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• Managers are critical to team success but often lack proper training and tools.
• Many first-time managers struggle without structured guidance, learning through trial and error.
• There’s a need for a specialized tool to help managers succeed in their roles.
• upearly is building a solution that reinforces good management habits and supports managers with actionable guidance.
• Great managers create high-trust, empowered environments that lead to success.
• Our mission is to give managers the tools and support they need to thrive.
This simple belief drives everything we do at upearly. But let’s be honest – while this statement resonates with most of us, the reality of management in today’s organizations often falls short of this ideal.
I still remember when I first stepped into a management role. Like many first-time managers, I was thrown into the deep end—expected to lead a team while still being a strong individual contributor. There was no structured training, no tailored guidance, just the assumption that I’d figure it out along the way. And I wasn’t alone. Over time, I’ve spoken with countless leaders who shared the same experience. Only later, with years of trial and error, did they realize how little training they actually had.
Think about it: Managers are the most crucial touchpoint for the people who create value in organizations – the individual contributors. They’re meant to be multipliers: supporting and coaching teams, creating psychological safety, providing strategic guidance, and nurturing great ideas. Yet, too often, they are left to navigate these responsibilities with little to no support. Imagine what organizations could achieve if great management were the norm—where every manager had the right tools and resources to help their teams thrive.
Organizations recognize the importance of managers—they make them some of the highest-paid employees. And yet, the approach to management training is almost an afterthought. We promote top individual contributors into leadership roles based on their subject matter expertise, then expect them to thrive without meaningful preparation. There’s no real “craft” of management to learn in advance, and even the best formal education rarely equips people for the real challenges of leading teams.
As I searched for ways to improve, I turned to tools—spreadsheets, note-taking apps, project management platforms—trying to cobble together a system that would help me stay on top of my responsibilities. But nothing fit. Unlike other fields, where professionals have dedicated tools to enhance their work—designers have their software, engineers have theirs—managers are left with generic solutions that don’t address their specific challenges.
The problem isn’t just about tools – it’s about meaningful development. New managers typically receive minimal training, and when they do, it’s often superficial. Even when the training is high-quality, the lessons fade as daily tasks take over. Without reinforcement and practical application, these insights remain theoretical rather than becoming ingrained habits.
We believe that true change in management doesn’t come from quick fixes or artificial prompts. It comes from building genuine relationships based on trust and authentic interest in people. It comes from developing habits that transform how managers show up for their teams every day:
• Learning to actively seek out and recognize good work, rather than focusing solely on mistakes
• Building trust through consistent follow-through on commitments, no matter how small
• Taking time to properly prepare for every interaction, ensuring each conversation has purpose and context
• Providing regular, timely feedback so there are no surprises during formal reviews
At upearly, we’re building something fundamentally different. We believe that software can help establish habits, habits change behavior, behavior changes culture, and culture transforms companies. But this only works if the foundation is right—if we’re building tools that support authentic human connection rather than replacing it.
Great managers create environments that breed success: high trust, genuine empowerment, rich context, and continuous improvement. These environments don’t happen by accident. They’re built through consistent, intentional actions and habits that compound over time.
This is why we’re building upearly. Not just another tool, but a true partner in developing management excellence. We want to give managers what I wish I had when I started—practical, actionable guidance, a way to manage the operational load without distraction, and the confidence that they’re on the right track.
Because everyone deserves a great manager. And it’s time managers got the support they need to become one.
