Our Culture

Hiring can be an arduous and time-consuming ordeal, and it’s not hard to understand why many larger companies automate so much of the process. However, you can leave a lot of good people out of the running by tightening your perimeters and removing human gut instinct from the equation.

Sometimes it pays to have a little imagination with how certain skills may translate, as it’s easier to train a smart and trustworthy person to do something new than it is a mediocre person who’s been whiling away at the same job without much movement for decades.

Instead of looking for people who can do what we tell them to do, we look for folks who can teach us new skills and new ways of looking at old problems.

As great as it is, remote work is not for everyone. Some folks need to work in an office and struggle to be accountable otherwise. That’s fine, but it’s not us.

Remote work allows for more flexibility and freedom with hours. It helps to ensure that we are only working when you’re “on” and we have an opportunity to take breaks and “walk away” when we’re not.

By not being limited by geography, location has not been a limit on who we can hire, but our values of independence and self-sufficiency have been. When we are seeking to hire someone for a full-time position, we first hire the person on a trial period where they work freelance on a project.

Then, if the relationship looks promising, we’ll hire the person on a short-term contract before they are hired full-time. This helps to establish trust and ensures that the new recruit acclimates to the culture and feels passionate  about the work.

Anyone who fails to live up to our core values during that month is thanked and paid for their time but doesn’t join the staff full-time.

To continue to foster independence and freedom of information and ideas, we have tried to rethink the concept of bosses. Some bosses get that title because they decide on a course of action and issue instructions to their crew. But this isn’t a ship, it’s a website.

Another way to look at management is someone with more experience who guides you and encourages you to make your own decisions. We call these folks “believable parties.”  Rather than issue orders, these folks lead discussions on strategy, help people set their own goals, and act as a sounding board for ideas and concerns.

The goal of a “boss” is to tell people what to do. The goal of a “believable party” is to create more believable parties.

Every employee has an opportunity to have a weekly meeting with a believable party on their team, but this isn’t a performance review. This is not an opportunity for management to call people onto the carpet and critique their work.

Instead, the employee is in charge of this meeting. This is their time to discuss goals, problems that they’re having with the work, conflicts with other employees, or bright ideas that came to them in the shower. Often times the BP, who often has a better idea of the bigger picture, can share insight that can sharpen ideas into solutions.

We don’t hire based on the skills people have, but instead the skills they want to have. Who says you have to stay doing the same thing forever?

Our success depends on our agility, and our agility depends on constantly asking questions and seeking answers. Sometimes a book is an answer, or it may be a course of study. If one of our people wants to pursue an avenue that can help expand our reach or their own skillset within the company, we do what we can to help facilitate that.

Healthcare and retirement concerns can breed stress, so we try to provide that for all full-time employees. Also, people who have the opportunity to recharge and regroup when they need to come back ready to work harder and with more creativity. Our vacation packages are generous.

There’s a lot to be said for an office environment and face-to-face interaction. Skype is one way to start relationships, but it can be better to get your remote office moved to the same remote location, even if it’s only for a week.

This strategy gets all of the teams into one room with each other so that no one feels left out of the bigger picture and the broader company goals. Sharing meals, excursions, and maybe a beer or two helps us to grow relationships.

Not everyone can make it to every remote meeting, and these aren’t mandatory. However, we do what we can to facilitate everyone’s participation so we can make sure we’re all on the same page and headed in the same direction.

So far, we’ve been to Spain, Thailand, and Budapest.