“It is important for us to maintain a culture that rewards employees, and to do whatever we can so that they can take pride in their work while having fun!” - DJ Sampath, Cofounder and CEO
The Bay Area, with Silicon Valley, is known for its thriving tech culture. With a large concentration of top engineering universities, venture capitalist firms, tech company headquarters, and entrepreneurs with big dreams, it is known as a hotbed of innovation. This environment can be fast-paced and intense, but it’s worth it if you’re having fun and feel rewarded for your accomplishments.
In such a dynamic and competitive area, we’re thrilled to be named a Tech in Motion 2019 Finalist for the Best Tech Work Culture in the annual Timmy Awards – the event series that recognizes the top local workplaces for tech professionals. The awards recognize companies that have created a rewarding team environment that promotes innovation, learning, and technical creativity.
Two Best Tech Work Culture awards will be announced at a live ceremony in San Francisco in October, one for Judge’s Choice and one for Community Favorite, which is chosen by public voting. Help us win by voting here once per day, with voting closing September 27. As you cast your vote, I wanted to blog about why this award is so important to us, and describe our amazing work culture here at Armorblox.
At Armorblox, our cofounders have made it a priority to create an exciting, fun team culture, where every employee is important and feels rewarded for their hard work. Come visit our office in Cupertino, and you’ll feel the energy and excitement of the company.
When I started at Armorblox last November, we had an office in downtown Sunnyvale, right across from Murphy Street, the main drag with restaurants and shops. We had a small kitchen area, one conference room, and we were holding overflow meetings at a satellite office across the street.
Now, we have a bigger office with eight conference rooms (not to mention a ping pong table, “the Armorblox Nook,” media room, and an HQ big screen/live cam to unite us with remote employees during company meetings). We’re across the street from another fun assortment of restaurants and shops, a popular destination for afternoon coffee breaks, ice cream runs and boba tea.
When we moved in, it seemed palatial – eight conference rooms instead of one! Yet, in no time, all the conference rooms were full with meetings and activities because we have so much going on, and there is energy and excitement in the air.
“We have assembled an all-star team, with members who work hard to solve cybersecurity’s biggest problems,” said DJ Sampath, CEO and cofounder of Armorblox. “It is important for us to maintain a culture that rewards employees, and to do whatever we can so that they can take pride in their work while having fun!”
With a mission to make cybersecurity easy with disruptive machine learning (ML) technology to replace outdated security solutions, our cofounders knew this was an ambitious charge. In order to create a rewarding work environment, they started the company establishing its core values upfront, which include a culture of freedom, commitment to helping customers, passion for excellence, compassionate directness, and team over self.
New employee onboarding begins with a walk-through of our company values. With this strong foundation to establish our company culture, we have a team of overachievers who enjoy their jobs and the rewards of their hard work.
Our culture of freedom and transparency promotes technical creativity. We share confidential strategy and financial information with all team members, with monthly all-hands and an open-door policy with company leaders. We stress employee responsibility, with honor and trust to keep sensitive information confidential, and encourage team members to speak up with feedback. We emphasize that the focus is on the impact you can make, not the hours spent in the office.
We also reward team members who drive results toward the company goals. This promotes an ownership mindset, where employees can own their success, and encourages them to take calculated risks and learn from mistakes.
I believe that is why you can feel the buzz and excitement. Here at Armorblox, we’re passionate about delighting customers with our innovative Natural Language Understanding platform – and making an impact on the information security industry by delivering breakthrough technology!
We also make a point to reward the team’s hard work with awards and fun activities. For example, Armorblox sponsored a masseuse to provide backrubs the week before our launch out of stealth mode back in February. After another big event, we had a celebratory lunch and chocolate truffle-making workshop.
Activities like movie and game nights, health and wellness events, such as walks and hikes, bowling, group sports, like badminton, keep us energized and having fun.
Armorblox also takes care of employees on a daily basis with free lunches, a fully stocked kitchen with snacks and drinks, cakes for Birthdays and other celebratory occasions, and happy hours. Armorblox also organizes events like terrarium projects, “Boba Tea Tuesdays,” “Affogato Fridays,” and other treats.
Armorblox is also committed to giving back to its community, having organized food drives, toys for tots, backpack drives for back-to-school, shoreline cleanups, and other volunteer activities. Employees are also encouraged to spend time involved in their communities. A group recently participated in the India Community Center Sevathon to raise money for charity. I also am active as a Board Member for the Synopsis Outreach Foundation to help schools, teachers, and students with STEM activities and science fair projects.
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I am proud to say we have built an amazing team culture here, where we take pride in being highly productive, and we love what we do. The cofounders believe in the quote: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” and make an effort to keep us happy. This has created a thriving, positive work culture here at Armorblox.
We hope you’ll vote for us to help us bring home the award for Bay Area Best Tech Work Culture! Please also follow us on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to see what we’re up to. We’re hiring! If you’d like to join us to be a part of the fun, visit our careers page to check on our job openings or to refer a friend.
