From our experience, one’s drive is innate. It represents an intrinsic fire. It usually cannot be taught. We love self-starters, especially those willing to take initiative independently. We want team members to feel a strong sense of responsibility and accountability. More specifically, we want to give people the discretion and the latitude to take pride and ownership of their work. Our team does not believe in micro-management; instead, we believe in maximizing individual leadership and creativity because someone who is motivated will always outwork someone who merely follows directions.

We are a team that works hard. We believe in a resilient culture, where grit and tenacity are valued, especially in the face of adversity and hardship. In a startup, we constantly face a myriad of problems that need our attention. We are naturally resource-constrained. Problems can often be overwhelming. Our guiding light is our focus, perseverance, and our never-give-up mentality. We find these problems inspiring and motivating, as a natural part of our growth. We use challenges as fuel to propel our growth. Time and time again, we have seen grit as the strongest predictor of success. We live by this mantra religiously.

It is important to note that a willingness to work does not mean silence or acquiescence. It is quite the opposite. The capacity to speak up–to challenge existing rules and processes–will almost always improve the firm’s culture. Our team believes in a proactive effort to seek input from everyone.  We want everyone to provide constructive criticism: here, we make an important distinction because we are not a team of complainers and pessimists. Everyone should feel responsible and safe to speak his or her mind honestly without fear of repercussions and retribution. By the same token, everyone should be willing to listen to constructive feedback, because it fertilizes growth and self-improvement.

At the core of a high-performing corporation is a meritocratic culture. People properly incentivized based on performance will be the most productive contributors. In our humble opinion, a flat hierarchy that allows all voices to be heard will always surpass a pyramid structure where the top man makes all the decisions.  No one can guarantee a decision-maker will always make the right decisions. An antidote for poor future decisions is an error-corrective mechanism built on rigorous dialogue and debate. Thus, a democratic structure that allows for conflicting perspectives and opinions makes up an invaluable part of a thoughtfully designed organizational culture.

Our operational goals are guided by one simple formula: input<output.  We always want to ask ourselves if we are spending time on the right projects/tasks.  We do not want to waste time on projects that will yield underwhelming returns because everyone’s time on the team is valuable. We need to protect and save our bandwidth for the highest-impact projects.

Any great company started with a grandiose vision, an inspiration that brought together a group of people who all work towards the same goal. At the same time, Rome was not built in a day. Every great company had to start small. We believe in taking tiny steps every day but are constantly focused on our vision and goals. We want to remain grounded on a day-to-day basis, as that mentality will allow us to remain humble and nimble.

We prioritize first-principles thinking at Unity.  We understand that we are often faced with complex and difficult decisions that are hard to resolve.  To untangle complexity, we always ask ourselves, before making any decisions, why we are doing this and what the ultimate goal is. We want to challenge and re-challenge our assumptions constantly. Optimization and prioritization are forever work in progress.