C U LT U R E B O O K

culture
C U LT U R E B O O K

What are you looking at?

This little booklet is a

collaborative project meant
to properly present Netguru’s
culture, values, and the story
we’re creating together.

If you’re reading this, you’re part of this story. We want

you to be as involved with everything that’s happening
at Netguru as you want to be. The Culture Book can
offer insights on what you can expect from us, and
help you find a comfortable space for yourself in this
fast-growing company. Most of all, we want you to feel
welcome and excited about the work we do.
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1/2
What’s in this Culture Book?

We’ve grown a lot in recent

years, and we want our culture to
reflect our development.

This book will help you navigate the inner workings of

our company, by explaining the following:
• Netguru’s core values
• Our culture
• The organisation and operation of our teams
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2/2
What’s in this Culture Book?

We also want you to know more

about us!

How we succeed at being remote-first, what our unique

culture is like, what team-building events we organise,
and what we do after hours. We want everyone working
at Netguru or considering work here to understand our
values, as we believe them to be key to our success.
C U LT U R E B O O K

Founders’ letter
Welcome to Netguru,

In this Culture Book, we talk about the organisational culture of our company. But what does Netguru’s
culture mean to us?

We believe that culture is more than just free coffee, sandwiches in the office or playing foosball together
over lunch break. These things matter, but culture goes far beyond them.

For us, culture supports our vision: to help innovators and entrepreneurs shape the world through beautiful
software.

Culture provides the answers to questions such as: what should our cooperation look like? What values do
we believe in? How do we build and maintain relationships?

At Netguru, we believe in meritocracy and openness.

We’re building an organisation in which good ideas trump the authority of a job title, length of experience
or internal politics. Here, it’s safe to question the status quo.

We’re building an environment where anyone can talk directly to anyone else, ask for help, and receive it.
Regardless of position or seniority.

We’re building a culture of ambitious people who want to reach the company’s goals and make their own
professional dreams come true along the way.

We’re building partnerships based on trust, freedom to act, and responsibility for one’s actions.

At Netguru, you’ll encounter people who are full of purpose, who want to use their limited time on Earth
wisely, be a part of something big, and be proud of their achievements.

We are proud of the company we founded, glad that you are a part of it, and confident that you will
enhance its culture.

If you ever want to talk, find us on Slack under @kuba and @wiktor handle. We’re curious about your
thoughts on working here.

Wiktor Schmidt
Executive Chairman
Kuba Filipowski
CSO
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Netguru’s Vision
 change
C U LT U R E B O O K

We help innovators and

entrepreneurs shape the world
through beautiful software.
We mean this in the most profound sense.
Innovation is not just about
new technological solutions.

Providing true value to our clients - and the world - comes from close
cooperation of all of our teams. Beautiful software is created by experienced,
problem-solving developers, knowledgeable, bold designers, diligent QA experts,
hard-working PMs, and compassionate Customer Success experts, sensitive to
the client’s real problems and intentions.

Everyone at Netguru can influence our work to make it truly world-changing.

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Netguru’s Strategy
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Vision
To achieve our vision, we focus on these
four aspects in our work:

Mutual success by business Innovation one stop shop Beautiful software Customer excellence
value delivery We want to be a well-oiled engine We want to provide clients with Quality of service doesn’t end with
We build close relationships with of innovation, looking at each solutions that will delight their working technical solutions.
clients, putting their success first. project from multiple sides. users and make a lasting We know how important it is to
impression. focus on clients’ needs.
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Netguru - Who are we?

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Who
Netguru -
Who are we?
Netguru builds software for world changers,
software that lets people do things differently.
Our employees have changed the way people
listen to music, learn languages, and rent
If anybody asks about your work, you can
safely say that Netguru is a full-stack software
consulting company. We design and develop
digital products for top brands (e.g. IKEA, and
bikes. Our team’s work has been featured Volkswagen). There’s more than 600 of us,
in The Next Web, UXDX Conference, and working hard every day to bring real change
Product Hunt. to the world.
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Netguru’s Core Values

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1° Exceed clients’ and colleagues’ 5°

Build an inclusive, transparent and
expectations socially responsible culture

2° 6°
Netguru’s
Take ownership and question the Be ambitious, grow yourself and the
status quo in a constructive manner people around you

Core Values 3° Be brave, curious and experiment.

Learn from all successes and failures
7° Recognize excellence and
engagement

4° Act in a way that makes all of us

proud

We make sure our values reflect what the team thinks

is important. We’ve asked them and they responded.
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Exceed clients’ and colleagues’

expectations
Never settle for good enough when you know you can and
should do better. It isn’t about measuring your performance
against that of others - it’s about giving yourself permission
to go the extra mile, to do work you can be proud of. It’s easy
to get trapped in corporate mediocrity, meeting but never
“ Working at Netguru (on exciting projects,
amongst best-in-class talent, and often for
clients who are global powerhouses) pushes
you to give each challenge the best you
exceeding standards, feeling unsatisfied with what we do. At think you’ve got and then a little more. We
Netguru, we want you to set yourself free. foster a way of working that exceeds clients’
expectations on a daily basis and inspires our
colleagues to always go all out.

Paweł Utracik
Product Designer
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“
Take ownership and
question the status quo in a What I like about Netguru is the fact that

constructive manner the company asks for and actually listens to

people’s feedback about the workplace. If
there is something that needs to be changed,
Trust your gut and your knowledge, even when it’s your team
you can share the suggestion and be sure
leader or CEO you have to question. We are all people, fallible but
that it won’t get lost in the buzz. Not only
trying our best. Netguru’s culture allows us to appreciate openness
can you suggest changes but also drive them
and constructive feedback. We want you to think for yourself
on your own by implementing solutions that
and make decisions for your projects and tasks. You’ll find that
may make Netguru an even better workplace
people will be happy to support you in striving to improve upon our
and by contributing to our culture.
methods and processes.

Ola Prejs
Growth Manager
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Be brave, curious and

experiment. Learn from all “ Almost every success has been built on the foundation of
many failures. Celebrate small wins, learn from all your
mistakes, and be proud of your work!

successes and failures

We believe that having the freedom to take risks and make
mistakes is extremely important in any work environment. That’s
how we learn, and how we innovate - by trying out ideas and
looking at our results. If you have a brilliant new solution, we want
to hear about it and help you check if it works.

Mateusz Górniak
Senior RoR Developer & Team Leader
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Act in a way that makes

“
all of us proud
At Netguru, we place great emphasis on how we
This one is a bit more-company oriented. We are all in this together
communicate and what we do both as individuals and
and everything you say and do, either internally or in a public
members of the team. What I love is that we always assume
forum, reflects on us. Consider our values and beliefs when you talk
good intentions in all our interactions and strive for the best
to clients or team members. We all deserve respect, and one way
in all our endeavors. The initiatives that Netgurals take on
to make sure we get it is by holding ourselves accountable for our
and the way they approach everyday challenges not only
own actions.
inspires me but, most of all, makes me proud to be part of
such an amazing team.

Monika Borkowska
Senior Project Manager
& Team Leader
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Build an inclusive, transparent

and socially responsible
culture
We believe that to build an organisation based on shared values,
we first need to recognise those who live by them. It’s important
to us to build a culture which will allow every member of Netguru’s
“ From my perspective, Netguru is a workplace where the
values that are important to you aren’t just talk. You can
see for yourself that they are a real, impactful part of the
company culture. Among those values are diversity, equality
and inclusion, and you can see that we come from a variety
team to feel welcome and safe. Culture doesn’t happen by chance
of backgrounds, have different mindsets and motivations.
- we need to be proactive and work on it every day, taking full
And that’s ok. More than that, it’s not seen as an obstacle,
responsibility for the results. We want everyone to have a voice,
but as a strength.
and we want our activities as a company to be transparent. This is
about accountability and responsibility, which we see as extremely
important.

Anita Migacz
Community & EB Specialist
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Be ambitious, grow yourself

and the people around you

“
Having ambition and working towards career goals is a wonderful
thing, and we want to fully support you on your path. But as you
forge ahead, be mindful of the people around you and of how
you can help each other. Growing together can be a beautiful
adventure, and you might be surprised where it takes you. As a leader, you need to pay a lot of attention to your
team as a whole and each team member as an individual.
Netguru leaders, including myself, make sure to challenge
their teams in a way that helps everyone grow.

Magda Wartowska
Operations Manager
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Recognize excellence and

engagement
What others think of you should never be your most important concern,
but we all know the value of well-earned respect and constructive
feedback. Validation and recognition are important - and it takes so
little effort to tell someone what a great job they’ve done. Try it. You’ll
find that being kind to others can make you happier, too - it’s the magic
“ One of the first things that you learn upon joining Netguru is
using our kudos app. It makes me feel good to work among
people who praise both the small and the big things that
we all bring to the team. And the kudos app is just the tip of
of the human brain. the iceberg. Entering such a “circle of recognition” everyday
gives me a lot of joy and energy.
This is the seventh and final value from Netguru’s list. If you’d like, you
can help us expand it, or explore it in more depth.

Joanna Falkowska
Knowledge
& Development Team Leader
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We care
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Grow
We want you to grow with us

There’s no better investment than

investing in people.

That’s why we provide a personal growth budget to everyone

on the team, and we’re more than happy to support team
members who want to speak at conferences or take courses.
We offer internal workshops and webinars, as well.
C U LT U R E B O O K

We want you to have full

power over your career
Power
We cultivate a horizontal
structure and the culture of
constructive feedback at
Netguru.

Team leaders hold regular face-to-face meetings with

their teams and everyone can make impactful choices
on how they want to shape their professional growth.
We’re constantly working on improving our career paths.
 How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

#1
Exceed clients’ and colleagues’
expectations

“ Exceeding clients’ and colleagues’

expectations means constantly challenging
yourself and the people around you. That

Piotr Nowicki
is the value that drives the pace of our
self-development to a level I couldn’t have
imagined before joining Netguru. Project Manager
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Our tech-stack
 How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

#2
Take ownership and question the
status quo in a constructive manner

“ At Netguru, we do not shy away from

pointing out the issues and saying: “yes, that
needs changing, we could do this better”.

Ania Dąbkowska
We believe in continuous improvement, and
that is how we achieve it.
Project Manager
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Our history
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Netguru’s offer is expanded with

consulting services, including UX, Vorm becomes Netguru’s first Team size exceeds
Netguru is founded design and DevOps acquisition 600 employees
- - - -
2008 2017 2017 2019

2007 2012 2017 2018 2019

- - - - -
Netguru’s founding fathers, Netguru chooses its main focus: Netguru Code College Netguru ventures into the world A big change: we have
Wiktor and Kuba meet for building software solutions for launches of digital transformation a new CEO
the first time external partners
 How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

#3
Be brave, curious and experiment.
Learn from all successes and failures

“ Throughout life, we’re taught to avoid making

mistakes. But it’s mistakes that allow us
to discover new things. If I hadn’t erred a

Adam Romański
thousand times in the past, I wouldn’t be where
I am today. I can’t say whether I’m brave, but
I’ve definitely stopped being afraid of my own Frontend Developer
mistakes. & Team Leader
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Where we are
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Offices
Where we are 01
Poznan
02
Warsaw

03 04
We offer all the office perks we
could think of: we’re pet-friendly, Wroclaw Gdansk
we have sit to stand desks, and we
like to provide healthy snacks in our

05 06
offices.
Cracow Białystok
The spaces we’ve created are friendly and comfortable, to
repay the team for their hard work. We believe that this

07 08
approach motivates the team and is a good way to show
how much we trust them.

Katowice Lodz
We’ll be opening offices in Łódź and Katowice soon!
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Sustainability
#Sustainability
It’s no secret that the planet we live on is kind of important. That’s why so many of
us care about being sustainable - and Netguru is in full support of all such initiatives.
We want to be a certified B Corporation and meet the highest standards of social
and environment responsibility. As leaders of an emerging economy, we have to
bring the change we seek in the world. Through our products, practices and profits,
we should always aspire to do no harm and benefit all.

How? By understanding how dependent we all are on one another. This dependence
makes us responsible for each other and for future generations.

It’s a serious matter, but we can and do make it fun. Our efforts to be an eco team
include: making sure light is only on when it needs to be, using more reusable
containers and less plastic. Check out our #sustainability channel on Slack, where
we exchange ideas and get inspired to do more for the planet.
 How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

#4
Act in a way that makes all of us proud

“ The culture and values at Netguru aren’t only

about what we do or achieve. Working on
something good or even perfect should never
overshadow how we go about doing it. It’s just
as important that we treat each other with full
respect, listen to and care about one another. This Magda Nawrot
way, we’re not only proud of what we are going to
Payroll Specialist
produce, but also about the route we’re taking to
& Team Leader
get it done.
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Pride
Pride
Last year, during the Equality Parade in Poznan, we changed our logo colours to
match a rainbow. For us, it’s a small gesture of solidarity with the LGBT+ community,
and a symbol of celebrating diversity and equal opportunity.

We feel that we should support this and similar events, and not only because of how
diverse our own team is. A logo is such a small thing, however. This year, we went
out to join the parade, gave away some Netguru swag and organised an internal
webinar on the subject. We’ll think of a way to one-up ourselves next year.

Everybody should feel welcome at Netguru, regardless of their age, gender, sexual
orientation, nationality or disabilities. We will always be open in our support for
diversity and equality. Participating in Pride Week is only the most visible step we’ve
taken in this direction.
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How we work
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Work
We work the way we like
and like our work

Work-life balance and empowerment

at work matter.

We trust our team and are happy to offer them autonomy and
the freedom to design their schedules. Our team members work
from several offices in Poland and abroad, as well as remotely
from anywhere they want. We love to see them travel around
the world, learning new things and getting inspired. We believe
they bring a lot of value back to the company.
Like what you see? Find more on our Instagram
 How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

Build an inclusive, transparent

and socially responsible culture
#5
Marta Grzesiak
“ Working in an inclusive environment and knowing
that there’s no place for any kind of discrimination
in my workplace makes all the difference. It makes
me feel good and safe on an everyday basis.

Quality Assurance Specialist

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Meet the team

Adam Tomek Zuzia Magda Maciek Pola Natalia

Stories
Meet the team Netguru’s teams are close-knit, friendly
groups that want to make everyone feel
welcome. Because we believe in providing
a platform to our team members, and
created the Humans of Netguru initiative
- a series of personal stories shared by our
colleagues, meant to inspire and empower
everyone that reads them.
because we think their accounts are much
more valuable than anything Netguru as a
Click here to learn more company has to say about itself, we’ve
 How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

Be ambitious, grow yourself and the

people around you.
#6
“ Don’t think twice if there’s an opportunity in front of
you. Take it, learn whatever skills you need to do your
best, and afterwards share your knowledge. There
is nothing worse than staying in your comfort zone
Dawid Woźniak all the time. Worst case scenario? You’ll learn a lot.
Best case scenario? You’ll gain others’ respect. It’s a
Senior Product Designer
win win situation.
& Team Leader
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Netguru after hours

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Netguru
... after hours
Everyone likes company retreats, team dinners and
gadgets, right? We’ve got those in spades!
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Netguru
Team dinners
We organise regular team dinners to spend some time
together in great company.
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Netguru
Board games and
singalots
If you enjoy spending time smashing buttons on a game
controller, rolling dice or playing an instrument, let us
know! Most likely, some of your team members share
your interests and would be delighted if you joined them.
 “
How we understand values
C U LT U R E B O O K

Culture eats strategy for breakfast, as Peter Drucker said. It is true

for all organisations, the more so for agile ones. Successful agility is
always built around not just robust business practices and processes,
but also a stable backbone of mature values forming a kind of glue
that translates into clear norms and behaviours.

The overarching cultural underpinnings at Netguru are for me respect

and partnership. They are expressed through our Value nr 5. Build
inclusive and socially responsible culture.

It is a challenge to live it in an ever bigger and more diverse company.

We do, however, our best to foster inclusion at Netguru understood as

Dorota Piotrowska respecting each other no matter what age, gender, stage of lifecycle,
outlook, ethnicity or any other dimension of diversity we are. We do it
Head of People by assuming good intentions at all times, avoiding judgments by ‘the
cover of the book’, and on the other hand by not being orthodox about
political correctness.
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Engage with us!

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Engage
Engage with us!

We’re present on Facebook (#HumansofNetguru), Twitter,

Instagram, and we’re very diligent in updating our blog.
You can also subscribe to one of our newsletters.

We’re proud of the fact that Netguru’s community is so

friendly and robust. We’re all equals, and what we have
to say matters. So talk to us :)
 C U LT U R E B O O K

Join us
Get in touch!

If you’re not part of the team yet, #joinnetguru!

You can find a lot of information on our careers page, and if you’d like to
check out our projects and internal initiatives, you can check out our blog.

We make sure our recruitment process is as fast and transparent as possible,

because we value your time and we want to earn your trust. Let us know if
you have any questions at all!

[email protected]