It is easy to communicate when you are only two. That was us when starting off WebGazer. The easiest way to decide on an issue was to discuss it in person or on the phone. We did not need to think on in-house culture, values and so on. This is mostly due to the fact that we, two of us, were all those at once. We were walking-ethics, values and everything you would expect from a website monitoring service.
Now that our team makes it to six of us, it was time to set the rules before the game starts. Okay, it is not hard to say we are this and that, but what is more important is to create a baseline or some ground rules on which people could make up their own minds when in need. “Company culture” sounds a bit like some moral codes where you stand by it, but for us, it defines both what we value the most and the way we work to evolve WebGazer into a better product.
We put four values on the forefront:
- Transparency
- Dependability
- Efficacy
- Open-mindedness
“WebGazer is not a software or app, it is a service operated by real people”
Our motto is “WebGazer is not a software or app, it is a service operated by real people” and yes, it is us ✌️. With this on our minds, daily operations or decisions mean more than just daily work. We put transparency in the first place. If there is something wrong, tell people something wrong. If you have failed, let’s talk about it together and come up with a solution. (There is this Super Hero Oath for entrepreneurs by famous investor Tim Draper, it has one significant line as “fail and fail again until you succeed”. We love failures, it is more transformative than anything else. Hi Tim! 🙌) These four fundamentals determine how we approach both to our users and ourselves.
WebGazer is a mission-critical service, dependability is a must in our line of work. As a team, we always work to make sure that our service does what it promises. This applies to our team where everyone trusts each other and our capabilities on any given task. However, it is always important to solve real problems. I put efficacy as the defining word for this, but it is broader than being just effective. It is important to keep an open mind and challenge what you think not effective or meaningful. These two fundamentals keep a thriving business on track. You need to be careful about getting stuck in a routine. You need to think outside the box without getting irrelevant to the matter.
These fundamentals seem more like a company code. But they also transform the way you think and operate. This, itself, creates a company culture where all of the team is transparent, dependable, effective and open minded. We are at the start line yet. Our first year anniversary has just passed. We have the will and determination to get ahead of what we are now. It is a long journey.