values.md

Profits are exhaust.

We are a mission-driven company. We believe that profits are an important tool in the pursuit of our mission, but they are not the mission itself.

We contribute to the knowledge loop.

The highest goal of any human is to produce new knowledge that can subsequently be built upon by others. This is the process upon which every good thing in human society has been built. We participate in this most fundamental of human endeavors by thinking in public and defaulting to open source.

We are more concerned with value creation than value capture.

We will only succeed if we create value in the world. If we optimize for that first, commercial success will follow.

Work done well is its own end.

We do great work because it is an expression of who we are, a contribution of our unique talents and perspectives to a purpose larger than ourselves. Work done well creates ripples in the pond.

Transparency always wins.

There are countless examples of choices that we all have in our professional lives of just how honest we want to be. We choose to be completely honest, even when that is uncomfortable, or even when it would lead to short-term negative consequences. We believe that transparency is a north star, and that acting transparently is always in the long-term best interests of achieving our mission.

We value diversity.

People with different mindsets and experiences, working together, create better outcomes. This includes diversity of race and gender, as well as the diversity of academic backgrounds, socio-economic backgrounds, geographic backgrounds, ideologies, and interests.

Users are our best advocates.

We market our products and services by working with amazing humans, making them incredibly happy, and asking them to spread the word. We go above and beyond for our clients / users to invest in our future growth.

We are humble.

While we believe that we are building something exceptional, that knowledge does not make us feel proud, it makes us feel humble. It imbues us with a deep sense of responsibility towards our clients, coworkers, and the community at large.

We optimize for the long-term.

While we pursue the mission with intense focus, we recognize that creating the change in the world that we wish to see will not happen overnight. We think, plan, and act for the long-term.

We work hard and go home.

We take our responsibilities as parents, citizens, individuals, family members, and members of our various communities just as seriously as we take our commitments at work. When we are on, we are focused. When we are off, we are free to be fully disconnected.

We are human.

We are human beings innovating in a shared service to a mission. We structure our compensation and benefits, work hours and location policies, work and management styles, and employee agreements to support this fundamental human-ness. We bring our whole selves to work, and we recognize that our identities extend beyond the work that we do.

We believe in moving up the stack.

We believe that all team members should seek to replace themselves on an ongoing basis by building processes, technology, and documentation that obviate their existing work. We have an abundance mindset: there is always more, and more valuable, work to do. Moving up the stack presents growth opportunities for both the individual and the team.

Values are more important than success.

We are not interested in success absent the values in this document. We have strongly held opinions on how a company should be built and these are non-negotiable. We do not believe that these opinions are an absolute truth, but they are an absolute truth for us.