Casconauts operate on Leadership Principles (LPs). These principles allow us to make difficult decisions easy and resolve conflicts fast.
1. Customer Obsession
Casconauts relentlessly focus on customers. We understand customer trust is difficult to earn but easily lost. That's why we spend meaningful time protecting customer trust. We spend zero time worrying about competitors. When you obsess over customers, you're de facto the leader. If you obsess over competitors, you're a follower. Casconauts are leaders.
2. Ownership
No job is too small for a Casconaut to do. No job is too large for a Casconaut to drive. When the job needs to get done, we don't wait around until someone picks it up. When we do something, we own it end-to-end until the job is clearly done. Casconauts are drivers, not passengers.
3. Bias for Action
Casconauts are nimble; nimbleness requires Bias for Action. We know that action absorbs anxiety. A good decision on Monday is better than a perfect decision on Sunday. Many good attempts at a decision on Monday, gets us to a great decision by Tuesday.
4. Craftsmanship
Casconauts have taste. We have informed intuition that allows us to judge good versus bad. When we see something off, we do something about it. We don't let problems linger. We seek constant refinement as we learn.
5. Transparency
Casconaut say things as they are and operate without holding back information. Internal transparency is a requirement. External transparency is a deliberate choice. All of our documents are available within the "All Documents" Google Drive¹, on purpose! We understand that transparency informs clear incentives. Clear incentives inform better outcomes.
¹except HR, Legal, and Contract documents due to their personal and legal sensitivities.
These principles are inspired by industry leaders like Amazon, Stripe, and Netflix. Most of our company and both founders are ex-Amazonians. When Rene and Ian first joined Amazon, the LPs felt like more than just corporate posters on a wall. It was the underpinning for "how" Amazon operated and more importantly how to untangle conflicts. It was common to see colleagues quote LPs directly within meetings. However, by the time Rene and Ian left Amazon, weaponized bureaucracy had taken over and it seemed like Amazon forgot to "Invent and Simplify". We value what we've learned at Amazon, we discard what didn't work, and improve where we see opportunity to.
If you sense an inkling that Casco is becoming bureaucratic, it is your Casconaut duty to call this out to the founders. No bureaucracy.
If you're a current Amazonian or ex-Amazonian thinking about joining Casco, you should expect Casco to operate with the best part of Amazon's LPs and without the worst part of them.