AND CO - Employee Handbook (v.0.1)

Why we love
Mondays
A guide to happiness, German structure and other efficiencies.
V0.01

Mondays suck for people who don’t know why
they get out of bed in the morning.
This book is an introduction to AND CO’s beliefs
and how we like to operate.

How we think,
design and
operate

”Things are
only impos-
sible until
they’re not.”
Jean-Luc Picard
There’s always a way to make something happen.
Find that way.
Every goal has multiple ways to achieve it and
every problem has multiple ways to be solved.
Innovating means doing things no one has ever
done before. So it’s impossible to know some-
thing is not possible until you’ve tried everything
to make it happen.

Question
everything
If you heard ‘this is how it’s done’
there is probably a better way to do it.
Find that way.

Simplicity
trumps any
feature set
More is not always better. Often it’s actually
worse.
Especially as we are building a product that
covers an entire workflow, feature creep is always
hunting us. So when you see feature creep peak-
ing around the corner, make sure to kill it (right
after you vetted it’s pros and cons, tested your
assumption and figured out it’s not great. What
did you expect, you’re working with Germans
after all.)

Professional
fun If we ever look, feel or sound like a financial ser-
vice, we did something wrong.
Being knowledgeable and professional does not
mean you gotta be dull. Humor and lightheart-
edness can take the pain out of the things we all
hate doing. Closing out a task with a quote from
Tina Turner is better than just closing out a task.

We’re building
a product that
takes care of
you,
nottheother
wayaround.
We are building a proactive product.
But being proactive is not just something that
comes from great product design but from every-
one in the company caring about our members.
This thread ties through all people and depart-
ments. From how COs interacts, how we design
our ads to how we build software.
To know how we can be proactive, we have to
care in the first place.

Our brand is
what people
think about us
People are smart and smell fake. Our brand is
built from everything we ever do, so always stay
honest, authentic and nice. No matter if it’s a
password reset email, a CO message, the head-
line in an Ad, a job interview or a conversation
with someone at the bar.

German
efficiency
This company was started by two Germans, so
by being part of it, you are a little bit German as
well. This means whenever you see inefficiencies,
you have to call them out. In fact, you can’t help
yourself, it will just naturally come over you. You
will feel these inefficiencies and suddenly scream
“Halt!” - trust us, it will happen.

Structure
creates
autonomy When we all understand the goal and the structure,
we are free to work autonomously within them.
Therefore turn to the next page ...

Always
understand
your goals
Only if you understand your goals, not just know
them, you can be flexible and act autonomously
on the task. If you are just executing on some-
thing someone told you to do, you won’t be able
to react to changes, make the right choices, and
reach them in the end.
Whatever you do, always be able to answer these
questions:
- Why am I doing it?
- What does success look like?
- When will I judge the success of it?

The
extra mile
For us, working autonomously goes hand in hand
with being self-initiating. Always ask yourself
what else you can do to move us ahead. If you
solely do what people expect from you, you
didn’t do enough.

Failing is
better than
not trying
If you don’t risk mistakes, you don’t try and not
trying is a mistake.
It’s easy to dismiss an idea. It’s hard work to
prove otherwise.
Don’t be lazy ;)

Opinions are
great,
numbers are
greater
We’re all acting on our experience and that can
be a great tool to get things started. But before
we use resources to act and build, try to find the
simplest way to validate your opinion or hunch.

Honesty
kills bullshit
Honesty is one of the easiest ways to be transpar-
ent and leaves no room for interpretation. Always
be honest to each other, it helps to work efficiently
and kills the bullshit as everyone always knows
exactly what’s up and where they stand.

You are
smarter
together
Sounds like weird grammar? Maybe. But it’s also
the truth.
Chances are you can learn something from the
person next to you right now (or whoever was next
to you right before you picked up this book). You
might not know yet what it is, so go and find out.

Eat together
work together Here’s the truth behind free lunches:
They might seem like some generic employee
perk, but they actually have a defined purpose
behind them.
The better we know each other, the better we
know when one can help.
So use the free lunches as an excuse to get to know
each other better.

You’re bigger
than your job
description Never be afraid to bring up ideas and challenges
in areas that are not your expertise. The best
input is often coming from a different angle.

Build your
own job You were hired because of certain skills you bring
to the table. But don’t ever see what you were
hired for to do as a constraint to what you can do
in the future. You have the power to define your
future job within AND CO. Curious about another
area in the business, want to create something
from scratch? Go the extra mile and find out how
you can contribute.

Enable,
don’t direct Great leaders don’t tell you what to do, but ask
for what you need.
Mediocre talent needs directors, great talent
needs enablers. If you direct great talent, it will
leave.

We’re in
constant beta
This company, our product and even this book-
let are all up for constant questioning, feedback
and iteration. Therefore take this book as a living
document and you’re on the mission to shape it,
as it’s defined by what we’ll all do next.

Remember how we talked about authenticity?
That is where all the typos and weird grammar
are coming from. This book has not been edited
by an actual English native speaker.
Derbe.

You are an architect of the modern workforce.
Apply power with care.

AND CO - Employee Handbook (v.0.1)

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