Identify Your Anti-Role Model

Sometimes a good way to shape the culture is to decide what you don't want, and then figure out how to get the opposite. My experience at a venture backed company was excellent and worthwhile, but I did not like being in so many executive meetings, nor did I appreciate the heavy handed board nor the forced social interactions.

As I started Odetta, I wanted to build a place with no meetings, where everyone, not just the CEO can work whenever it is most productive for them, where it is easy to advance based on meritocracy, in a company that values kindness. When you start a company, you get to be the mayor of a small town, and you can design the environment as you wish. I always wanted a place that felt like a sisterhood, so that's what we built at Odetta, and that is what people describe when they are asked about what it's like to work here.