People Ops
How We Set Salaries at Tortuga
From the early days at Tortuga [http://www.tortugabackpacks.com], we followed the example set by other remote companies [https://www.fredperrotta.com/why-we-work-remotely/]. Companies like Basecamp and Buffer worked remotely and were successful. Why couldn't we do the same? Jeremy and I started the business as remote co-founders. The
Should You, the CEO, Hire a General Manager?
I didn't intend to become a manager. But today, I'm the CEO and the sole people manager of a 10-person company. I left Google in part because becoming a manager was the only way I could get another promotion. While I "consistently exceeded expectations" as an individual contributor, my career
How to Pay Remote Employees
Running a remote company in the US requires using terrible government websites and filling out onerous paperwork. Tortuga [https://www.tortugabackpacks.com] has seven US-based employees across four states. Four of those employees have moved between states while working for Tortuga. In total, we've registered with seven state-level employment agencies
Metrics That Don't Matter
> [Company] raises $X, now valued at $Y That's probably the most common headline for startup coverage. That coverage focuses on the wrong numbers. Startup founders and employees have already chosen to play the VC game. That's their call. Good luck. I worry about bootstrapped founders and aspiring entrepreneurs who may
Core-Value-Aligned Perks
Have we all accepted that beers and ping pong are not a company's culture? These "perks" have always reeked of: "Are we having fun yet?" What's the point of your company's perks? How should you choose those perks if the default "fun company" perks are so pervasive that they're meaningless?