How we build software.

You own your work

Nobody here has a job that is just managing other people. We trust engineers to understand a problem, decide how to solve it, and carry it through. We don't micromanage, and we don't run any software that watches what you do. We also won't take on clients who ask us to.

Owning your work is not just freedom. It is responsibility. When something is yours, all of it is yours, including fixing it when it breaks at an awkward time.

Deep, focused work

Good code needs long, quiet stretches of time. It takes a while to load a hard problem into your head, and one interruption can wipe it out. Whether you are writing code, testing, or working through a design, the good stuff comes from being able to focus without being pulled away.

Working with urgency is not about staying late. It is about getting more done in the hours you do work, because you are actually concentrating instead of hopping between ten things.

Protect your attention

A ping can feel like work, but it still breaks your focus, and focus is slow to rebuild. So for anything that is not truly urgent, we talk asynchronously.

If a question can wait a couple of hours, let it. Write it down clearly, or record a quick video, and let the other person get to it when they come up for air. On Slack we avoid DMs and noisy @channel messages for the same reason. You should get to choose when you are interrupted, instead of having it chosen for you.

We write, and we read

We care a lot about writing. Something written once gets read by a lot of people, so it has to be clear. That includes the small stuff. Even in chat, we write in proper sentences.

We also expect people to read. In a world of endless short videos, being able to sit with a long article or a design doc and actually take it in is a real skill. "It was too long so I skipped it" does not work here.

Learn deeply

We would much rather you understand one thing deeply than list ten on a resume. Depth is what carries over. Once you really understand how a system works, picking up the next framework is the easy part. Tools change all the time. The fundamentals, and the habit of learning, stay with you.

So we expect people to keep learning. Read, dig one level deeper than the task strictly needs, and stay curious about how things actually work. That includes newer tools like AI, which we are happy to use wherever they genuinely help.

Disagree well

When people work closely, they will disagree, and that is a good thing. If everyone always nods along, someone is not being honest. So we do not try to smooth over disagreements about design and engineering.

There is one rule. Keep it about the work. Never turn a point about an idea into a jab at a person. The best outcome is that when a debate ends, even the person who lost it walks away impressed by how clearly and fairly the case was made.

Raise the bar

The average skill level of our engineers is what we call the bar. Every new person should raise it. That only works if we keep hiring people who are better than our current average, which is why we say no to most applicants.

We will not lower this. It is the single biggest reason the people here are worth working with.

Colleagues, not a family

Plenty of companies say they are a family. We don't. If we work together, we are colleagues, and good ones. Some of us will show up at each other's family events, and some won't, and that is completely fine. We support your life. We are not trying to be your whole life.

Flexible timing

People do their best work at different times of day. Work when you are sharpest, as long as there is enough overlap for the team to get things done together.

No referral bonus

We do not pay referral bonuses. They cause more problems than they solve. Rules about how long a referred person has to stay, arguments over the right amount, and a quiet nudge to refer someone just for the money.

If you think someone is great and would enjoy working here, refer them because you would genuinely want to work with them. That is the only reason that should count.