared context, align requirements, and preserve the “why” behind our choices. The result: engineers can jump into new projects without digging through Slack threads or tribal knowledge.
Keeping it human
Making space to connect in person
A few times a year, we bring the team together for in-person onsites. Past locations have included New York, New Orleans, Austin, and Chicago. These moments are intentionally set aside for deeper collaboration—things like architectural discussions, retrospectives, and long-term planning that are harder to do remotely.
Just as important, they help us strengthen relationships and build an engineering culture that’s genuinely fun and energizing.
Creating room for experimentation
Innovation doesn’t always fit neatly into a sprint. Because we’re operating in a rapidly evolving AI landscape, we intentionally create space for experimentation beyond day-to-day work.
Hackathons give teams the freedom to explore new ideas, spike on technical experiments, and learn together. Sometimes these sessions lead to immediate wins—and sometimes they plant the seeds for future breakthroughs.
What it’s like to work here
Day-to-day life in our engineering organization is all about maximizing time for real problem-solving. We believe in high ownership and high impact, and want engineers who can thrive in the sometimes unstructured environment that comes with a fast-paced early-stage startup. Our infrastructure and tools are all geared towards letting our developers focus on coding, iterating, and shipping with confidence.
There’s a lot of freedom to explore new ideas. You’ll collaborate with a passionate team that holds itself to the highest standards of code quality and productivity, with ample opportunities for innovation and professional growth. We aim to foster an inclusive environment where people from diverse backgrounds feel valued, heard, and empowered to contribute their best work—because we believe that great ideas come from everywhere.
By empowering developers and fostering a collaborative environment, we’re not just building a really impactful product with the potential to help millions of people—we’re also building a world-class engineering organization.
Ready to do the best work of your life? 👉 Consider it Granted.
