Whoaaaa this article about how Gumroad works is very cool. I resonate so hard with "freedom at all costs." Very much how I created @CompliceGoals and how I've continued to run it. Lots of inspiration here for my meta-team concept too. 🧵 sahillavingia.com/work
Gumroad's operating philosophy as inspiration for meta-teams
11 tweets · January 2021 · 51 likes · 0 retweets · read on Twitter
Finding this article a really powerful inspiration for something I've been thinking about about collaborative self-energizing meta-teams. Rest of thread written as if reader has read this thread, though you don't have to go read it if you don't want.
This really resonates with that philosphy: > People can work on what’s fun or rely on their intuition, because as long as we remain profitable and keep shipping, we tend to get to the important stuff eventually. Our public roadmap helps Gumroad's creators hold us accountable.
There are other things that resonate less. Gumroad seems very focused on shipping: > There are no retreats planned, and no social channels in Slack. There are limited opportunities for growth. Whereas my meta-team concept is very much oriented to deep-connection & also scaling.
> In 2020, Sid left Gumroad to start his own creator economy company, Circle, together with former Gumroad coworker Rudy Santino Okay this does resonate. Piece of team incubating ideas, breaking off to do something new. I'm imagining often more fluid transitions though maybe.
> Working on Gumroad isn't a majority of anyone's identity. I'm imagining this kinda in the meta-team, re any particular team, because people would be doing multiple things. But at least some people might have some identity in relation to being in this meta-team.
They do unpaid few-hour challenge then paid few-week trial as part of interview process. Similar to a 12w experiment @joyurge and I did with Complice last summer, to explore possibilities of working together. Though again, more & connection focused than "just get shit done"
> Within the company, we keep a document that lists how much everyone is paid, along with their average working hours. This allows the team to have as much information as I do when making compensation decisions. @joyurge & I also experimented w open books, tho more meta.
> We also have an “anti-overtime” rate: past twenty hours a week, people can continue to work at an hourly rate of 50 percent. This allows us to have a high hourly rate for the highest leverage work and also allows people to work more per week if they wish. @utotranslucence!! 👆
> Creators make money so they can make stuff, instead of the other way around. Why not adopt this framing at Gumroad, too? This is what working in the creator economy should feel like.
> Gumroad’s homepage is clear about its benefits to creators who use it: “Escape your 9-to-5 job. Take off your suit and tie. End your commute. Get paid for your craft.” > As cliché as it may be, we are trying to be a company of creators, for creators.
