Core values

Our seven core values are the only non-negotiables at Openline. We strive to live these values in everything we do. They inform not only how we work, but the people we choose to work with.

Community first

As an open source company, we exist to serve our community. Building a highly energized and engaged community is why we wake up in the morning. This is why we do all of our work in the community.

Communities are built on common values and trust. That's why our default state is transparency. Almost everything around how we run our business is public. Our strategy, our roadmap, even our investors are out in the open.

Why?

Because we exist to serve our community first. They are our #1 stakeholder. We win when the community wins.

Have an opinion

We expect you to have an opinion, and share it. Loudly. In the open.

Having an opinion means you're engaged, and you care about the outcome. Sharing your opinion means you're a stakeholder in finding the best ideas to pursue. We like diverse opinions. We encourage respectful debate. It's how we ensure we're always working with the best ideas.

You don't have to be an expert to have an opinion. In fact, we often find the best ideas come from non-experts in a particular domain. There are no lanes.

Be helpful

Whether its our community, our teammates, or our customers, we always look for opportunities to go out of our way to solve problems. Even if they're not our problems. Especially if they're not our problems.

Anticipate the needs of others. Lend a helping hand. We win together.

Do the work

We show up every day and do the work. The dirty work. The hard work. The detailed work.

We believe in the power of compounding. Today we build on the work we did yesterday. This year we build on the work we did last year.

There are no short cuts. We must show up each and every day and create forward momentum towards our goals.

In the long run, it's the consistent delivery of high quality work that seperates us from the rest.

Own the problem, and the solution

In a fast growing, early stage company, there are fires burning everywhere. It's a given. It's what we signed up for.

Grab a bucket. In fact, grab two. And a friend.

Fire spotting does no good if you don't bring water.

Eat our own dogfood

We are always customer #1 for our products. We are Openline powerusers. We build the products we want to use everyday when we come to work. And when we find issues, or bugs, or things that would make our lives better, we immediately act.

Keep iterating

Innovation is an iterative process. There is no lightbulb moment. The lightbulb is the culmination of 10,000 iterations. 9,999 failures.

Every single day we strive to get a little bit better. We don't have all the answers. We're constantly learning.

It's ok to fail. Failure is part of pushing ourselves to get better. We're going to fail. A lot. Those learnings power us forward.

Try new things. Ship fast. Measure feedback. Iterate.

Examples of failures

A few examples of behavior that violate our core values and are subject to our zero-tolerance policy.

• If someone has to ask you for an update on what you're doing.
• If you're not actively working in public, amongst the community.
• If you say "it's not my problem."
• If you don't use Openline tools in your everyday work.
• If you're aware of things to be improved, and stay silent.
• If you're not improving in objective, measurable ways on a monthly basis.

And while not explicitly a core value, you should genuinely enjoy coming to work every day. Building Openline should be fun.