A story of joy.

In 1993, while still at Boston University,  I began working with Internet technologies at the first-ever Internet consultancy. By 1997, I'd worked at 3 companeis, building the very first versions of some Very Large Websites, which was cool, but I was disheartened with the way that these companies treated their people.

I knew that it’d be fun to create software in the early days of the Internet, but my primary goal when starting the company was to create a fun atmosphere — a clubhouse — where people would love to spend their days. I assumed that if I got that part right, we'd be able to find great clients and make a good living. Furnace Labs organically grew from "just me" to a 6-person organization that initially operated out of the living room of my apartment, to a group of 15 amazing folks in a “proper” loft-style office in downtown Boston.

We were successful business for four years; not breaking any records, but maintaining profitability, providing competitive salaries and benefits, and a really fun atmosphere. We worked on projects that, for the most part, everyone found interesting and challenging. It felt like we were more successful than a similar company across the street that raised over $100MM, had massive clients, and still managed to go out of business because they couldn’t make a profit.  

After four years, our biggest client, because their promised second round of funding didn’t materialize, went out of business. As a result, they weren’t able to pay us a huge sum of money they owed — for work already completed. I was shocked and clearly disappointed, but knew that we could recover. But, within a week of that happening, all of our other clients got cold feet due to a declining economy (in early 2001)  and as a result, had no more projects to issue. It was at that point that I was convinced that the business was no longer viable.

I had no money. I needed $40,000 in 2 days to make payroll. It was clearly time to shutter the doors, so I summoned the team (10 people at the time), and with tears, told them that I loved them, that we'd had a great run, but it was time to go home.  There was no other option. I offered to help them find new work  (which was tough at the time) and hoped we'd stay close-knit, but there was just no more viability for the company.

It took a while for anyone to say anything, but eventually Jim — who had a bit of a reputation as a wise-ass — said, “I’ll stay.” It was unclear if he was being sincere or sarcastic, so Naphtali acknowledged his kindness, yet completely dismissed the comment. A few seconds — that seemed like minutes —later, Mark, piped up with, “Me too. I’ll stay.” Then Thomas, with his deep voice, “Me too. You’ll come up with something, you always do.” One at a time, each of them said they’d stay. I was perplexed and had no idea where this amazingly generous gesture came from, nor what they really meant by it, and had no words to express feelings of deep gratitude in that moment. I told them that I had no idea what they meant, but was willing to “run with it” and see what happened. I suspected that the adrenaline of the moment would wear off by the next morning.

Sure enough, the next day, and every day for 2 months, everyone came to work, on time. There was a light trickle of client work, and when they weren't working on that, they helped create proposals. They all stayed for two months, without salary, until we landed our largest client ever — and then sold the company! In the sale of the company, I only negotiated a) that the entire staff would be hired by the new company (they had wanted to cherry pick); and b) that everyone would get a raise. This was definitely a bold negotiation, since so many people, even programmers, we being laid off at that time. We emerged from the darkness and joined the acquiring company; and while that experience came with its own set of challenges, we really felt like we'd managed to make some lemonade.

Following that amazing experience, while still working in technology, I realized that I had an inner knowing what really makes people tick, and therefore, how to create something really special within organizations. Since then, I have spent several years digging deeper into psychology, neurology, biology and spirituality to really understand the human dynamic, especially in the context of professional organizations. I encapsulated some of those learnings in a book called "Humans Working" and started a company of the same name.