Company Values

Overview

Help founders and leaders define authentic company values — the foundation of culture. Based on the philosophy of The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia. Values are not generic two-word commandments; they state the non-obvious in non-obvious ways. Focus on culture before hiring: before you hire anyone, define what kind of company people want to work for.

Instructions

Why Values Matter

• Values tell employees how to behave every day AND in extreme situations
• They're more efficient than 1,000-page manuals — good values stick in the brain
• They attract the right people and repel the wrong ones — both are valuable
• They let you hold yourself AND your team accountable
• Values supersede you. They allow the company to scale beyond your personal involvement.

How to Create Values

Walk the user through these questions:

1. What do you believe that most people don't? Values should be non-obvious and sometimes polarizing.
2. How should people behave when no one is watching? Values are for the moments without a manager present.
3. What would you fire someone for, even if they're performing well? That reveals your true values.
4. What would you celebrate, even if it didn't directly help the bottom line? That's also a value.
5. Write them as stories, not slogans. "Focus on the user" is a slogan. Nordstrom accepting tire returns at a clothing store is a value communicated through story.

Reference: Gumroad's Values

Use these as inspiration, not templates:

1. Judged by the Work — What matters is the experience creators and customers have. "It should be considered a failure to receive feedback on something that could have made a creator's life better AFTER you shipped."
2. Seek Superlinearities — Every day you are producing superlinear returns on your time investment. People may outgrow their role and leave to start their own company — that's great.
3. Everyone is a CEO — "Think like a CEO asking for approval from their board, not like an employee asking their manager for direction."
4. Dare to Be Open — Aim for complete information symmetry. Share financials, disclose salaries, make onboarding documents public.

Operationalizing Values

• Communicate them publicly — in job posts, on your website, in your onboarding
• Use them in feedback: "This aligns with our value of X" or "This doesn't reflect our value of Y"
• Revisit them regularly — values evolve as your company grows

Output Format

Help the user draft:

1. 3-5 company values with descriptions and example stories
2. How each value should show up in hiring decisions
3. How each value should show up in day-to-day work
4. Anti-patterns for each value (what it does NOT mean)

Examples

Example 1: Values for a Developer Tools Startup

User prompt: "We're a 6-person remote team building an open-source database tool. We need company values before we start hiring. We believe in transparency and shipping fast."

Expected output:

Value 1: Ship It, Then Polish It We'd rather ship something imperfect today than something perfect next month. Our users are developers — they understand iteration. But "ship fast" doesn't mean "ship broken." Every release should work; it just doesn't need every feature.

• In hiring: Ask candidates about a time they chose speed over perfection. Look for thoughtfulness about the tradeoff, not recklessness.
• In daily work: PRs should be small and frequent. If a PR sits open for 3+ days, something is wrong.
• Anti-pattern: Shipping untested code or ignoring bug reports because "we'll fix it later."

Value 2: Default to Public Code is open source. Roadmaps are public. Salaries are shared internally. If you're wondering whether to share something, share it. The only exceptions: user data and security vulnerabilities.

• In hiring: Candidates should be comfortable with public code reviews and open discussions.
• In daily work: Use public channels over DMs. Write decisions down in the open.
• Anti-pattern: Hoarding information to maintain power or influence.

Value 3: Builders Over Managers Everyone writes code, talks to users, or creates content. We don't have people whose only job is to coordinate other people. If a process requires a full-time manager, the process is wrong.

• In hiring: Every role involves hands-on building. There is no "pure management" track.
• In daily work: Meetings are rare and short. Async updates replace standups.
• Anti-pattern: Creating layers of approval or requiring sign-off from multiple people.

Example 2: Values for a Wedding Planning Service

User prompt: "I run Simply Eloped, a small wedding elopement company. We have 12 employees across 5 states. I want values that reflect our customer-first approach and adaptability."

Expected output:

Value 1: Customer-Centric (the C in CACAO) Every decision starts with: "How does this affect the couple?" We exist to make the most important day of someone's life feel effortless. That means we answer texts at 9pm if a bride is anxious. It means we rebook a photographer when weather changes.

• In hiring: Ask "Tell me about a time you went beyond what was expected for someone." Look for genuine empathy, not rehearsed answers.
• In daily work: Respond to all customer inquiries within 2 hours during business hours.
• Anti-pattern: Hiding behind policy when a customer needs flexibility.

Value 2: Adaptable (the second A in CACAO) Elopements happen on mountaintops, in city halls, and on beaches. No two are alike. We don't follow rigid playbooks — we read the room and adjust. When COVID hit, we pivoted to virtual witnesses within a week.

• In hiring: Look for people who thrive in ambiguity. Ask "What do you do when the plan falls apart?"
• In daily work: Coordinators have full authority to make on-the-spot decisions up to $500 without approval.
• Anti-pattern: Saying "that's not how we do it" without considering the specific situation.

Guidelines

• Values should be non-obvious and specific to the company — if any company could claim the same value, it's too generic
• Each value needs a story or concrete example, not just a slogan
• 3-5 values is the sweet spot; more than 5 and nobody remembers them
• Values should sometimes be polarizing — if everyone agrees, the value isn't saying anything meaningful
• For remote teams, emphasize values around communication, autonomy, and accountability
• Revisit values annually — they should evolve as the company grows
• Values are useless if not operationalized in hiring, feedback, and daily decisions