332 - Creating a Stoic Company: Interview with Geoff Roberts from Outseta
Feb 13, 2025
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Geoff Roberts, Co-founder and CEO of Outseta, shares insights on creating a company grounded in Stoic principles. He discusses how Outseta’s counterintuitive operating methods prioritize employee well-being and long-term sustainability. Geoff highlights innovative compensation tactics that foster collaboration and trust. He also explores the challenges of maintaining an ethical business while navigating emotional resilience. Ultimately, he emphasizes that a culture rooted in transparency can enhance personal growth and create a thriving workplace.
Outseta's incorporation of Stoic principles fosters a healthier work culture characterized by trust, transparency, and a common good focus.
The company's bootstrapped approach enables sustainable growth, prioritizing employee enjoyment over external pressures from venture capital investors.
Outseta's unique compensation model promotes equity and a sense of ownership among employees, enhancing collaboration and transparency within the team.
Deep dives
The Launch of "Stoicism 101"
The speaker announces the release of their book, "Stoicism 101," which consolidates nine years of study and seven years of podcasting on Stoicism. This book serves as both a comprehensive guide to Stoic philosophy and a practical resource for applying Stoic principles in everyday life. Additionally, purchasing the book grants access to a 30-day Stoic challenge course called "Mind Over Mood," designed to facilitate real-life application of the teachings. This combination emphasizes the importance of not just understanding Stoicism, but also implementing it effectively in one's life.
Jeff Roberts and Outseta's Unique Approach
Jeff Roberts, co-founder of the software company Outseta, discusses his journey and the company's philosophy, which incorporates Stoic principles. Outseta aims to streamline the development process for SaaS businesses by providing an all-in-one tech stack. The motivation for starting Outseta stemmed from the co-founders' previous experiences building software companies and recognizing the challenges posed by disjointed tools. This understanding led them to create a company that is both efficient and aligned with their values of simplicity and focus.
Bootstrapping Without VC Funding
Outseta operates without venture capital funding, opting for a bootstrapped approach that allows for greater control and independent growth. The co-founding team believes that by avoiding external funding, they can prioritize sustainable practices over aggressive growth targets imposed by investors. This decision arises from the desire to create a more manageable and enjoyable work environment for employees, where growth is a natural outcome rather than a forced directive. By maintaining independence, the company can focus on doing what they believe is right without the pressure of outside influences.
Innovative Compensation Model
Outseta employs a unique compensation model that offers a flat salary of $210,000 per year, allowing employees to choose their workdays and earn equity in the company. This approach promotes a strong sense of ownership among team members, encouraging them to act as stakeholders in a small business rather than as mere employees. The egalitarian nature of the compensation model helps attract high-quality talent and enables a collaborative work environment where individuals can thrive. By eliminating traditional salary negotiations, Outseta fosters transparency and alignment among team members.
Embracing Transparency and Efficiency
The company emphasizes transparency by providing all employees access to financial information, including cash flow and payroll expenses. Without budgets or performance targets, Outseta operates on a philosophy of trust that allows employees to make decisions autonomously while remaining accountable to the collective team. This system reduces inefficiencies, as everyone shares the responsibility of customer service and product quality. Thus, the structure encourages collaboration and ensures that team members are aligned in their efforts to drive the business forward.
Stoicism is a very personal and practical philosophy. But what would a company look like that implemented some of the ideas from Stoic philosophy? In this episode, I interview Geoff Roberts the CEO of Outseta. Many of the operating principles run counterintuitive to the conventional wisdom of how most companies are managed, and they've been quite successful. While Geoff isn't a deliberate Stoic, Outseta operates incorporates a lot of Stoic ideals which leads to a healthier work culture built on trust, transparency, and working towards the common good of all the employees.