SafeGraph

Do fewer things but be great at them. It is 1000x better to be the best than it is to be “just” really good. But it’s very difficult to be the best at many things. Every team member strives to do as few things as possible, and the company strives to do as few things as possible—so that we can be the best at what we do. This is also why we strive to only do one new thing at a time — series beats parallel.

Judgement is the x-factor. It is essential that every team member at Safegraph makes key decisions autonomously, so that we move fast and limit bureaucracy. But as Voltaire (sometimes attributed to Spider-Man’s Uncle) said, “with great power comes great responsibility.” To make great and efficient decisions at all levels of the company, we need to (1) clearly communicate the company’s strategy to all team members; (2) hire super smart teammates that work hard; (3) only hire people who have demonstrated sound judgment and are deserving of our trust.

We are the enablers, not the solvers As a company, it is important we have the humility to accept that our clients will ultimately be the ones to make the world a better place and solve humanity's greatest challenges … we are just an enabler. This humility should always color everything we do.

Respect our own time -- get leverage. Because we hire only the most talented people, SafeGraph team members must constantly seek leverage. We put an extremely high value on our own time. A team member rarely does a repetitive or mundane task more than a few times before she automates it (through engineering, outsourcing, selecting a vendor, etc.). SafeGraphers should spend over 75% of their time doing things that are really hard and that only they can do. We know that the more we can leverage ourselves, our teams, and our organization, the bigger SafeGraph can scale.

Respect others’ time -- don’t be a bottleneck. Humility means respecting the time of our coworkers, partners, clients, recruits, etc. We never want to be a bottleneck as a company or as an individual. Bottlenecks cause frustration and cost us customers and revenue. They lower morale and create uncomfortable conversations like “did you get that email I sent Tuesday?” We return all emails and voicemails within 12 hours, even if it’s just to say “I'll get back to you tomorrow." We strive to never be bottlenecks.

Focus on growth. Great team members continue to improve and grow. The only way to do that is to actively solicit feedback on how to get better and find ways to work on one’s strengths. Great team members also focus on making those around them better, and they give feedback often. Giving constructive feedback (suggestions of how to improve flaws) is helpful but giving specific, positive feedback can lead to even faster growth and higher leverage of people’s strengths. We have extremely high expectations of ourselves and of our team members.