LUMINARY LABS WWW.LUMINARY-LABS.COM @LUMINARYLABS
WED, FEB 10 AT 7:00 PM, NEW YORK, NY
Women in Tech:
How to Build A Human Company
Sara Holoubek, CEO of Luminary Labs
By: The New York Code + Design Academy

Hello!
I am @sarita, CEO of @luminarylabs.
I like big, messy industries.
And startups.

Point of View
I have worked at 3 venture-backed companies.
• One had an IPO. (2000)
• One flopped. (2002)
• One was acquired for $325 million. (2010)
I have also worked at a small revenue-funded company.
My company is 6 years old, profitable, and has no
investors.
I angel invest in early stage companies.

To What End,
An Entrepreneur?

You want to change the world.
And so you start a company.

What is the
purpose of the
corporation?

Shareholder value?

“There is one and only one
social responsibility of
business – to use its
resources and engage in
activities designed to
increase profits…” Doing
anything else is
“unadulterated socialism.”
- Friedman

Quaker Oats president Kenneth Mason,
writing in Business Week, declared
Friedman's profits-are-everything
philosophy, “A dreary and demeaning
view of the role of business and
business leaders in our society."
Wrote Mason: "Making a profit is no more
the purpose of a corporation than getting
enough to eat is the purpose of life.
Getting enough to eat is a requirement of
life; life's purpose, one would hope, is
somewhat broader and more challenging.
Likewise with business and profit."

A company's primary responsibility is to
serve its customers. Profit is not the
primary goal, but rather an essential
condition for the company's continued
existence and sustainability.
“A company's primary responsibility is to serve its
customers. Profit is not the primary goal, but rather an
essential condition for the company's continued
existence and sustainability.”
- Drucker

So who won?

Until this happened.

The 21st Century
Business Imperative

Following the Industrial Revolution, we
collectively decided that slavery, child labor,
and inequity were not acceptable.
What will no longer be acceptable following
the Digital Revolution?

“We've sort of
destroyed business
after business in this
country by looking at
spreadsheets with
numbers we call truth.”
Mark Bertolini, CEO,
Aetna

Major global companies
could save $19 billion a
year in recruiting and
training costs by adopting
16 weeks of fully paid
maternity leave.

“If you feel, respectfully,
that you can get a higher
return than the 38 percent
you got last year, it’s a free
country. You can sell your
shares of Starbucks and
buy shares in another
company. Thank you very
much.”
Howard Schultz
CEO, Starbucks

“You can't go to work and
think that business should
just be about financial
profits, because you'd be
serving only a very one-
sided view of what it means
to be a human on the planet.
And we live on the planet.”
-Rose Mercurio
CEO, Patagonia

"He's out there singing,
'Who's going to save the
world?' and those
messages are right, you
need to pay attention to the
environment and
education," he says.
"I'm just adding, integrate
your economic engine."
(Photo: Jakub Mosur, Jakub Mosur Photography)

But What About
Startups?
Small Businesses?

We’re Also Pretty Good at Making Excuses
It’s badass to work 16-hour days.
There are no qualified, diverse candidates for the job.
The people value kegs over a 401k.
We can’t afford to cover healthcare.
Our company is in a unique stage.
That’s nice for a “lifestyle” company.
Power through it, because we’ll all be so rich we’ll never
have to think about money again.

The Startup Play-by-Play
1. You start a company.
2. You raise capital.
3. Your company proceeds to:
a) Flop early. 80% of companies fail in first year.
b) Flop late. Shuts down or is acquired for less than capital raised.
c) Do “ok.” Reaches profitability or sells for an acceptable sum.
d) Become a wild success. Is acquired for favorable terms or
becomes sustainable (reaches profitability, could be privately or
publicly traded.)

Who Really Wins? Who loses?
Flops
Early
Flops
Late
Does
“ok”
Wild
Success
Investor • Still flies private
• Kids go to college of choice
• Has health insurance
• Life is good
Founder • Gets
experience
• Writes a
Medium post
on failure
• Takes money off the table
• Keeps the Porsche
• Makes keynote speeches
• Raises capital for next venture
• Never has to
think about
money again
Staff • Loses job
• Still doesn’t
have decent
health care
• Gains experience
• May lose job
• May actually lose money
• Receives a
small to
medium
check

Your product alone
is not going to change the world.
Your long-term, sustainable company will
change the world, if you design it well.

Fooseball?

Or Family Leave?

It’s just a decision.
But a decision that will dictate who wants to
work for you, your company, and your
industry — in the long run.

The Human Company
Playbook

Problem:
There was no playbook
for small and growth
businesses

How The Playbook Came to Be
In 2015, we convened
a broad cross-section
of founders, thinkers,
and doers to curate
examples of new and
creative business
imperatives, and
together, started writing
a guide for the more
human company.

Compensation Health
Allowing for Life Trajectory
Four Themes Emerged

Excerpts from
The Human Company
Playbook
The complete Human Company Playbook can be found here:
http://bit.ly/HumanCompanyPlaybook

Plated: Equity for All
THE COMPANY: 400 of employees; founded in 2012
THE POLICY:
Plated offers full-time, non-exempt,
hourly employees working in their
fulfillment centers the opportunity to
participate in an Equity Options
program, at no cost to them, subject to
a minimum eligibility period.
HOW THEY DO IT:
Plated administers this plan
themselves, manually rather than
outsourcing services. They believe it's
important to provide a tailored
approach to educating all employees
on how the Equity Option Plan is
structured, managed, and its potential
value.
“Every employee is an
integral part of the Plated
Team… we believe our non-
exempt, hourly fulfillment
center Team Members are
our most important
resource, as they are the
closest to our
customer…they are the
back-bone of our company.”
“

Pinterest: Options for your Options
THE COMPANY: 700 employees, founded in 2010
THE POLICY:
People who have worked at Pinterest for
at least 2 years and decide to leave for
any reason are given 7 years to exercise
their options instead of the usual 90
days.
HOW THEY DO IT:
Pinterest started by gaining alignment on
their philosophy around retention and
equity. They offer some questions other
companies should ask themselves: Do
you believe that equity is part of annual
compensation and that your team should
have access to it early? Or do you
believe that it's intended to be a reward
only if and when the company goes
public or gets acquired? This philosophy
will drive the decision.
“We’ve just made it much
easier for team members to
leave in one of the most
competitive recruiting
environments of all time. But
that’s a trade-off we got
comfortable with.

General Assembly: We Have You Covered
THE COMPANY: 400 employees, founded in 2011
THE POLICY:
General Assembly covers 90% of health
insurance premium costs for every one
of its U.S. employees.
HOW THEY DO IT:
GA was an early adopter of Sherpaa, the
medical concierge service that acts as
an insurance broker and provides
employees with a dashboard through
which they access physicians, insurance
information, and more.
This has given the company access to
better rates (and reduced employee
contributions), and also means GA
employees have in-a-moment access to
medical advice and resources.
“Ping pong tables and beer
kegs can be fun, but we’ve
found candidates and
employees most appreciate
practical considerations like
affordable monthly health
benefits costs, eliminating
their monthly phone bill, and
the ability to take our classes
for free.”
“

The Muse: Taking the Pulse
THE COMPANY: 51 employees, founded in 2011
THE POLICY:
The Muse covers 100% of medical
insurance and 80% of dental insurance
for our employees.
HOW THEY DO IT:
The Muse regularly surveys its
employees to understand what benefits,
social activities, and ideas matter most
to our team. It's important to them that
the team have a voice in decisions that
impact them, and every time they’re
asked, they give great feedback that
allows the Muse to keep improving.
“It's important for us as a
company that our team is
healthy and has good
coverage; we certainly don't
want them opting out of
insurance because it's
expensive

Change.org: Leave When You Need It
THE COMPANY: 300 employees, founded in 2007
THE POLICY:
Change.org provides 18 weeks of fully
paid parental leave for every new parent
globally — regardless of gender, or
whether the child is biological or
adopted. Leave can be taken non-
consecutively, within one year of the
child’s arrival.
HOW THEY DO IT:
Change.org conducted a robust cost-
benefit analysis. They believe building
the right culture of support, and
attracting and retaining top talent, far
exceeds the policy’s cost.
“Generous, paid parental
leave eliminates the financial
hardship of unpaid leave and
ensures that all families are
able to spend important time
with new children. The result
is that employees are less
stressed, more engaged,
and more productive when
they come back to work.

Chartbeat: It Takes a Village
THE COMPANY: 98 employees, founded in 2009
THE POLICY:
Chartbeat provides primary caregivers
with 12 weeks of paid maternal or
paternal leave, plus 4 weeks of
transitional flex time at 100% salary.
Secondary caregivers are eligible for 6
weeks paid leave at 100% salary.
HOW THEY DO IT:
Chartbeat suggests other small
companies survey teams to ask them to
prioritize benefits and perks. Employee
opinions matter and it's up to leadership
teams to craft a policy, like maternal and
paternal leave, that makes sense for
their company culture.
“Chartbeat genuinely
believes in creating an
inclusive workplace, and that
means building a company
with policies that cater to
everyone from our interns to
seasoned employees.

360i: Doubling Down on Reviews
THE COMPANY: 800 employees, founded in 2004
THE POLICY:
Rather than annual performance
reviews, 360i employees conduct two
self-reviews a year focused on what they
want to be working on, where they want
to go in the coming years, and how
current assignments contribute to these
goals. The company also ensures cross-
functional knowledge sharing at a
capabilities day where teams teach one
another.
WHY THEY DO IT:
Instead of top-down management, 306i
uses a “team of teams” approach.
Aligning on goals on the individual and
team levels provides the accountability
and business context for 360i to thrive.
“Our guiding principle is
simple. we believe that
alignment is the most
important thing:
What do employees want?
What does company need?
What do our clients need

Social Code: Learn the Code
THE COMPANY: 196 employees, founded 2010
THE POLICY:
Every 8 weeks, SocialCode requires all
new employees to attend a 3-day
training that delves into the ins and outs
of the company and industry. Each
cohort graduates from the program with
an understanding of how they fit into the
big picture. The session culminates in a
“forget the code” happy hour with the
local office so new employees get to
know their hosting office as well. ​
WHY THEY DO IT:
The program is led by SocialCode’s
training team. Their advice: don’t aim to
make your grassroots training program
perfect, get it started and iterate.
Employees are hungry and engaged, so
feed them with your mission, vision and
know-how. ​
“This program gives
employees the landscape to
understand the impact they
can and will have at the
larger company and team
level. Its larger reason for
being is that we are a
learning culture and this
program is all about offering
an open book to
understanding SocialCode.

Bonus Points