Creating a day 1 mentality
This is for describing our company culture.
We have a day one culture.
Our firm aims for the best long term outcome. We build upon first principles.
Because of our emphasis on the long term, we make decisions and make tradeoffs that some may consider contrarian to what most startups in this space do.
- We measure our progress and track obsessively
- We stay committed to what we set out to do
- When we promise something to our customers and to each other, we deliver it
- When forced between rushing out features vs internal cybersecurity safeguards, we will prioritize based on current events and the safety of those on our team and those that work with us
Our goal is to build in a way that doesn’t overextend. That means we are very practical about our decision making, including the risk management framework used for each major decision.
We abide by the two-pizza team framework. It fosters each individual taking great ownership of their workstream. Ownership mean accountability in every aspect of business. It allows the team to move as a cohesive unit. Each action is synchronized on all fronts.
While designing the team this way, we unlock capabilities that allow us to compete at an elite level. This allows us to demonstrate Day 1 Mentality.
Day 1 mentality is a stark contrast to Day 2 mentalities. A Day 1 firm is obsessed on making high accuracy and large volume decisions. In order to do this week after week, month after month, every day each employee must work beyond his or her comfort zone. The main purpose of a business is to create value for our shareholders. And among many other things, we do this fundamental aspect of building a business very well.
In a letter to hsi shareholders, written by Jeff Bezos
Jeff, what does Day 2 look like? That’s a question I just got at our most recent all hands meeting. I’ve been reminding people that it’s Day 1 for a couple of decades. I work in an Amazon building named Day 1, and when I moved buildings, I took the name with me. I spend time thinking about this topic.
Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1. Source
How do we implement Day 1 methodology?
A signature trait of a Day 2 company is the ability to make many high quality decisions quickly and accurately. This is easier said than done. If you do the math, the executive branch of a Day 1 startup likely makes over 10,000 high quality decisions a month. That’s over 320 high quality decisions a day.
In order for this volume to occur, each member of the team must make these decisions with 75% of the information readily available, rather than 95% of the information needed to make a decision.
The magic lies when you’re able to make incorrect decisions yet you’re able to minimize the cost (minimize the downside risk), you’re able to absorb the losses and net positive momentum when averaged over the course of the week.
Most important to developing that skill is the ability to look back objectively and identify what went wrong, and what you must do to improve next time you face that issue. While also being mindful of your weak spots or sticking points, where you frequently make a sloppy or junior mistake that causes you to mis-manage your deliverable.
Secondly, agree to disagree. When bringing together a team of high performance individuals, you learn to manage your ego very well in these settings. As a leader or manager, you’ll also have to learn how to manage other people’s ego with class and formality, especially when it is in the best interest of the firm to do so.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where it’s too people going back and forth on a topic or decision without a reasonable outcome in sight: agree to disagree. This saves valuable time and energy. Often, the data justifying a decision takes time to appear. It is far more productive to agree to disagree than to burn bridges, especially when you may need to rely down the road on the person you’re currently arguing with.
There’s more, referencing back the original shareholder letter article
Fourth recognize true misalignment issues early and escalate them immediately. Sometimes teams have different objectives and fundamentally different views. No amount of discussion, no number of meetings will resolve that deep misalignment. Without escalation, the default dispute resolution mechanism for this scenario is exhaustion. Whoever has more stamina carries the decision.
You’ve worn me down is an awful decision-making process. It’s slow and de-energizing. Go for quick escalation instead — it’s better.
I’ve seen organizations get split apart when this is the status quo. Society has changed. Too much social media means people no longer make decisions from their core — and instead converge to the status quo. The status quo is garbage.
Real success is not defined by how many upvotes you get or how good you feel after virtue signaling. These behaviors creep into an organization, and when the individual becomes avoidant to these issues and let them infect the organization, you turn from a team of A-level performers to B. Then from B to C.
My philosophy is as follows. As a person, you’ll spend a lot of time at work. No matter what, you have to work at one job or another, so why not work at an organization you can proud of? Be able to take charge and mold your organization, face the challenging issues when they occur instead of brushing it under the rug. And that is exactly what I’m creating, a place where each person is inspired by the person beside them. Where together we create the difference we wish to see in the world.
