Below is the aspirational philosophy that I aim to build the Layer3 team with.

These are the 5 most critical nontechnical viewpoints that I believe contribute to a startup’s success. These principles shape how we operate, think, and grow, and I expect every team member to bring them to work daily.

Resourcefulness >> everything.
Being able to do more with less is a core value. Before you start any task, ask yourself: What is the best way to get this done? In 2024 ChatGPT is the best place to start––it puts all of the world’s information in your pocket. Being resourceful means finding innovative solutions, often by learning: from others’ success or learning new tools. There’s wisdom in learning from those who’ve done it before: If you’re making the world’s largest pizza, call the person who made the current one first.

Figure It Out.
In a startup, ambiguity is the norm, not the exception. The ability to tackle an ambiguous goal independently is critical. When faced with unclear tasks, your goal is to bring clarity to the rest of the team––first think about how it aligns with company goals, how to maximize the impact, and the most effective way to execute. The more independently you can handle challenges, the less you rely on others, which allows the whole team to move better. An idea that needs constant hand-holding or instruction is not a good idea—it’s a burden. Our team thrives on initiative and the ability to figure things out. This extends to tools. If you need a design but don’t know Figma, learn Figma. If you need sound effects, find a tool that produces sound effects, learn it, and make it happen. Be a one man army.

Work Backwards From the Story.
Start with the story that others will tell. The narrative is how people will perceive, announce, and spread your idea or product to the world. As Don Valentine said, “Money flows to the best story.” It’s not enough to simply build something good; you need to start with a compelling story that captures attention. Think about how your audience will perceive it, and work backwards to structure the steps and execution. The narrative shapes how the world reacts, so it must be intentional and clear from the beginning.

Scale Like a Tree, Not a To-Do List.
Growth should be scalable and self-sustaining. Just like a forest grows with minimal human intervention, our processes and ideas should be designed to scale without burdensome input. You can manually try and force something to succeed, or build a system such that if it works, it’s able to scale faster than you would be able to. Don’t mistake busyness for progress—if you try to manually push every task forward each day, you’ll limit growth. Focus instead on systems that can thrive with minimal maintenance over time, creating exponential value rather than incremental gains.

Outperform.
We move faster and better than what others believe is possible. Every team member should have at least a couple examples of having done something faster or better than your teammates thought possible. If you can’t identify those moments within yourself or others, you or they are not pushing hard enough.