If you read one thing this weekend, make it Nithin Kamath's new blog on how Zerodha has stayed "a nice place to work" for 16 years. He wrote it for the company's internal employee forum, then published it for everyone because, as he put it, the world should also know how the company is run.
Zerodha's CTO once asked Nithin, "Do you realise that you are constantly bouncing new ideas and derailing the team?" That was Nithin's last day of interfering with the tech team.
Founders rarely admit they were the problem - micromanaging, sitting in a bubble surrounded by people who only say pleasant things. Nithin admits it and then describes exactly how he changed. That's why you have to love him.
He says it takes at least 1.5 to 2 years for someone to start contributing meaningfully to a business. And at most firms, two years is exactly when people leave. Which means most companies pay the full ramp-up cost of every hire and never collect the return.
Zerodha built everything around people staying longer. Nobody carries revenue targets. Mistakes get discussed openly instead of being punished. Nithin stopped sending 3 AM emails when he realised the team would only slow down if he changed first. The result is a ~1,000-odd-person team where the people who stayed have compounded their contribution. Staying small isn't a constraint for them, it's the strategy.
That doesn't just happen. Or as he puts it: "A nice place to work is not a perk we offer. It is kind of a business model in itself."
Note: The bold emphasis in the pages is mine.