At AllTopStartups, we shine a light on founders solving real problems for real teams. This week, we’re featuring Steven Macdonald, founder of OKRs Tool, an OKR platform designed specifically for startups.
We talked with Steven about his founder journey, the lessons he learned from running OKRs the hard way, and why clarity is the most underrated growth strategy.
Q: Steven, what’s the story behind OKRs Tool?
Steven: The short version? I built the tool I wished I’d had.
When I was running a team, we tried OKRs in project management tools, then spreadsheets, then Notion. At first, it was manageable – but as we grew, updates got lost, accountability blurred, and suddenly we were sprinting hard but not always in the same direction.
What I learned is that startups don’t fail from lack of ambition. They fail from lack of alignment. Everyone’s busy, but without focus, you end up running in circles. That’s why I built OKRs Tool – to give small teams the clarity they need to grow with direction.
Q: You say clarity is underrated. Why?
Steven: Because in the startup world, chaos feels normal. You’re hiring, shipping, fundraising – it’s all happening at once. Founders often mistake motion for progress.
But the real competitive advantage isn’t speed – it’s clarity. If your five-person team knows exactly what matters this quarter, you’ll outpace a 50-person team that’s busy chasing ten different priorities.
Clarity is like compound interest: the earlier you invest in it, the more it pays off.
Q: What have you learned from talking to other founders about OKRs?
Steven: The biggest lesson is that every founder thinks they’re “too small” for OKRs – until it’s too late. I’ve had countless conversations where someone says, “We’ll figure out alignment when we’re bigger.” But what actually happens is that by the time they try, the habits, silos, and chaos are already baked in.
What founders really want is not just a framework, but a repeatable rhythm that fits into startup life. That’s why OKRs resonate: they’re simple, flexible, and scale with you. When founders see how quickly they can turn noise into focus, it clicks.
Q: If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice before starting OKRs Tool, what would it be?
Steven: Don’t wait to validate. I spent too much time in the early days building before talking to enough users. When I finally opened the doors and spoke to dozens of founders, the feedback was immediate – and some of it was brutal. But it shaped the product into something real teams actually wanted to use.
If I could do it again, I’d put half-finished ideas in front of people sooner, collect feedback faster, and be less afraid of being wrong. Startups are experiments – you learn by shipping, not by perfecting.
A good sign you’re making progress is when past versions of your product make you cringe.
Why We’re Watching OKRs Tool
What we love about OKRs Tool is that it was built from a founder’s pain point – not a corporate whiteboard. Steven didn’t just identify a problem; he lived it, tested it, and then solved it in a way that actually makes sense for startups.
With hundreds of early adopters, a sharp focus on clarity, and new features on the way, OKRs Tool isn’t just another SaaS product – it’s a reminder that sometimes the simplest tools are the ones that scale the best.
