When working at Blendle, there are a few things you should know. Not to scare you. It is just something to be aware of.
Blendle is a startup. Your salary (and all benefits) is paid from money from investors. You (and the people you work with) are part of the solution to the problem we are trying to solve. Time lost or wasted is bad, because it doesn’t bring us closer to the goal: supporting quality journalism. We need money to do so. Finding the right product-market fit (building a freaking beautiful product which the whole world wants to use) and becoming profitable is crucial to reaching the end goal.
We tend to say to people (imagine a smile on our face): ‘Hey, but no pressure!’, and then we both start to laugh (or else it is awkward). Well let me say this once, loud and clear: we realise that there is pressure. It can be pretty intense. This is not a regular corporate day job, and that has its up- and downsides. Example upside: we don’t care where and when you work, which means flexibility. Example downside: you have to be able to regulate yourself, which can be hard.
There are a lot of product/business choices made because of this survival mode. Some you might like (a lot of freedom and responsibility in your work), some you might dislike (pressure on shipping, for example). Bottom line: survival mode results in a fast-paced, high-pressure, sometimes hectic/chaotic environment.
We trust you to keep this in mind along this rollercoaster ride called Blendle. We trust you to remind your colleagues about this when you feel like they forgot. We trust you to ask questions, always and to anyone. We trust you to spend the money and time you have here as if this were your own startup and you are the entrepreneur.
Now you are aware of the fact that Blendle is in survival mode, you should be aware of how this can impact you. Survival mode will get you on your toes, but you can’t be on your toes 100% of the time. Stress and pressure is good when it pushes you to come up with something no one ever thought of. We need that to succeed. But too much or too long stress and pressure is counterproductive.
Combine this with an ambitious, driven, perfectionist character and you have a dangerous cocktail. We are all very eager to grow. We'll talk more about this on the page 'What is stress'.
Oh and sometimes ‘life happens’. Life events happen and it affects your state of mind. Don’t underestimate the effect of stuff happening in your life. Add this to the equation and you might understand why we want to address this.
For now we’ll use the term stress. Not sure if that covers everything.
In the following pages we’ll talk about what stress is, how you can recognize when there is too much stress, what you can do and what Blendle can do.