Company · · 3 min
How we run weekly demos that don't waste time
The industry cliché is "weekly demos." Most of them are bad. Here's the structure we use.
The standard demo problem
Most weekly demos are 60 minutes of clicking through features the team built last week, ending in vague positive noises.
Our format
We run a 30-minute structured demo:
- 5 min, last week. What we said we’d ship, what we shipped, what slipped, why.
- 15 min, live walkthrough. Working software only. If it doesn’t run, it doesn’t get demoed.
- 5 min, decisions needed. Three or fewer questions for the client that block next week.
- 5 min, next week. A precise commitment.
Why it works
It forces a binary commitment. Either we shipped it or we didn’t. Either we have a decision or we don’t. Vague Fridays become specific Mondays.