Lots of ways to skin this cat. Let me muddy the waters by sharing what works for me: If pods are a hassle like they are on my machine, and if the board won't hold down because it isn't milled dead flat or is too small in surface area, I use 3M 9832 double sided tape. It is seriously aggro and grips like nothing else I've used, and can tear chunks out of the spoilboard if not detached gently. If I'm cutting very small parts that fly away if cut loose, I leave a .040 skin when cutting the shapes out, then flip the board upside down and use more 3M tape to stick it down to some melamine and run the sandwich through the widebelt sander to sand off the skin and leave just the small parts attached to the melamine. It works really well. I've made crazy tiny parts this way.
Tooling depends on wood thickness. I personally can't stand the chatter that 1/4 and 3/8 bits emit when cutting solid wood, so I use a 1/2" 2 flute carbide for most applications. Upshear if the material is really locked down, otherwise downshear. If the wood is thicker than 1.5" I have a 3/4 dia chipbreaker that devours 3" thick maple. All tooling is carbide. If things go sideways, which is more likely with solid wood than plywood, I want the bit to shatter, not bend like I've experienced with HSS bits.
Feed & speeds: google a chip load chart like the one on Vortex's site. In theory you want to go as fast as possible before quality falls off, but in reality the priority hierarchy is: 1) the part must survive, and 2) avoid excess spindle wear by pushing your machine too fast. Premature cutter wear because you're cutting too slow. Depth of cut: definitely don't use the same cutting strategy as sheet goods. With the abovementioned 1/2" 2 flute, I would cut your 3/4 material with at least 2 steps.