I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
The gift no one expects
|
Hey Reader, It's the holidays and at most companies, everyone gets the same thing. A gift card, a bonus, maybe some company swag. At Kit, we do something a little different. Your holiday gift scales with how long you've been here. Year one might be AirPods. By year ten and beyond, it's a $1,000 gift card or other custom gifts. The longer you stay, the more we invest in celebrating that you're still here. At Kit, we give team members birthday gifts and holiday gifts. And we've also celebrated special milestones by rewarding team members or giving them an unexpected day off. People who've joined recently are consistently blown away. But the holiday gifts tied to tenure are the ones that surprise people. You show up for the holidays expecting the usual company gesture, and instead you get something that reflects how long you've chosen to stay. Most companies celebrate what you accomplish. Hit a big goal, ship a major project, close a deal. Those are good things, but how many celebrate the decision to keep showing up? Getting something that reflects your tenure creates a different kind of memory. When someone sticks around for years, they build something that can't easily be replicated with new hires. They know the history. They've seen what worked and what didn't. They can teach the next person. That context accumulates over time, and it's worth investing to keep the people who have it. At 10 team members, you might be able to remember everyone's tenure. At 100+, you need systems to make sure no one gets missed. We built those systems. There's also what this signals to new people. When you join Kit and see someone in their 5th year, their 7th, their 10th, it tells you people want to stay here. That's not something you can fake or put in a job description. Think about what you celebrate in your business. You probably recognize launches, revenue milestones, or successful campaigns. But what about the decision to keep showing up? To come back year after year? When you celebrate tenure, people feel seen. They feel like their decision to stay was noticed. When you get a gift that reflects how long you've been there, it creates a moment you remember. It feels like someone was paying attention. People stay when they feel seen. And when people stick around, they build things that last. PODCASTHow I Built a 50M/Year Company: Frameworks & ReflectionsIn this episode, I sit down with Dan Putt, my coach for the last six years. We look back at Kit’s growth over the years and the personal shifts he's witnessed in me. It's definitely the most emotional I've gotten on a podcast. Here’s some of what we get into:
Watch or listen to episode » KIT FEATUREVersion history for email broadcastsThis is a nice quality-of-life update in Kit. After we launched collaborative editing, many of you asked for a way to track changes and protect your work. Now, version history is here. Your drafts are now fully protected, so you can jump back to any version, see what changed, and collaborate with confidence. You can now:
Available on Creator and Creator Pro plans. EVENTCreator holiday party at Kit Studios BoiseLast year, we hosted a holiday party at Kit Studios in Boise and it was a lot of fun! This year, we're doing it again. It's a great time to check out the studio (feel free to record some content) and meet other creators in Boise. Even if you're not in Boise, this hopefully gives you a sense of what we're building with Kit Studios and the type of events we want to host more of as we expand to other cities. Have a great week! —Nathan P.S. I just uploaded a vlog of my recent Austin trip to YouTube this morning—my first vlog in years! Leave a comment on the video and let me know what you think. |
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Hey Reader, Years ago, I was walking along the Seattle waterfront feeling confused and sad. I'd just attended a design conference. The content was great, but I hadn't met anyone. I was too shy to introduce myself beyond small talk with whoever sat next to me. Ahead, I noticed some of the speakers walking together. People I looked up to. They looked like a group of close friends, laughing and joking. That was the circle I wanted to be part of. I picked up my pace so I could catch up. I got...
Hey Reader, Tell me if this resonates: You're working harder than ever, and your team is busy, but growth has slowed. The reason for this tends to come down to focus. As companies grow, they tend to start focusing too much internally instead of externally. Jason Lemkin, one of the top SaaS growth experts, noticed this pattern with founders. Whenever they don't know what to do next, he tells them to start with the basics: First: talk to your customers. Not surveys or data dashboards. Actual...
Hey Reader, The hardest decisions you have to make are rarely between good and bad options. They usually feel like choosing between two good options. When I was talking with my coach, Dan, about everything I’m trying to balance, he told me to imagine myself 10 years in the future. He asked: which one would I regret most if I didn’t accomplish it? I thought I’d say growing Kit to $100M. But the answer surprised me: publishing my book. If Kit hit $100M and I never published another book, I’d be...