Built on Trust

What It Covers

37signals cofounders explain how they built a high-trust organization over 20 years, allowing employees unrestricted access to delete tasks, approve their own expenses, and work remotely without micromanagement or permission-based workflows.

Key Questions Answered

• •Expense autonomy: Employees receive company credit cards with one policy—spend wisely on job necessities—without approval processes or spending limits below several thousand dollars, reviewed only after the fact if concerns arise.
• •Data access protocols: While most operations run on trust, customer email access in HEY requires multi-layer encryption, documented reasons for unlocking data, and secondary team review to protect sensitive information despite trusting employees.
• •Remote work oversight: Managers gauge work quality and pace through weekly planning questions, daily work summaries, and six-week heartbeat reports rather than monitoring time spent at desks or using surveillance tools.
• •Cloud cost reallocation: Exiting cloud services saved two million dollars annually, which flows through profit-sharing to employees, creating financial incentive to spend cautiously on unnecessary expenses while investing in quality tools.