Strangeloop Networks Inc.
Number of employees: 47 Head office: Vancouver
Mornings at the West Georgia Street offices of Strangeloop Networks, the best small company to work for in B.C., come complete with eggs, bacon, croissants, bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, yogurt and coffee, courtesy of the employer. And if it’s a Friday, the feast goes on into the afternoon, when Strangeloop serves drinks and snacks to kick off the weekend. “It’s a small cost, and it shows we’re caring for the most valuable piece of our puzzle,” explains CEO Jonathan Bixby, seated in a large boardroom. He gestures toward a large box leaning against a nearby wall. “That’s our ping-pong table,” he says. “We’re going to set it up in here and get rid of the tables.” A mere 30 years old, Bixby exudes plenty of youthful energy. He founded the web-services company just two years ago after selling his previous startup, IronPoint Technologies, to Active Networks. Strangeloop now counts 47 employees, whom Bixby refers to as an ecosystem.
“The way I would describe it is, the employees are our business,” he says. “When we think of our culture, we have to start with the premise and understanding that if we don’t have happy people, if we don’t have productive people, we don’t have a happy and productive business.” Hence a generous benefits plan, with 100 per cent of the premium covered by the employer, stock options for everyone, free snacks throughout the day, three weeks holiday to start, flex time and the option to work from home. “About a third of our staff do not work in the office,” says Bixby cheerfully. “What we say is, We want you to be in your sweet spot. We’re not going mandate that you come into the office. If you can get your job done at home, we trust you to do that.” Even those employees who choose to come into the office are given free reign over their time. “The mantra that we have, from a management perspective, is it’s all about outputs, not inputs,” insists Bixby. “We don’t care if someone’s at their desk and putting their time in and surfing the web. If that’s what you want to do, if you want to go out for coffee or a two-hour lunch, you do that. We’re all adults and we should be treated as adults.” They may be adults, but they still find plenty of time to indulge their inner children. Along with the ping-pong table in the boardroom, says Bixby, “we’ve got our Wii and our PlayStation in a room over there. People do Rock Band all the time. We like to play.”
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Somehow I think the
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2010-05-26 10:41.Great people The Bixby's are
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2009-09-10 15:49.The Bixby's are great
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2009-03-20 02:08.