welcome aboard!

WELCOMEABOARD!

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ContentsHOW TO USE THIS BOOK

WELCOME TO MYSIDEWALK

SETTLING IN

I. HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

We get it. On day one – even day 100

– you’ll have questions. That’s why we

created this handbook. Working at

mySidewalk is a rare breed of culture.

We expect a lot from you and you should

expect a lot from us. Yet before we

begin that endeavor, we figured it would

probably help to give you the one-up.

So consider this your one-up. And then get ready to dig in.

Day

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You’re going to be challenged. It’s bound

to happen. We hold our hiring practices to

the highest standards and as such, we hold

you to high expectations as well.

Let’s think through this for a second.

We need not only world-class talent, but

also individuals who are trustworthy, gritty

and, bar none, embody our values. That’s

not an easy ask. Through various tests,

interviews and questions, you’ve passed

every step of the way. We’d like to take a

moment to recognize that feat.

II. WELCOME TO mySidewalk

Our Mission

mySidewalk builds better communities by involving people in things they care about.

Our Values Our Values

For many companies, values are what’s

written on a wall but not really lived out

within a culture. We’re proud to say that’s

not the case for us: we only recently got

our values up on the wall.

Values at mySidewalk are not just a

feel-good statement but rather the

expectations to which we hold each other.

We think about these five values

as part of our core business:

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Collaborative (intentional, purposeful collaboration) My best work is never as good as our

best work. We challenge and question

the work of others for the betterment of

the company. Yet we do it with a level of

respect that ensures our intelligence is

only as strong as our humility. We hold

others to the same high standards to

which we hold ourselves.

Community Focused (we give back because we are blessed) Everyone can relate to a community.

Maybe it was a team, a city or a class for

you, but somewhere along the way, we all

were inspired by a deeper purpose and

sense of belonging. That deeper purpose

continues to drive us.

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If not us, then who?(we are the team, company, individual to take action first) You own our future. The individuals chosen

for this company are the ones who direct

its path. It’s our effort, our grit and our

discipline that determine just how far

we go. It’s up to you to push for that to

happen.

Hope (an optimistic, positive mindset) We are disgustingly positive. Sure, we do

things wrong. Sure, we miss the first time

around. But at the end of the day, our

belief is stronger than our willingness to

give in. We come back, day in and day out,

because we believe we’ll change the world.

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Relentless (urgency, tenacity, scrappiness, persistence) We work hard – harder than you’ve ever

worked before. We have a pace that makes

other companies envious, and we do it so

no one can ever catch us. No one will be

better. We are more than a work ethic; this

is the never-say-quit mentality that pulls

you through your worst days and propels

you to your best.

Our Structure

At mySidewalk, we consider hierarchy a

bit cumbersome, especially when we hire

the best and the brightest. If you’d like for

us to dictate your schedule and give you

strict reporting hours, by all means: find

another company.

See, we operate under the understanding

that if you’re half as great as we think you

are, you’ll need just a little guidance and

then you’ll figure it out. And that’s what

we’re hoping to do with our structure.

Find folks. Ask questions. Own your role.

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The Flywheel

Everything in our business starts with one

key question: why?

Why are we here? Why are we doing this?

Why do we believe we can change

the world?

Though the tactics may take several

iterations, fundamentally, we know the

thinking behind our flywheel is the vision

to get us there. At any point in time, a

customer or user could enter the flywheel.

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• Maybe they’re a school and want to ask a question

(organization). • Maybe they’re a parent looking

for information on parks in the area (participant).

• Maybe they’re a parent coming back to ask a

question about the park they visited. (retention)

• Maybe they’re an architecture firm running a

project for Kansas City (data).

Whatever the case, our business model

is rooted in a sense of flexibility so our

value has no start and stop point. Our

value is a connection made at every point

throughout the process: organizations,

participants, retention and data. And while

your role may help us specifically in one

area, your charge is to ensure we never

lose sight of that vision.

The mySidewalk Flywheel

ParticipantsOrganizations

RetentionData ($)

Content

Data

Per

sona

lized

$

The Life & Times of our Story

Winter 2010Planning consultants Nathan Preheim and Nick Bowden found MindMixer after traveling too far for one too many lackluster public meetings.

Summer 2010The first MindMixer site, Pass the Potatoes, launches in Nebraska.

2011MindMixer’s first office opens in Omaha, Neb.

Summer 2012MindMixer is selected for Code for America’s inaugural Civic Accelerator.

August 2012MindMixer’s Kansas City, Mo., office opens.

December 2012More than 450,000 people are collaborating on MindMixer.

January 2013Redesign makes all MindMixer sites device-responsive.

Winter 2013MindMixer acquires social media analysis company VoterTide.

Summer 2013MindMixer’s Lincoln, Neb., office opens.

August 2013Chief Engagement Officer Nick Bowden is voted Executive of the Year in the Silicon Prairie News Awards.

December 2013The MindMixer online community has grown to 600 communities.

Spring 2014Omaha and Lincoln teams move to Kansas City.

July 2014The team sets up shop in in our permanent home in the Barkley building, 1735 Baltimore.

August 2014MindMixer is voted Startup of the Year in the Silicon Prairie News Awards.

September 2014With the knowledge and experience gained from working with more than 800 communities around the world, MindMixer launches mySidewalk to give its 1.6 million participants a better way to connect with what they love about where they live.

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III. SETTLING IN

We hear all the time that 30 days at

mySidewalk feels like 60 days – in the best

way possible. Sure, you may not know

everyone’s name (you think the majority

of people are called Nick) and yes, you’ve

gained 10 pounds from our awesome

lunches, but otherwise, you’ve started

carving out an impact.

Since we don’t have much of a ramp-up

time, team members feel engaged in their

work on day one. Yet as you start to dig

in, we also think a few key culture insights

help navigate your success along the way.

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Discourse

Most companies probably wouldn’t help

you through their culture by talking about

discourse first, but we think it’s pretty

important. In its most basic sense, we

think our ability to be critical about our

work and the work of others ensures

mySidewalk’s success.

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OUR PRODUCT CHARTER SUMS THIS UP PRETTY WELL:

• We have a rare and fleeting opportunity to build

the world’s first civic network.

• No one knows as much as everyone;

good ideas can come from anywhere.

• Honest and critical conversations about

our ideas are crucial.

• Understanding the purpose of what we build allows the person closest to the problem to come up with the best solution.

• Data helps us make better decisions; we collect data,

run tests and look to data to guide our next steps.

• The best products are inspired by big visions,

but powered by iterations.

For many, these kind of honest and critical

discussions are a serious culture shift.

By no means do we encourage arguing

for the sake of arguing but we do believe

a respectful, thoughtful dialogue around

serious issues helps our greatest problems

become our greatest solutions.

If you have issues with this, that’s fine. We

welcome the debate.

But debate we will.

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Failure

We’ve been told we work in a high-

performance environment. What may

be tough to decipher at first is that we

also have a high-failure environment. We

believe in failing fast, failing often and

coming back with the best option yet.

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Consider this the greatest learning

environment of your career. You have the

opportunity to be bold, be creative and

learn from everyone around you. Though

we encourage debate, we balance it with

humility. Criticalness and failure are common

to every mySidewalk team member, so when

you experience similar feelings, we get it.

We’re right there with you.

If you want to succeed at mySidewalk, never let a fear of failure stop you.

Leadership

We probably gave you a title.

We usually do.

But in all reality, this role is yours to own.

You see, when it comes to providing clarity

to candidates, we believe in titles. A title

tells you what you’ll help us do and what

team you’re a part of to make that a reality.

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The hard part is, once you get here, we’re

not the best at providing clarity. What we

do is hard – and involves ambiguity. So,

rather than build out everything around a

title, description or role, we think in terms

of how you get your work done.

At mySidewalk, we believe in a few key items: • Hire the most talented individuals. They

can figure out what needs done in their

role much better than us.

• Build leadership in the way you act and

the work you produce.

• Leadership is an activity, not a title.

We may be a flat organization,

but we have leaders all over the place.

And in our experience, actions speak

louder than titles.

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Flexibility

You may not believe us, but we don’t have

a vacation policy. Take it when you need it.

Ok. Going to let that one sink in.

Here are typical questions we encounter

when we get to this section:

• So, could I just not work for the year?

• Wait. What if I need three weeks in

Europe? Won’t someone get mad if I take

vacation?

• THIS IS A TRICK, RIGHT?

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You see, the thing with us is, we work extremely hard (emphasis on the

extremely) (maybe double emphasis on

extremely). We ask a lot of our people and

the work they produce. We hold the bar

high, and we know you often need a break

to keep those standards. So take one.

If you’re not getting your work done

(see: take a year’s vacation), we’re going

to have concerns about your job, not

your vacation, and we’re going to have a

conversation to correct it.

For most of our team members, we have

more issues getting them to actually take

vacation than taking too much vacation.

Bottom line: get your work done;

communicate to others when you need a

break; and please, take a vacation.

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ENJOY THE RIDE!

welcome aboard!

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