At Rutter, we’ve been growing at a rapid rate from raising our Series A to launching our Universal Accounting API and doubling down on building the best product for our customers.
As a remote first company launched during the pandemic, our team members span across the US from San Francisco to New York and everywhere in between. We grew from 8 people to over 35 in the last 6 months and it was important for us to bring everyone together in one place and form the bonds that will allow us to build a generational company.
We brought together all the Rutteristas to a resort in Utah where we got to spend 3 days taking a step back from our day to day in order to focus on what’s ahead and our company’s overall strategy.
The objectives of our offsite were focused on building empathy cross-functionally, aligning on company strategy and fostering personal connections with our teammates.
Developing Personal Empathy
We started the offsite with our all-hands and company strategy session, followed by a getting to know our teammates through the Myers-Briggs Personality Test and a “Hometown” exercise where we went around sharing our life story. This was a great way to understand what motivates our teammates, why they are who they are and what led them to taking a bet on joining a Series A startup.
Building Culture
This was followed by a session outlining our culture and going around sharing experiences and stories that embody the Rutter Culture of “Give More Than You Take”, “Grow Humbly” and “Do More With Less”. We had just recently finalized our company values and this was a great exercise for everyone to internalize these values and also hear stories of how these values have been embodied by our various teammates.
It was great hearing the various anecdotes that were a great reminder of why we do what we do and why culture is so important in shaping a fast growing startup.
Aligning Cross-functionally
We then went over departmental updates and strategy for the second half of the year. It was clear that the second half of this year is going to be an exciting one for each team at Rutter and taking time to really dig deep into each department helps our team align toward the same goals. With so many new Rutteristas joining the last few months, this was a great way for everyone to get up to speed with every aspect of the business.
We ended a jam packed Day 1 with some time to unwind with our teammates.
Day 2 was more open ended with a lot of 1:1 catchups happening and cross functional brainstorming. This was accompanied by activities that included hiking, yoga, meditation, stargazing and finally, making some good ol S’mores by the fire pit.
At Rutter, we care about building a world class team. This entails not just hiring the best people but also bringing people together to help each other raise the bar and bring out the best in every Rutterista. If you’re interested in joining a world class team, we’re hiring across functions, checkout our careers page.
