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Goodnotes is a quickly scaling company. Less than five years ago, we had a team of less than 20. Today, over 300 people work at Goodnotes, and our colleagues span across the globe.
As we grow, it's important to us to maintain a sense of shared culture and way of work, to connect us as a team working together towards a shared goal. How do we align our team members, both new and existing, to Goodnotes’ identity and mission?
To do that, we began the project of defining Goodnotes’ company values. All our people from every team, from Design and Engineering to People Ops and Customer Support, had the chance to participate in a values workshop, where we had the opportunity to discuss with leadership what values we felt defined the culture at Goodnotes.
From this process, we identified seven principles that make up Goodnotes’ unique culture from the ground up. Partly aspirational and partly grounded in our existing identity — here are the Goodnotes company values:
1. Dream big
We’re driven by making an impact with our product. We believe that Goodnotes can make a difference in people’s lives and in society. To achieve this at the highest level, we need to dream big, and think creatively across all our arenas of work. We’re always thinking of the next feature that will revolutionize productivity with a tablet.
What is dreaming big at Goodnotes? Before 2023, the only option to use digital planners on Goodnotes was to download them through platforms like Etsy. We dreamed of completely transforming this process, and in 2023, we launched the Goodnotes Marketplace. Today, the marketplace is a huge part of the Goodnotes experience as a go-to for digital stationery.
2. Build great things
Nowadays, the bar for technology is very high. Our industry is competitive, setting benchmarks that only a few can meet. To do this, we need to break through boundaries and lead the way. We are purposeful innovators, forging a new path and making a difference at scale.
What does building great things look like at Goodnotes? Our Senior Product Designer, M, is practically a perfectionist: she iterates almost every mock-up 100 times. She’s always asking for new feedback and improving her designs, creating the best apps for our users.
3. Take ownership
Across teams, we all behave like we have a stake in something bigger than ourselves. We’re here to make work that we’re proud of. Because every single person in Goodnotes has an impact on the product, we encourage people with entrepreneurial sparks and rely on them to take the lead.
What is taking ownership at Goodnotes? When a project hit a snag, B quickly identified the issue, gathered necessary information from stakeholders, and adjusted the team's workflow. He took responsibility for the setback, moved on fast, and the project was completed on time.
4. Win like a sports team
Our shared mission binds us — every team at Goodnotes plays a crucial role. Our product’s success relies on leveraging each other’s skills and maintaining open dialogue, on being trusting and collaborative across functions. We empower one another and understand that our team’s successes are also our own.
What is winning like a sports team at Goodnotes? In order to reach our goal as a team, we’ll lend a helping hand to another team member, even if it's not in our job scope. For example, we have a slack channel dedicated for team members that speak different languages to proofread content!
5. Learn and grow fast
We want to nurture a team of hungry minds. Our colleagues are just as curious as the users of our app. Whether personally, professionally, or as a whole company, people at Goodnotes constantly feed their minds to grow fast, upskilling always.
What is learning and growing fast at Goodnotes? With our dedicated learning and development budget, we actively encourage our team members to grow personally, intellectually, and professionally. For example, C, a Senior Recruiter, used this budget to enroll in a DEI certificate program, enhancing her abilities to create a more inclusive hiring process.
6. Share our passion
We believe that keeping the joy and excitement of our work alive gives our app a thriving pulse. Across the team, our passion is shared. For us, fostering an uplifting work environment is only fitting for a company transforming the way the world does note-taking.
What is sharing our passion at Goodnotes? During Hackweek, F, a Machine Learning Engineer, voluntarily created an ambitious handwriting replication algorithm. Today, this passion lives on in two popular Goodnotes features — AI Spellcheck and Word Complete.
7. Be user obsessed
We wouldn’t be anywhere without our users — and the best way to repay them is by meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations. We actively expose ourselves to the communities we serve, learn about who our users are, and how we can deliver value to them. We put empathy for our users first.
What is being user obsessed at Goodnotes? Across teams, we need to hear what our users are saying: user research calls play a large part of our product development pipeline. Working closely with schools and universities, we always try to understand how we can improve the ways people work and learn.
How our values guide our work at Goodnotes
We don’t just think about our values in the abstract. We actively take them seriously in our day-to-day work.
When we search for new team members, we seek candidates who embody our core values. These values establish a common language and set clear expectations for them as new colleagues.
For our existing team members, we’re always encouraged to continue creating the culture we aspire towards. On Slack, for example, we have an entire channel dedicated to recognizing team members for embodying Goodnotes’ core values. Whenever we share public praise for another team member, we always state which of our values their behavior represents.
Even during self-performance reviews, we evaluate how well we reflect Goodnotes’ core values in our work — and where we can improve. Our values give us a golden standard to aim for and a key framework to think about our work
Finally, during our yearly offsite, we host an awards gala that recognizes standout team members for embodying each of our values.
We’re dedicated to fostering a thriving culture that creates the extraordinary, in line with our core values. If you want to get the full Goodnotes experience, we’re hiring 🙌 Check out our openings here.