How Motion Operates

Ethan Yu

2024-11-04

Why do we need to be exceptional?

Life’s too short, let’s make every moment count and live intensely. It’s inspiring to work with the best people on the most interesting challenges
We’re trying to create something out of nothing. We need to squeeze decades of innovation into a few years, because we don’t have the luxury of waiting decades for results
90% of startups fail. We want to win. Also, we want to win as soon as possible, before life is over and none of this matters
Ambitious people have a chip on their shoulder to prove they’re the best at what they do. They hate mediocrity and won’t work here if we’re mediocre
Motion is an extreme company. If you want to put in an average effort to achieve an average outcome, Motion is not for you

You will receive a lot of feedback on your work. Understand that it’s never about you, it’s purely about the work. If anyone else did the same thing I will say it to them too
Anytime I see something subpar that an exceptional person could have done better, I’m going to point it out. It could be as soon as your first day. You may not have all the context that I do, but that’s precisely why I have to tell you when I see it
Please learn to put your feelings aside and focus on the content of the feedback. I’m never going to deprive you of an opportunity to improve because I want to spare your feelings
You should always know where you stand. Ask your manager any time you’re not sure
For most people, this role will give you more responsibilities and hold you to higher standards than you’ve ever had. You’ll grow faster here than you’ve ever grown before. That doesn’t come for free — growth is a painful process. Embrace it and don’t take it personally

Do what you say you will do. The moment you change your mind or realize you can’t deliver something you committed to, let the other person know. Don’t wait for them ask you “what happened to X?”
Employees should make as many decisions as possible themselves, because we hire them for their intelligence and judgement. I don’t want to micromanage every decision and be the bottleneck in this company
Occasionally you’ll make a decision that is wrong. I’ll tell you and we’ll learn from it and move on, it’s ok to make mistakes. That’s the cost of high agency. If it’s really egregious I’ll ask you why you didn’t run it by someone else first. So this isn’t a free pass to yolo every decision. If you’re not sure, run it by your manager until you understand how they think
Be your own harshest critic. If I know you are taking your mistakes seriously, I’ll trust you more and not feel the need to micromanage you