diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fb3b756..2e81c14 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -104,15 +104,21 @@ kubernetes cluster, or even a different one, depending on your taste.
 
 All resources to be deployed in kubernetes for a build are in
 [src/runboat/kubefiles](./src/runboat/kubefiles). They are gathered together from a
-`kustomization.yaml` jinja template that leads to three possible resource groups
+`kustomization.yaml` jinja template that leads to 5 possible resource groups
 depending on a `mode` variable in the jinja rendering context:
 
 - `deployment` creates a kubernetes deployment with its associated resources (pvc,
-  service, ingress, ...);
-- `initialization` creates a job that creates the database;
-- `cleanup` creates a job that drops the database;
+  service, ingress, ...).
+- `initialization` creates a job that performs installation and initializes the database;
+- `start` updates the resources before scaling up the deployment to 1. This can be
+  useful to scale up other resources that must only be present while the main
+  deployment is running.
+- `stop` updates the resources after initialization and before scaling down the
+  deployment to 0. This can be useful to scale down other resources that must
+  only be present while the main deployment is running.
+- `cleanup` creates a job that perform cleanup before tearing down all resources.
 
-Besides the three modes, the controller has limited knowledge of what the kubefiles
+Besides the 5 modes, the controller has limited knowledge of what the kubefiles
 actually deploy. It expects the following to hold true:
 
 - the `runboat/build` label is set on all resources, with the unique build name as
diff --git a/src/runboat/k8s.py b/src/runboat/k8s.py
index dbf6fd4..ea35f6b 100644
--- a/src/runboat/k8s.py
+++ b/src/runboat/k8s.py
@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ class DeploymentMode(str, Enum):
     deployment = "deployment"
     initialize = "initialize"
     cleanup = "cleanup"
+    start = "start"
+    stop = "stop"
 
 
 class DeploymentVars(BaseModel):
diff --git a/src/runboat/models.py b/src/runboat/models.py
index d3dfc82..ac17dba 100644
--- a/src/runboat/models.py
+++ b/src/runboat/models.py
@@ -195,12 +195,6 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
             build_settings,
         )
         await k8s.deploy(kubefiles_path, deployment_vars)
-        await github.notify_status(
-            commit_info.repo,
-            commit_info.git_commit,
-            GitHubStatusState.pending,
-            target_url=None,
-        )
 
     @classmethod
     async def deploy(cls, commit_info: CommitInfo) -> None:
@@ -211,6 +205,12 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
         await cls._deploy(
             commit_info, name, slug, job_kind=k8s.DeploymentMode.deployment
         )
+        await github.notify_status(
+            commit_info.repo,
+            commit_info.git_commit,
+            GitHubStatusState.pending,
+            target_url=None,
+        )
 
     async def start(self) -> None:
         """Start build if init succeeded, or reinitialize if failed."""
@@ -218,6 +218,12 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
             _logger.info(f"Ignoring start command for {self} that is {self.status}.")
             return
         _logger.info(f"Starting {self} that was last scaled on {self.last_scaled}.")
+        await self._deploy(
+            self.commit_info,
+            self.name,
+            self.slug,
+            job_kind=k8s.DeploymentMode.start,
+        )
         await self._patch(desired_replicas=1)
 
     async def stop(self) -> None:
@@ -226,6 +232,12 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
             return
         _logger.info(f"Stopping {self} that was last scaled on {self.last_scaled}.")
         await self._patch(desired_replicas=0)
+        await self._deploy(
+            self.commit_info,
+            self.name,
+            self.slug,
+            job_kind=k8s.DeploymentMode.stop,
+        )
 
     async def undeploy(self) -> None:
         # To undeploy, we delete the deployment. Due to the finalizer, the deletion
@@ -246,6 +258,12 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
             self.slug,
             job_kind=k8s.DeploymentMode.deployment,
         )
+        await github.notify_status(
+            self.commit_info.repo,
+            self.commit_info.git_commit,
+            GitHubStatusState.pending,
+            target_url=None,
+        )
 
     async def initialize(self) -> None:
         """Launch the initialization job."""
@@ -300,6 +318,12 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
             # is restarting, and is notified of existing initialization jobs.
             return
         _logger.info(f"Initialization job succeded for {self}, ready to start.")
+        await self._deploy(
+            self.commit_info,
+            self.name,
+            self.slug,
+            job_kind=k8s.DeploymentMode.stop,
+        )
         if await self._patch(init_status=BuildInitStatus.succeeded):
             await github.notify_status(
                 self.commit_info.repo,
@@ -314,6 +338,12 @@ class Build(BaseModel):
             # restarting, and is notified of existing initialization jobs.
             return
         _logger.info(f"Initialization job failed for {self}.")
+        await self._deploy(
+            self.commit_info,
+            self.name,
+            self.slug,
+            job_kind=k8s.DeploymentMode.stop,
+        )
         if await self._patch(init_status=BuildInitStatus.failed, desired_replicas=0):
             await github.notify_status(
                 self.commit_info.repo,