As we’ve continued to grow our team, one observation I’ve made about our culture is that we’re much more like a tech company than an agency. Here's why:

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We're focusing on growing fast.‍

Most agencies take much longer to get to where we are as a business. Within 5 years, we'll have reached a run rate that many agencies require over a decade to achieve.

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The agency industry usually uses a form of talent arbitrage by hiring junior people within their field and charging a premium for their work. This may result in short-term surplus revenues, but it doesn’t create a foundation for long-term growth.

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For us, charting a different course has been an extremely intentional act largely defined by two key cultural differentiators: building long-term relationships and hiring outliers.

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We're building long-term relationships.

Culturally, we're designing the company so that the people who work with us – whether teammates or client partners – want to stay for a long time.

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Our clients come to us because they know Pearmill hires some of the most talented people in the industry. This is one of the reasons we do profit sharing. Once we find the right folks to add to our team, we want to make sure they understand their value and enjoy working here.

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This is also why we’re extremely selective about the brands with whom we choose to work – and why we’re open to firing them if they’re not a good long-term fit.

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We're hiring outliers.

What most people don't know about the best companies in Silicon Valley is that their founders only did a small amount of the work when it came to innovating. If you dig deeper into the success of tech giants like Facebook, Google, Stripe, and Airbnb, the real stories you’ll uncover are the ones about how amazing the teams behind them were in the early days.

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The inaugural hires at these companies have outsized impacts because they’re outliers – the type of people who get excited about designing unprecedented solutions and thrive when entrusted with extreme autonomy. Many of these folks also come from unconventional backgrounds, allowing them to challenge and complement each other in ways that unlock bold new ideas.

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Similarly, Pearmill is in the business of hiring outliers and allowing them the space and freedom to succeed. Not to give you too big of a compliment, but if you're reading this, you're probably an outlier, too. Welcome to the rebellion.

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Ready to grow your business with us? Let’s talk.

Are you an expert in your field looking to join our team? Check out our open positions.

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Originally published: Sept 28, 2020

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What’s a Note from Nima? 
Each week I write a “Weekly Pulse” for the team. We thought it could be interesting to share these essays on our blog to help people get to know us. We updated the content slightly to add context, protect identities, and make more sense when needed. Thank you for reading.