Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Everyone sees everyone's inbox
The Star Wars theme
Ribbit runs like a startup. It builds its own technology stack, keeps a small team, and has a Star Wars theme that is meant to be authentic: meetings are called Tatooine, and the team includes Jedis and Wookiees. The firm backs Jedis.
Shared information
Everybody can see the founder's calendar and his inbox, and he can see anyone's. The team shares all information so it can become better together. The firm does not make individual decisions. When founders are asked which partner is responsible for their company, they have no single answer, because they call one partner about one thing and another partner about something else.
Against silos
Investment firms are very siloed in many ways. Ribbit is built to over-communicate even internally, and the joy of going to the office every day comes from the team having fun together.
How does radical transparency work at companies?
Ray Dalio's 2017 book Principles describes Bridgewater's practice of recording most meetings so employees can review them. The aim is for disagreements to be visible and settled in the open rather than in private conversations. Other firms use narrower versions, such as sharing internal metrics or salaries with the whole team.
Why do investment firms stay siloed?
In many firms, partners are compensated on the performance of the deals they personally led, which gives them reason to guard their pipelines. Each partner also owns relationships with founders and often a seat on the company's board. Pay in venture funds typically includes carried interest, a share of profits that is commonly set at 20 percent.
More from David Senra
