Flagship product from 14 months late to shipped in 6 weeks.

A $40M SaaS company's flagship product launch was 14 months behind schedule. The engineering team was capable. The product roadmap was clear. But the company's consensus culture meant every product decision required full committee agreement, and disagreement meant indefinite delay.

• Flagship product 14 months past original ship date with no clear path to launch
• Consensus-driven decision model, every stakeholder had effective veto power
• Product committee meetings generated discussion but no decisions
• Engineering team demoralized, building features that kept getting redesigned by committee
• Revenue impact: $40M+ in ARR growth dependent on a product that couldn't ship

Authority grants plus a Weekly Close shipped the product.

1. 01

   Diagnose the consensus trap

   The flagship product was 14 months late not because of technical issues, but because no one had the authority to make final decisions. Every choice required full committee agreement, and disagreement meant delay.

2. 02

   Install authority grants

   Defined explicit decision owners for every open item blocking the launch. Authority grants meant one person could decide without waiting for universal agreement. Disagreement was noted, not blocking.

3. 03

   Launch Weekly Close

   A Weekly Close cadence forced every open decision to a resolution. Items that couldn't be closed in the meeting got an owner, a deadline, and an escalation path. No item survived two weeks without resolution.

4. 04

   Ship and sustain

   The flagship product shipped in 6 weeks. The authority grant and Weekly Close model became the permanent operating system, not a one-time fix but a lasting change in how the company executes.

The flagship product, 14 months behind schedule, shipped in 6 weeks. Consensus gave way to authority grants with clear decision owners, the Weekly Close forced decisions every week, and the $40M SaaS flagship reached the market.