Despite the huge amount of innovation in the world of developer tools, building great software and systems is still frustratingly out of reach for so many businesses. We believe this is because although it’s never been easier to deploy a database or a cloud function, getting from these low-level components to production-ready software requires months of engineering work and an almost endless list of choices that need to be made. The barrier is just too high.
We are building Keel for these businesses and we’re not shy of saying that our vision for the future is huge. We’re building something so bold that it might not make sense the first time you see it, but soon you can’t imagine the world without it. We’d love you to come help us build it.
Our founders worked together for years building Europe’s fastest growing online pharmacy and experiencing first hand the problem we are solving. Our small founding team come from a wide-range of backgrounds, including well-known tech companies, smaller start-ups, and even former founders. We're backed by some of Europe’s best seed-stage VC’s and are well funded. We're excited about creating both a wildly successful business and somewhere that people love to work.
We trust each other
All relationships are built on trust, and so this is our root value. We’re building a team of immensely talented, smart and kind people, and we trust them from day one. Everyone at Keel should feel ownership of their work and a corresponding responsibility to give their best whilst here.
A big part of our high trust environment is genuinely flexible working and non-working hours. We focus on outcomes and not output, and we trust our team to decide how and when to work best, including when to take time off. We know that some of the best thinking can happen while on a walk in the woods or when visiting the monkeys in the zoo. Take that walk. Go see the monkeys.
We work in the open
People make better decisions when they have all the context, so we believe that wherever possible work should happen out in the open for all to see. We love doing demos, we share our work and our thoughts early and often, and we welcome comments and criticism.
We use Slack to asynchronously keep others updated on what we’re doing, and we use Notion so that everyone can follow the evolution of our work.
We succeed as a team
We root for each other and love to see others succeed. Our decisions and behaviours are driven by the pursuit of our collective success. When we find ourselves in front of an obstacle, we aim to stay positive and support each other until we find a way forward.
When we find ourselves in conflict or disagreement, we don’t try to force our opinions on others, but rather listen and seek to understand their point of view. We respect the unique contribution of every team member and treat each other with tolerance and care.
We tell stories
We believe one of the best ways to communicate is to tell a story. This might be the story of why we started Keel, the story behind a new feature, or a story about our customers. These narratives give us a shared understanding of where we’ve been and where we’re going.
When we tell stories about the future we imagine a world that hasn’t happened yet and imagine our place in it. It’s through telling these stories, and attempting to bring them to life, that we will be truly innovative.
We care about the details
Whatever we’re doing, we pay attention to the little things. Those small details that give something a sense of quality and show that love and care went into making it. This isn’t about perfection though but rather about seeing a Minimal *Lovable* Product as the bar for something being ready to go out into the world - whether that’s our Alpha product or new feature releases further down the road.
We want Keel to be a great place to work, so we take the time to check in on our team mates. We invest time in getting to know each other as people, so that we can be there for each other when times are tough.
We're committed to creating a culture where everyone feels safe to be who they are and empowered to become who they want to be.
We're solving hard problems and want to do the best work of our lives together, but that does not mean spending our lives at work. This is one of the reasons that we're a remote-first team, so you can work when and where you are at your best without missing those precious daily life moments.
We know from previous experiences working remotely that face to face time is still hugely important for building personal relationships, and so every three months we spend 5 days away together in a comfortable and relaxing location to get to know each other better and celebrate our achievements. We want everyone to be able to attend these getaways and will provide whatever support is required, for example covering childcare costs.
As a small (for now) team working fully remotely we also believe it’s really important to have the right mental health support in place, and so we've partnered with Oliva who provide access to qualified therapists on an on-demand or regular basis.
Above all, we're building this together and will keep iterating so that we create a truly inclusive and diverse culture that's defined by actions rather than just words.