Want to learn Agility? Meet CAVU, Sigao’s new sister company

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Sigao / CAVU
Chris Sims and his dog Tilly at the Sigao/CAVU office at Pepper Place. Photo via Jacob Blankenship for Bham Now

Sigao Studios designs software while helping others learn to work smarter. Now, they’re sharing their mission between two distinct sister companies: Sigao and CAVU. Keep reading to find out who does what and why, plus how you can get involved. 

A word about Sigao

12 Agile principles
The 12 Agile Principles. Graphic via Sigao Studios’ Facebook

Founded in 2016 in Montgomery, Sigao Studios moved to Birmingham to fulfill their purpose:

“to create an environment that fosters relationships that allow people to grow and feel valued, so that customers and employees can achieve their goals.”

Bottom line: they want people and companies to leave better than when they started. 

Five years in, Sigao is honing its mission. And, they’re spawning a new sister company, CAVU, launching in August 2021.

Both are innovation brands. Both use Scrum, but in different ways. 

  • Sigao will be a software product development company. Its goal is to help other companies build better technology solutions using things like the Microsoft platform. The big why: to create software that matters. And, to help organizations maximize the value of every dollar spent on software development and technology.
  • CAVU is an EdTech company. Its goal is to reimagine how to use social learning technology. Why? to teach individuals and companies how to use Scrum and innovation techniques to get things done smarter and faster. 

CAVU’s mission of democratizing Agility

CAVU aims to help individuals and entrepreneurs learn Agility.

By that, they mean addressing questions like how do you:

  • Build a business towards what your customers love? 
  • Move fast? 
  • Do this at a sustainable pace, with innovation at the forefront?

“Agile training and coaching is extremely powerful for your career and for your company. It doesn’t matter if it’s a company like Fledging, which is delivering products twice as fast or an individual who’s been able to move into a life-changing job with a radically different pay scale than was available to them previously.”

Chris Sims

There are still barriers to entry into this burgeoning field. And, CAVU’s determined to change that. 

“CAVU is about democratizing Agility. We want more people to have access to these world-changing, life-changing ways of viewing work and getting things done.” 

Chris Sims

How CAVU is making Agile training accessible

An annual subscription that provides:

  • Training: on-demand (including the $499 Scrum Launchpad) paired with live and/or virtual training (including the $2499 Scrum Master/Product Owner dual certification boot camp). They plan to offer one new on-demand course per month. 
  • Coaching: ongoing virtual + group coaching.
  • Book clubs and mastermind courses.
  • Dedicated social media platform: hyper-focused on creating a community of Agile practitioners who are building each other up + helping each other learn to apply agility in new ways.

Cost: $19.99-$249.99 per month.

Scholarships are available through NCWIT and LevelUp, a scholarship that supports LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. 

“Ultimately, we don’t want anyone to not go down this path because they can’t afford it.”

Chris Sims

CAVU comes straight out of Sigao’s experience teaching Agile.

We spoke with two people who were part of Sigao’s informal testing and learning.

Here’s what they told us.

Hakeem Lipscomb: from QA Automation Engineer to Scrum Master

Hakeem Lipscomb is now a Scrum Master
Hakeem Lipscomb facilitating a meeting with his team. Photo via Hakeem Lipscomb

Hakeem Lipscomb first heard about Scrum at BBVA Compass. His title at the time: Quality Assurance Automation Engineer.

A coworker told him how she’d received her Scrum Master and Product Owner certifications with Sigao. She encouraged him to follow the same path. 

Lipscomb enrolled in Sigao’s Scrum Master/Product Owner dual-certification boot camp in May 2020.

“Chris Sims at Sigao has a knack for explaining Scrum. He makes it way easier for the masses to understand. His content is top-notch and it really keeps people engaged in the class.” 

Hakeem Lipscomb

Now, Lipscomb works in Nashville, Tennessee, as a Scrum Master at a FORTUNE 500® global electrical, communications, and utility distribution and supply chain solutions company that’s in the early stage of Agile transformation. 

“I feel way more challenged at work, and more fulfilled in the everyday aspects of this role. Each day brings its own challenges, and that really keeps you on your toes as a Scrum Master. There’s never a dull moment.”

Hakeem Lipscomb

Camille Mackenzie, CEO of Kintail, the first all-in-one construction analytics platform in the industry, on how Agile has helped their business

Carson and Camille Mackenzie
Carson + Camille Mackenzie of Kintail at Innovation Depot. Photo via Jacob Blankenship for Bham Now

Camille Mackenzie and her husband Carson are the co-founders of Kintail (formerly Renobi), a construction tech startup located here in Birmingham. 

The duo got connected with Sigao as part of Innovation Depot’s 2021 Velocity Accelerator cohort. 

“Chris Sims and Larry Tribble from Sigao walked us through the advantages of Scrum. They showed us how it could help us tighten up our processes. Ultimately, it helped us figure out what customers really wanted.” 

Camille Mackenzie

I asked how her life or business had changed. Camille didn’t mince words: 

“It’s changed infinitely for the better. Chris, Larry Tribble and Haley Blackburn, of Sigao, are wonderful human beings. They are very much experts in their field and know what they are talking about. When you’re building a product, you don’t want to waste a lot of time building something people don’t want.”

Camille Mackenzie

Ready to get started with Agility? Check out CAVU today. Follow CAVU on social: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram.

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Sharron Swain
Sharron Swain

Writer, Interviewer + Adventurer | Telling stories to make a difference

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