Building Product Momentum with Cadence

For my last two gigs, I’ve been running David Sacks’ Cadence playbook almost verbatim. The idea is simple: give every team the same sprint heartbeat—clear goals, a ships-log of commitments, and a sprint review where the work either shipped or it didn’t. No fluff.

At Aquifer, our four-person product team now runs this cadence end-to-end with a 2-week sprint cycle:

1. Sprint kickoff. Each PM frames one or two concrete outcomes for the sprint, tied to a quarterly bet.
2. Mid-sprint check-in. We use a lightweight async check-in to surface blockers early, without hijacking the calendar.
3. Sprint review. Demos or data only. We celebrate the wins, own the misses, and document what we’re rolling forward.

The impact: momentum. We cut cycle time on roadmap bets because nobody hides behind “still in discovery.” We prioritize smaller, faster experiments because they show up in that sprint review. And with every team sharing the same operating rhythm, I can show up as a coach instead of a traffic cop.

What surprised me is how much clarity Cadence provides beyond product. Marketing, sales, support—everyone sees the same swimlanes of work, the same demo reel, and the same accountability loop. It keeps executive reviews grounded in shipped value instead of opinions.

Cadence isn’t complicated, but it is relentless. The structure forces focus, the focus creates energy, and the energy compounds sprint over sprint. If your roadmap—or your whole company—feels sluggish, try giving it a whirl.