Values Integrity Index For Start-ups Doing Work That Matters

Accountability Isn’t Just A Value. It’s An Operating System.

Ethixly audits whether accountability is just a value on your website or whether your strategy translates into aligned KPIs, clear guardianship, and measurable impact at every level of your startup. 

Why ethixly?

In early-stage companies, performance management systems are often introduced as the organisation begins to scale with the intention of strengthening accountability.

But if the underlying architecture is misaligned, those systems sit on unstable foundations…

  • Goals are set, but they don’t cascade cleanly.
  • KPIs exist, but they don’t connect across levels.
  • Roles are defined, but responsibility overlaps or diffuses.
  • Impact is discussed, but not structurally traceable.

Everyone is committed but commitment is not accountability. And over time:

  • Delivery slows without a clear identifiable cause.
  • Decisions remain concentrated at the top.
  • The founder becomes the coordination point for problems the system should be solving.
  • Underperformance becomes difficult to diagnose precisely.

What looks like a people problem is often a systems problem, and systems problems compound with growth.

Ethixly’s Accountability Diagnostic assesses whether accountability is structurally embedded across your organisation – from strategy to team to role. If it is real, it will be visible in your operating system. If it isn’t, scale – or due diligence – will expose it.

What We Audit

We assess whether accountability is structurally embedded across four layers of your organisation:

Strategic Alignment

  • Are organisational KPIs clearly outcome-based and tied to the overall vision?
  • Is each KPI assigned to one clearly identified owner in the organisation?
  • Are expectations clear when targets are missed?

Functional & Team Alignment

  • Do team KPIs directly and measurably contribute to company KPIs?
  • Are there conflicting targets between functions?
  • Is collaboration structurally supported, or dependent on goodwill?

Role Level Traceability

  • Does every role have defined outcome expectations?
  • Can each role’s contribution be traced upward to organisational goals?
  • Are these expectations used in hiring, onboarding, and probation reviews?

Leadership & Response Discipline

  • What happens when delivery slips?
  • Are performance discussions structured and documented?
  • Is underperformance addressed consistently across teams, and across the organisation?

We do not assess sentiment or culture perception.We examine your operating reality.

Who This Is For

This diagnostic is designed for:

  • Startups under 50 people.
  • Founders preparing to scale headcount.
  • Teams experiencing execution friction.
  • Companies hiring rapidly without defined role scorecards.
  • Organisations where the founder remains the escalation point.

If your operating model is still informal, this identifies where informality becomes structural risk.

What You Receive

You receive a structured Accountability Architecture Report, including:

  • A clear assessment of vertical KPI alignment
  • A visual map showing how goals cascade (or fail to cascade)
  • Analysis of role clarity and guardianship gaps
  • Review of how delivery issues are addressed in practice
  • Identification of structural risk areas
  • Prioritised recommendations to strengthen alignment

You will see precisely where accountability holds, and where it breaks.

Your Investment

Start-up Accountability Diagnostic: For organisations up to 50 people.

Fixed fee: £8,500

This includes:

  • Structured review of strategic and functional KPI documentation
  • KPI cascade and role traceability mapping
  • Accountability Architecture Report
  • 90-minute executive findings and risk review session
  • Optional: extra Leadership interviews (up to 4 senior stakeholders)

Duration: 3-4 weeks from kickoff.

This is a fixed-scope diagnostic. It does not include advisory time. It is a structured assessment of whether accountability is embedded across your operating model.

For organisations between 50–200 people, see here.

What Happens Next

After the diagnostic, you can:

  • Implement the findings internally, or
  • Engage us in a focused 30-day Accountability Implementation Sprint to:
    • Redesign your KPI cascade
    • Define role scorecards
    • Clarify decision rights
    • Establish clear expectations when targets are missed

We work with you to embed accountability into the structure and frameworks of your organisation

Why This Matters

Execution rarely collapses overnight, it fragments gradually as headcount grows. When accountability is not structurally embedded, it becomes:

  • Personality-driven
  • Politicised
  • Founder-dependent
  • Inconsistent

And what looks like a people issue is often a systems issue. If your stated values are not visible in your operating system, they will not withstand scale.

🫱🏾‍🫲🏽 Book An Accountability Diagnostic

Let’s test whether your operating model will hold as you grow.

Book An Accountability Diagnostic Discovery Call →