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Everyone pursues excellence. Everyone is masterful at their work. Everyone is very intelligent, and many are overachievers. Numerous employees have founded companies previously (not just Jack!). Everyone is committed to the success of the company. Work is highly collaborative. We felt a collective swell of pride at the Starbucks deal. Everyone believes we're changing payments for the better. The work environment is an open, noise-filled space. You can find a promo video on squareup.com. Communications are transparent across all teams. Meeting notes are available to everyone. The work itself is challenging, fast-paced, and frequently changing. Leadership clearly communicates company goals and performance. Underperformers are let go. Confidential information is treated very seriously. The hiring bar is high, and many, many candidates are interviewed and rejected. Teams joke around a lot, laugh a lot, and party together regularly. Employee retention is very high. Few people leave. Most people are upbeat and positive.

• Most employees work intensely for more than 10 hours a day.
• 50 to 70 hours a week is normal.
• Early stage employees tend to work very, very hard.
• There's a culture of workaholism and significant peer pressure to work until "it's done".
• Praise for an individual's good work is usually brief; the focus is on the team's success as a whole.
• There's hero worship of Square's founders.

Start encouraging people to rest. Your best people, especially your early employees, are repeatedly burned out. Make sure they take a proper break!