Articles by Molly Graham
A Counterintuitive System for Startup CompensationMolly explains these golden rules for compensation in-depth: 1) No one is ever happy with compensation, and compensation has never made anyone happy. 2) People always find out what everyone else is making. 3) Create a system that revisits compensation only 1-2x a year. 4) On the spectrum between formulaic and discretionary compensation, be as formulaic as you can.
I hate OKRs... and other thoughts about goal settingMolly believes in having a goal-setting process but dislikes OKRs, arguing they are often too heavyweight for startups. Instead of copying processes used by large companies, startups should figure out what goal-setting approach works best for them at their stage. Effective goals should clearly define what the company needs to accomplish, have a timeframe and metrics. Non-goals, or things the company will not do, are also important. Goals are only useful if they are regularly checked in on and adjusted as the company learns and grows. Molly concludes that startups should experiment with goal-setting to find what works best for them, not default to OKRs.
- 80% of Your Culture is Your Founder
This article provides a case study on how Facebook defined their culture, from Facebook's Manager of Culture. She details how Mark Zuckerburg's personality and founding story deeply impacted the company.