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·2 min read

Why we're building Pulse Loop

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Every engineering manager I know has tried to run a team pulse survey at some point. The idea is simple: ask your team how things are going, anonymously, and use that data to improve.

The execution is anything but simple.

The spreadsheet era

For years, I ran health checks using a combination of Google Forms, spreadsheets, and slide decks. The process looked something like this:

  1. Copy last quarter's Google Form and update the questions
  2. Email the link to the team and chase responses for a week
  3. Download the CSV and wrestle it into a spreadsheet
  4. Manually calculate averages and build charts
  5. Copy everything into a slide deck for the team retro
  6. Repeat next quarter (if you haven't lost the will to live)

The whole thing took hours of admin work for what should be a 15-minute exercise. And because it was so painful, it only happened quarterly at best. By the time you got results, the context had shifted.

What we couldn't find

I looked for existing tools and found two categories:

General survey platforms like Google Forms, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey. They're flexible but have no concept of team health specifically. No scoring, no trends, no pulse survey templates. You're building everything from scratch every time.

Rigid health check tools locked to a single framework (usually Spotify's Squad Health Check). Great if that model works for your team, but useless if you want to try something different.

Nothing sat in the middle: purpose-built for team health, but flexible enough to support different models and cadences.

What we're building

Pulse Loop is the tool we wished existed:

  • Pick a template or build your own. We ship 10 research-backed templates (Spotify Squad, Google Aristotle, Team Compass, and more). Use them as-is or create custom templates with your own questions.
  • Send and forget. Create a pulse survey, and every team member gets an anonymous survey link by email. No chasing, no spreadsheets.
  • See real trends. Results include scores, traffic-light indicators, trend arrows showing improvement or decline, and anonymous comments. Over time, you build a picture of how your team's health is actually changing.
  • AI-powered insights. For teams that want a nudge, AI summarises the results into strengths, concerns, and recommended actions.

Building in public

We're building Pulse Loop in the open. This blog will cover what we're shipping, what we're learning, and the honest trade-offs we're making along the way.

If you're a manager or team lead who's frustrated with the current options, we'd love to hear from you. Sign up for free and tell us what you think.