On the journey to starting a company, there are many pitfalls that can get in the way of your success. Here are three problems most startups face — and how a knowledge base helps combat them (with examples from fast-growing companies).Teams often try to apply in-person collaboration techniques to remote work. But distributed teams face their own challenges — here are some solutions to keep teams connected.You’re probably very familiar with sprint retrospectives. However, retros aren't always documented. When retrospectives are documented instead of just discussed, then the team has a focal point for the next sprint and can take those learnings forward. A project charter spells out the goals, deliverables, budget, timeline, and people involved in a project. It serves as a starting point to get the team aligned.Whether you’re a manager meeting with a direct report, two project team members, or a CEO meeting with a potential investor, one-on-one meetings will bolster the confidence and trust you need to keep your startup running smoothly.With a meeting agenda template, you and your team can stop wasting valuable time. The best template will give guidelines for what needs to be recorded but leaves space for lightbulbs that may pop up in the moment.Internal documentation might not sound like the most exciting project, but when done strategically, it will speed up your team’s collaboration, onboarding, training, and overall communication. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) don’t have to be painful to maintain or systematize. Having an SOP template in place will set your startup up for success. With an SOP template to start with, standard guidelines, and rigorous taxonomy, SOPs can become the resource they’re intended to be instead of a pain.Understanding the three knowledge types and how to categorize them, apply them, and use them is called metaknowledge. Leveraging metaknowledge can help your company improve productivity and reduce the likelihood of knowledge getting lost when employees move in and out of roles.Organizational learning takes one person’s or one team’s learnings and codifies them for the rest of the team to benefit from. When this centralized knowledge is accessible by everyone, it helps the whole team level up. 
