Ask HN: What are your company values?
Trying to figure out what are the best ways to set values for your startup. Also interested in going through values of other companies from HN community.
Greed is a human evil. It leads to nothing good. This is often the downfall for anyone and any company. Screw everyone over and get ahead... or so that is how it seems it could work, but it doesn't work. Short-term for sure, but it is very unsustainable.
Letting your customers know they are human and letting them know you are human is a good start.
Being fair with your customers and charging them a reasonable price for your time and efforts for a useful product that you created will leave everyone better off. I have to charge a certain amount to make a living, pay whoever I have to pay to keep things running, and of course, I would expect any other company to do the same.
To think: "I need all of your money" is just not sustainable for anyone. When I think about my pricing, I think about people paying rent, paying mortgages, paying credit card bills, paying the food bill, paying for student loans, paying to support their families, paying their car payments, paying whatever it is they have to pay. I, myself, have a mortgage, and other bills I have to pay on a monthly basis, and I think: "How much would I pay for this product?" And I try to come up with a reasonable number that helps everyone. And yeah.. people love free.. I wish I had all the money the world already so I didn't have to charge for my products, but unfortunately, I have to pay for things too.
To think reasonably such as, "I built this product, I need to be paid for building it and to sustain and maintain it. I've built those costs into the application. This is my asking price for you to continue using my product and for me to keep working on making it better." I think this is a reasonable way to think when it comes to values and pricing.
In a way, as fearful as it may seem that Google has so much data on the entire world, I really do appreciate their philosophy and hope it is something they live by. I even wrote about it and I do try to incorporate some of its ideals into my own values. http://www.confessionsoftheprofessions.com/adopt-google-phil...
My primary rule comes from #6: You can make money without doing evil. (You don't have to .... people over to make money.)
Or their overall philosophy: Don't be evil, which they technically dropped for "Do the right thing." I still like "Don't Be Evil" ... and if we took the two terms and compared them, we are in for quite a philosophical debate... maybe for another post.
I was put on this Earth to help the human race, hopefully advance for the better. I create little web apps to make life easier. I'm here for a short time.. hopefully a good 90 years and I get to see the fruits of my labor and efforts. But if I don't.. I would love to have been known for changing the world for the better in some way.. or at least trying.