If one had to sum up our philosophy, it's "hire extraordinary people, give them hard challenges, and do everything we can to help them succeed". We expect so much of our people – and want to invest in and support them as they do the best work of their careers.

There's two parts to this: setting a high bar, and then providing support and feedback as we all strive to hit it together.

On the former, we're unapologetic about having a high performance culture. We're a winning team, not a family, and we want to be on the field with the best players possible. Hex is a small startup, with lots to build, in a competitive market – nothing less than excellence will suffice. The bar, as we say, is stunning.

The key, however, is balancing this with empathy and support. We want a culture of embracing challenges, learning from failure, and growing together. Fear is the mind killer, and no one does their best work operating from a place of insecurity.

This starts with Leads setting clear expectations and sharing feedback proactively. We can't say we care about holding a high bar if we're not willing to coach and give folks opportunities to clear it. Peeps shouldn't be confused about what's expected from them or where they stand.

But let's face it – sometimes it doesn't work out. This can happen for many reasons but when it does, the best and most empathetic thing we can do is to address it with honesty and clarity. This can be uncomfortable, but is far better than the alternative. Beating around the bush only breeds fear, and ultimately resentment amongst team members who want the best from – and for – the people around them.

We can love working with someone, but also know they're not right for our needs, and how we handle those situations is a true test of a company's culture.

So, the last thing we should do is hesitate or perseverate when something isn't trending toward stunning – it's not fair to the the individual, nor the team. Some times there’s a mutual conclusion, and we can leave as friends; we try to do that wherever we can. Other times it's more contentious – but it should never be a surprise.