Core Principles

This is how we already work. Everything here is enforced, mostly by the team itself. If you find a rule here that reality has stopped backing, tell us: docs and reality are never allowed to diverge for more than a week. We change one or the other.

Responsible people

At the centre of everything we do is each individual that makes this company. It is your responsibility to make sure every person on this team feels like they’re part of it, and to go out of your way when that’s not the case.

People over processes. We create processes to make workflows more efficient. When a process stops doing that, you should feel obligated to bring it up. Don’t follow dogma blindly: 5 monkeys.

Without responsibility, our people-first approach fails. This is the most important value here, and everything below is a special case of it.

The ball is never in your court

We’re playing a continuous game of tennis on many fields at once. Your goal is simple: make sure the ball is never in your court. Someone waiting on you, whether a teammate, a customer or a decision, is the default failure state of a remote company, and it’s on you to prevent it.

Concretely, all three at once:

  • You’re reachable during our shared overlap hours with Germany.
  • Standups and booked meetings are inviolable. Can’t make it? Announce it in advance. Showing up late, even by a minute, is disrespecting your colleagues’ time.
  • During the working day, nobody waits long for an answer from you.

This is ownership: structure your day however you want, as long as nothing and nobody is blocked on you.

Communication

Two parts.

Direct feedback and honesty, shameless but not brutal. You see something that doesn’t make sense? It’s your duty to understand it and fix it. Honesty about challenges helps us all improve. You’ll have quarterly 1on1s with your direct reports (upwards or downwards), and if anything said there is a surprise to either side, something already went wrong. Don’t wait for a calendar event to say what needs saying. We won’t agree on everything (nor should we), but we disagree respectfully and commit as a team.

Push, not pull. Communicate everything relevant to each stakeholder the moment they need to know it, without them having to check in with you. If you’re running a feature that affects Sales and Finance, it’s on you to inform them of changes to timeline and scope before they ask. You do not fix this by adding more check-in meetings.

Done means tested

Work is done when it’s verified against the customer’s requirements. The customer’s requirements are the definition of done; anything short of that is theater. Every deliverable has an acceptance checklist for exactly this reason.

The same applies to your word: say x, do x. The team plans around your commitments. If you see you won’t make one, flag it before the deadline. That’s ownership. Flagging it after is just an excuse with a timestamp.

Creativity and experimentation

There is no box. There are many ways to skin a cat, and linear thinking gets left at the door. You’re here because you solve problems yourself.

You learn by trying new things, and you’ll fail a lot. We’re all Nikola Tesla fans here: figuring out 10,000 ways not to make a lightbulb is what trying looks like. At no point should you not be trying at least one new thing every month.

Output-focused

Input is what you put in; output is what propels the company forward. When we discuss work, we discuss goals, and how you get there is your choice. That includes your tools: use AI, scripts, whatever multiplies you. We don’t police your calendar or your methods; we look at what shipped.

The scalability test: importing an Excel file with 20 names one by one is quick and thoughtless, and next month it’s 21, then 22. Writing the script takes 10x the time, but find one other person with the same task and you’ve cut the payback from 10 months to 5. Stop, think, automate, document.

Remote-first, and the offsite is the office

We work across borders, Germany and India, with controls and requirements disabled as much as possible so you can work however makes you most productive.

That freedom has one non-negotiable counterweight: offsites are compulsory. Remote-first only works because trust is rebuilt in person. The offsite is our office, compressed into a week. Everyone is free for at least two a year; the management team, three to four. We schedule far in advance so “I wasn’t free” isn’t a thing. Skip one without a serious reason and we’ll talk. Skip a second and the conversation is whether this is the right place for you.

What being responsible does NOT look like

  • Taking a week-long vacation in the middle of a deployment, leaving your team in the lurch.
  • Showing up late to any meeting, even by a single minute.
  • Scheduling your doctor’s appointments over the weekly company meeting, or regularly arriving late to standup.
  • Sitting on a blocker overnight because “I didn’t want to disturb anyone.”
  • Shipping something you never checked against what the customer actually asked for.


With great power comes great responsibility. Your team counts on you using your powers for good.