Perks are Dead

Challenging Work vs. Summer Camp

At some companies, perks often overshadow their products: Ping Pong tables, weekly beer or wine tastings, and the latest in dry cleaning and parking subsidies. It seems like too many companies believe these extras bring in and retain talent, and in the process, they miss the point: people want to love what they do, not go to summer camp.

Don’t get me wrong — I am a believer in activities that foster team bonding– in fact, we’ll occasionally host taco night or have a team scavenger hunt. I like having fun at work, and if we’re doing awesome work, it should be fun. But the real perk is the work itself.

When you sign up to work at a startup, you have to know going into it that it will be a pretty big shift from your normal style of working. There are long days, there are sometimes long nights, and there are lots of challenges and last-minute opportunities that get thrown at you at inopportune times. You might leave at 6pm to go home to your family or your pets for dinner, but then you’re back online that night keeping up with your team. You may not read the news or get to take care of errands for a week. That’s just how it goes.

But what makes all that worth it is exactly that — it’s a constant challenge. It’s a continual drive to figure things out, get shit done, and be a better contributor to the team to accomplish even more together.

The perks of working at a startup are the opportunities to meet and collaborate with brilliant and visionary people, people who inspire with their enthusiasm, humor and desire to succeed. Being surrounded by an awesome team makes you level up and become even more valuable to your team.

The perks are building products and services that deliver for customers and celebrating a successful launch or milestone with your team after a long few weeks or months, or even years.

The perks are learning new things each day and feeling proud of your productivity, your partnerships and your passion for the business.

I believe the best teams to be a part of aren’t interested in foosball tables, lattes or catered lunches. The best teams are the ones who can say after a challenging situation, “That was hard. That sucked. But I’m glad I had that experience with these people and I’m stoked to get after what’s next.”

p.s. To clarify — NOT PERKS : health care, PTO (we have an open PTO policy), 401k and competitive compensation. PERKS: office chefs, hover boards, nap rooms, laundry services, etc.

— Scott Case, Upside President & Chief Operating Officer