Breeding
been around the world and found
that only stupid people are breeding
Flagpole Sitta, Harvey Danger
As Obtiva has grown to about 20 people in the last few years, we made a key decision that was guided by a simple principle. We decided to make Obtiva a Chicago-focused company. At the time, this felt like a big move to me, but it’s actually not that big a deal. After all, Chicago is an enormous city with a ridiculous number of businesses that need our help. We made this decision based on a principle that our founder Kevin Taylor has often repeated to me: “We’re not going to ask Obtivians to do anything the owners of Obtiva wouldn’t be willing to do themselves.” Since Kevin and I both have kids at home and place a ton of importance on seeing them everyday, we’re not going to ask people to travel very often.
What strikes me (and is a source of pride for me) is how we’ve been able to cultivate a developer-friendly culture while creating an environment where families flourish. This is a stark contrast to my time at ThoughtWorks where there was a signficantly high percentage of people who were divorced, single, or married without children. Now, there’s nothing wrong with singlehood or marriages without children. And while there are certainly valid reasons for getting a divorce, I think most of us can agree that divorce sucks. I feel stupid even having to say that. But families and children are the foundation of our society, and it certainly is a good thing for our country to have a strong birth rate relative to the rest of the world. Yet, I’ve heard echoes of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta” lyrics among some of the software elites I’ve hung out with. I still get looks of shock (and sometimes horror) when I tell people I am married and have 3 kids. I don’t blame anyone for being surprised, my situation is just not normal for people my age, I guess. Over time though, I’ve definitely picked up on the vibe that you’d have to be a bit stupid to sacrifice your career, your money, and your freedom to raise a family. But now I find myself helping to lead a company of very smart people who are doing exactly that. These people love delivering software, and they love delivering babies too.
In Obtiva’s four year history, we’ve had 6 births, 1 adoption, 2 marriages and 0 divorces. We currently have 14 married people who have 21 children, with 4 more kids on the way, which includes our first pregnant programmer. There are a ton of stories behind these numbers. And while they’re just numbers, I find them to be significant. Maybe companies like Obtiva are the norm? I’m not sure, it doesn’t feel that way to me. I do feel that these numbers are good indicators that:
- We’ve stayed focused on local clients
- We work at a sustainable pace
After all, when you’re on the road all week or in the office late at night, you just don’t get as many opportunities to make babies (with your spouse).
