Careers
How we work
“Do I want to be held to these things every day?”
What we make and sell is a way of thinking, not hours. When the product is a way of thinking, culture isn't the soft wrapping around the work — it is the production line. So every item below has to be something a person can fail.
Own it — own the result, even when nobody handed it over. The sentence “that's not my job” doesn't exist here.
Decide it — hearing “no” is the next question, not the end.
Something is broken, it isn't in the job description, and nobody asked. · Someone who has been here longer says “that can't be done”.
“This one waited for my decision — and it was in the nobody-has-tried category.”
Say it straight — say what is actually thought, with empathy and respect, but without sugar-coating.
Take it straight — be steady enough to receive a hard piece of feedback without shrinking, without defending, without holding a grudge. The second half is the hard one in Vietnam.
Someone three years more senior proposes a plan that is clearly wrong, and the whole room is nodding.
“You talked around it.” — or — “You couldn't take it, so next time nobody will dare speak up.”
Before the decision: disagreeing means an obligation to argue. No compromising for the sake of harmony.
After the decision: commit fully, including to the decision that was argued against. No going through the motions, no quiet sabotage, no saving up an “I told you so”.
Let go — of what was built with one's own hands, once it stops being right. And of what the company already has. Process accumulates like scar tissue.
Change shape — this company will change shape many times. Personal inconvenience is something to look past.
“This has been broken for three months — you're keeping it because you built it.”
Doing it is the minimum. Passing it on is what we pay for.
A capability has to live outside its owner's head — others can walk the same road again.
Leave tomorrow — can anyone carry on?
“You decided right, but nobody knows why — in six months we'll be working it out from scratch.”
Talent over experience. We hire for long-term impact, so we take people with high raw ability and little experience, and hand them an unusually large share of responsibility.
We need people who can define the requirement from an ambiguous description, not people who simply take the assignment. No degree required; years of experience aren't counted.
Do I believe every point above, taken as a whole, is right — and do I want to be held to it every day?