Sourcetable

Values form the core of our company. They inform who we are, what we work on, and how we do that work. Values are most obviously impactful in driving philosophy and culture discussions, and as a North Star on policy, but they are no less impactful throughout the rest of the stack including tasks, logistics, tactics and strategy. Work, for the most part, is a series of decisions and tradeoffs, and our company values are a guide to how we make those decisions. They define what is important to us.

We had a shortlist of criteria when creating our values at Sourcetable: they had to be memorable, they had to be understandable, they had to be actionable, and they had to be non-aspirational.

Memorability was important as a practical concern. Long lists are hard to internalize and create mental overhead, and thus are non-actionable; this forced some hard tradeoffs. Understandability is almost tautological, but we included it as a criteria to make sure we weren’t loading our values with assumed knowledge inscrutable to outsiders and new employees. Actionability provided a rigorous assessment criteria, and frequently arose when evaluating “be a good person” type values that tend to sound good, but can be unhelpful as a means of driving tradeoffs or decisions. Finally, we were adamant that our values be “non-aspirational”, by which we mean that our values must define who we are, not who we might want to be.

The values we defined for Sourcetable are below. Notable absences include teamwork, inclusion and quality, as these were bundled into other company values as well as our own internal value systems. As we grow and evolve as a team and as a company, we will revisit these values to see how they are serving us as contexts change.

Value: Customers come first

Customers are central to everything we do at Sourcetable. As a company of tool builders, we are obsessed with making great digital products to help our customers extend themselves through technology. Whether their goal is to plan, analyze, inquire, collaborate, or simply to make better decisions with data, the thinking machines we build exist in service to helping our customers achieve those goals.
The reasons we say “customer” instead of “user” are manifold. The first, and most obvious, is that there is a value exchange whenever a person (or organization) buys our product. The exchange of money for Sourcetable is an expression that we have created sufficient value to be worth paying for, and the retention of that customer demonstrates that we are continuing to provide that value (and more) over time.

The second reason is that “customer” is an explicit value statement on who has the power, and what we are selling. We are selling a digital product, and the end user is our customer. This is distinctly different to an ads platform or a data harvesting company, or other revenue models that are obscured from users because they are not, in fact, the customer. Thus, the value alignment where “customers come first” changes what we build, and how.
Finally, it is not an accident that “customers come first” is listed first among our values. Without customers, we have no purpose, no revenue, and no company. We exist in service to our customers, not the other way around, and it behoves us to be explicit in saying so.

Value: Ten miles a day

Ten miles a day is a company value that biases in favor of setting a healthy, sustainable pace with an emphasis on productivity and output, and weighing against a culture of consistent all-nighters and buggy code.

Most programmers do their best work when they’re on a maker’s schedule with a high degree of flexibility. Sometimes, inspiration will strike that leads us to staying in flow and working well beyond normal hours on task, system, or feature. We know that if we’re in the zone and feeling good, staying late and leaning into the flow can lead to some of the most enjoyable and satisfying work sessions of our careers. On the other hand, burning the candle too late, too often, trends towards an increase in hours while productivity, code quality, and general energy levels start to suffer.

Recognizing this inherent tension, Sourcetable uses ten miles a day as a value to remind us that consistent high output is what’s important. If we’ve done our ten miles of output for a given day then we should give ourselves permission to put the keyboard away, re-energize, and come back for another ten miles tomorrow.

Value: Great artists ship

The words “Great Artists Ship Insanely Great Products” are printed on the walls of our San Francisco office, and have been since day one. Art, by definition, is something that has value. Being a great artist includes the quest for mastery of one’s craft, and the passion and flow and drive that it takes to reach that level of mastery. But to call ourselves artists, and to be proud of our work, we first have to get product out the door. Without shipping, we have learned nothing and created no value.

Great artists ship.

(Note: we’re obviously borrowing from and inspired by Apple here, whose own “real artists ship” speaks to the grit it took for a talented team to bring revolutionary products to market.)

Value: Speed is a virtue

If there’s one thing that is consistent among successful startups, it is how quickly they move. Not every problem should be solved absolutely as fast as possible, but certainly most should be. When we say “speed is a virtue” we think about speed as resource, and consistently ask ourselves “how can we move faster”?

“Speed is a virtue” has practicality in forcing us to scrutinize our workflow: are we focused enough, and on the right things? Are we moving quickly in the right direction? Are our specs tight enough? Have we broken down milestones sufficiently to work quickly in accomplishing short term objectives? Are we front-loading as much learning as possible through our customers? Are we hitting the right balance between scrappiness and stability? Are we really saving money by saving money, and what is the time cost of frugality? Are we communicating effectively for max velocity? Have we created the conditions to make decisions quickly? Etc.

How can we move faster?

Value: We’re building a business, not just a product

Sourcetable-the-business, is the machine that builds the machine. “Building a business, not just a product” embraces the idea that the mechanics of the business are equally as important as the products we build. It encapsulates the importance of building a great team and creating an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work.

“Building a business, not just a product” also means that we have to make money. Revenue is what sustains a business, pays salaries, and allows for long term thinking, decision making and investments. Profitability defines independence, and startups that aren’t profitable or on track to being so are simply products waiting to be acquired (or worse).
Balance is important here. Revenue is not the most important thing for our business, but it is important. Like gas at a gas station, it gives us what we need to proceed on our journey; without it, we go nowhere.