We held the first Chainfrog social outing on Friday 24 February. It’s been almost 6 months since Kimmo and I met to discuss the possibility of setting up a blockchain company. He didn’t know what the concept of “blockchain” was all about, and to be honest I didn’t know what the concept of “company” was all about. We’ve spent six months educating each other, and I think we’ve come a long, long way.

When you set up a company, you learn that it’s not about the great “whizz-bang” idea that you have. It’s just as much, if not more, about the team you put together, and that applies even when there are only two of you involved. Now we have more people and intend to be growing all the time. I’ve since read that venture capitalists would rather invest in great teams with poor ideas than poor teams with great ideas, and I understand that now – it’s a lot easier to direct a great team in the right direction than it is to fix a disfunctional set of people who don’t even know what being in a team is all about, let alone what a “direction” is.

But back to the social night:

1) It was Trans-European! We had people in Tampere, Finland and people in Cambridge, England (and I wish we could have drawn in the Spanish contingent at the same time too; maybe next time), all dining at the same time at excellent pizza restaurants. We even connected for a while over Skype to share images of our meals and wave at each other like goons because the background noise of clinking cutlery and tableside conversations drowned out any possibility of talking. Can’t wait for the first Global event (if only we can crack the timezone problem before then).

2) More importantly, partners and family were invited. For example, I was at the restaurant with my partner (we thought we’d have a break from the kids and the mess of the family dining table so we got a baby sitter and left the kids behind), Kimmo brought his wife along, and Jon over in England was out with his wife and son.

And so, in my usual rambling way, I’ve managed to get to the point of this post. Companies too often try to compartmentalize their role in their employees lives by excluding partners from these kinds of events, presumably to save money. It becomes part of the company culture, and I think it results in the person back at home feeling resentful, because they rightfully feel excluded. They don’t have the opportunity to see what the company is all about, and to connect with the people that they hear their partner talking about almost every night (yawn) without ever meeting them.

It’s a false saving. The cost of finding a replacement for an employee can be tens of thousands of Euros (and the annual turnover rate which averages 15% across all industries, is higher in tech companies). The cost of including the people the employee cares about in company events so that they can mingle, connect and get to know what the company is all about is merely a few hundreds of Euros a year. From a financial perspective it’s actually at worst a break-even scenario. From a human perspective it’s so much more. Partners can meet colleagues, and colleagues’ partners, and that helps build a true tribe. If not only the employee, but also the people they share their lives with care about the company, it can only be a good thing.

Chainfrog is a new company, which means as CEO I have a wonderful opportunity to define company culture. And I want us to be inclusive – not only should it be the case that national borders and nationality, gender, age or sexual orientation do not matter, but those working for us shouldn’t have to lead two lives: one at work and one at home. That way we all reach a better understanding why each of us is on this journey, what motivates us, and why we’re working here.

We’re a blockchain company, and peer-to-peer networks, openess and consensus shouldn’t just apply to the technology we deploy, it should apply to the way we run our daily business.

So please have a look at our recruitment page if you’d like to work for a young dynamic and inclusive blockchain company with big aims and bright people who are going to achieve them.