People.
The PerkUp company handbook. Who we are and how we work — company overview, culture, how we work, email tone of voice, and how we use Slack — alongside how we hire and level, the policies everyone operates under, and the rituals (1:1s, time off, onboarding) that keep the company running.
In this section
Company Overview
What PerkUp is, who it's for, the use cases it covers, and why customers choose it.
Our Culture
The mission, the four values, and the eight operating principles.
How We Work
AI-first by default, the canonical systems of record, and our cycle-based cadence.
Email Tone of Voice
How outbound email should sound — warm, direct, founder-to-founder.
How We Use Slack
Work in public channels, the channel map, and the communication policy.
Hiring Process
The 12-stage funnel, three phases, four operating principles.
Function Levels
Level rubrics across Engineering, Product, Design, CSM, and exec roles.
People Policies
Code of ethics, Slack communication, and our compliance statements.
1:1 Meetings
The cadence, the agenda, and why the 1:1 is the most important meeting.
Holidays & Time Off
Global holiday policy, OOO process, and the restricted peak periods.
Onboarding
The new-hire playbook and where per-person onboarding plans live.
Benefits
Compensation and benefits — under review against the current HR system.
Mission & values
Send incredible swag, rewards, and gifts globally.
PerkUp will become the go-to marketplace for sourcing and sending swag, monetary rewards, or physical gifts on a global scale. Four values frame how the team gets there.
Move fast
The sooner we ship, the sooner we learn. Quick decisions and faster value are our biggest advantage as a small startup.
Focus on impact
The goal isn't completing the work — it's the outcome the work produces. We set goals around meetings booked, not emails sent.
Take risks
We have ambitious goals and won't hit them without calculated risks. We don't have all the answers.
Figure it out
We empower each individual to do their best work — lean on the internet, experts, and courses before leaning on the team.
Full detail on what PerkUp is and our culture, and how the values show up day to day in how we work.
Operating principles
- Build for the customer. Listen to what customers are trying to achieve, not what they're trying to do. Don't build for the sake of building.
- Opinionated software. HR software should be opinionated — it's the only way the product does the heavy lifting. Flexible software creates chaos as teams scale.
- Create momentum — don't sprint. Find a cadence. In cycles we decide priorities and assign responsibilities, aiming for healthy momentum over a rush to the finish.
- Meaningful direction. Remind teams of the purpose and long-term goals behind the daily tasks. Roadmaps, projects, and milestones keep weekly plans grounded.
- Aim for clarity. Don't invent terms — they confuse and mean different things to different teams. Projects should be called projects.
- Say no to busy work. Tools shouldn't make us their maintainers. Throw away or automate busy work so we focus on what matters.
- Simple first, then powerful. Teams of different sizes have different needs. Tools should be simple to start and grow more powerful over time.
- Decide and move on. There isn't always a best answer. The important thing is to make a decision and move on.
Source: internal.perkup.com/hiring/ · Notion — Mission and Values (37812353b63781b0b353c0c2c1e061f7), Principles (37812353b63781eea04dfa3d4f4430e7). Wiki Build Plan, Information Architecture & Source Inventory tabs.