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People ask me all the time: What do you focus on most as CEO?
The answer is very clear: talent. It's my #1, #2, and #3 priority, as it should be.
We’re building something incredibly ambitious and special at Scribe. As we grow, I think a lot about how to scale without losing who we are. We’ll succeed only if we have bar-raising people who believe in our mission and will push the limits of what’s possible. Every product, every customer conversation, every moment of delight we deliver all start (and end) with the people we hire.
We win or lose based on our team. We have a saying for this at Scribe: “One Team, One Dream.” We win, together. We compete as a team, not against each other.
When you bring this mentality to building every day, it changes what you focus on.
Our values
Back when we were around 40 people and about to double our headcount in the next year, I said to the company, “The people we hire will shape what Scribe becomes. So let’s be intentional about who we are, where we’re going, and who will help us get there.”
I got a lot of personal DMs after that all-hands with one clear message: This is the best job I’ve ever had. Please don’t mess this up by hiring too fast or hiring the wrong people. We’ve seen that movie before, we don’t want to see it here. That stuck with me. We had built something really special, and we had to figure out how to scale it while adding to the special-ness.
So we did a whole bottom-up and top-down exercise across the company to answer a few big questions:
- Keep: What’s our “special sauce” we want to protect? What makes us unique? Why do we love working here?
- Change: Where do we need to evolve as we grow? Another familiar and well-known Scribe acronym is WGUHWGUT (“What Got Us Here Won’t Get Us There”). We say it a lot, because when you are growing fast, you need to recognize what still serves you and where you need to adapt.
- New: Who do we aspire to become? How would that company behave differently?
Out of that came the six values we still live by today.
Then we built our values directly into our recruiting process, because we’re not just hiring for skills, we’re hiring for alignment, ownership, and drive. We’ve also intentionally designed our interview process to feel like real conversations. They’re relaxed in tone, but rich in substance. We aim to exchange a lot of meaningful information in a short amount of time.
It’s important to us that candidates walk away with a clear sense of who we are and how we work, and that we gain the same depth of insight into them. Scribe is not for everyone, nor should it be. We want to find the right two-way fit. We want to be efficient and human in how we do it.
Our recruiting process
Hiring is truly a team sport here at Scribe. Across the board, everyone, including execs, leans in to help candidates get a real feel for the team and the work we do. We see hiring as a shared responsibility, and it shows.
My cofounder Aaron and I still meet everyone we hire. There’s nothing more important to us than getting the people and culture right. Everything follows this.
We also make recruiting a genuinely human experience. I’ve received emails from candidates after interviews saying they walked away inspired, even if the timing wasn’t right. Some have even circled back months later to re-engage in the process. That always means a lot. It tells me we’re showing up the way we want to: with respect, care, and transparency.
I host New Hire town halls after people join, and I always ask: “What’s surprised you about Scribe?” So far, the answer has been the same across the board: “Nothing.” Everyone says the interview process gave them such a real, clear view of who we are that joining just felt like a continuation. While it may lack drama or intrigue (I’m always waiting for some big revelation!), it’s a sign we’re doing the hiring process right.
Continuing to raise the bar
Yes, our company is growing faster than our ability to hire. But that doesn’t mean we lower the bar. If anything, on the margin, I’d rather slow down a bit on growth if it means getting the right people in the door. Compromising on talent, or on our ability to onboard and support people well, is a one-way door. It’s hard to come back from that.
We are here to build a world-class talent destination. I want our alumni (one day, far in the future!) to write “ex-Scribe” on their LinkedIn bios, because they know that really means something. I want Scribe to be known as “the place where exceptional people come to do the best work of their careers.” In fact, that’s our exact People Mission. It’s not ping pong tables or perks. It’s building a company where top talent feels seen, stretched, and proud of the work they’re doing.
We win because we have exceptional people, who are exceptionally motivated against an exceptionally ambitious mission. So yeah, talent is my priority #1, #2, and #3. Because it’s the lever that makes everything else possible.
Jennifer
CEO, Scribe
