What is the goal of a company? Is it to grow at any expense? Is it to provide a huge exit for its founders? Is it to satisfy a need in the economy? I’ve been talking with a lot of founder friends about this very question. What is the point of it all?
We hear a lot about exits and big revenue goals. We also hear about the bootstrappers that build nice businesses for themselves and their families. But where’s the middle? Isn’t there a story about the company in the middle — that makes a lot of revenue, maximizes profits, but exists for the people that build it? That’s the Wildbit story.
In the recent soul-searching that comes with a brand new year, a nagging thought just wouldn’t go away. Why can’t we just do it our way? Not the way our friends are doing it, or the way it’s written about in the best business books. In the last two years we’ve made some important decisions around growing the company, often looking up to others for guidance. But now I think, why can’t we go back to the reason we started a company — to build a great life for ourselves and the people around us. In a recent planning meeting for marketing, we asked a big question: Will focusing on content marketing, which everyone says works very well, make us jump out of bed in the morning? No, it won’t. So we’ve decided on focusing our marketing efforts elsewhere.
I believe a company’s only purpose is to provide for its people to live a fulfilling life. This means a very good living financially, a safe environment to be free and grow, and a balance of work to enable time for the important stuff. If the key to happiness is the people around you, shouldn’t your job be a catalyst to enabling the best relationships in your life?
So why then, does Wildbit exist? It exists for the people that make it so. It cannot grow faster than the team needs it to. It cannot be less profitable because then it would take away from our shared profits. It cannot be busier or ship faster because it would take away from the time we spend in our relationships with others, and each other. Wildbit, and our products more specifically, cannot have needs that are bigger than our own. We must use Wildbit as a tool to enable us to live rich, fulfilled lives. As CEO, it is my job to never lose sight of that. To make sure that we always stop to ask why we’re making decisions, and to make sure to never sacrifice our team's happiness for the sake of revenue growth.