UpBuild exists so that people who love technical marketing can make a living by doing their best work for clients they’re proud to partner with. Since hiring and retaining the right people is absolutely vital to our mission, we’re as unabashedly geeky about our company culture as we are about everything else.
We’ve been fully distributed since our inception, which allows us to seek out the best technical marketing minds in the US without worrying about where they make their homes — this also means Builders have the freedom to do their best work in the settings that work best for them.
Building a Values-Based Culture
We move fast and do a lot. We use these core values to keep us pointed in the right direction.
Purpose
One of our early team members shared the quote, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” UpBuild is an agency with a purpose, and that purpose drives everything we do. Our purpose is to make the old digital agency model obsolete by building a new one. Our purpose is to show that these values aren’t things that hold us back but that they are what allow us to be the best technical marketers in the world. In our work, our sense of Purpose means we’re never making recommendations in a vacuum; we tie everything back to the actions that will be the most impactful for our clients.
Betterment
“Will this make someone’s day better?” We use this question to make decisions on a daily basis. Will this strategy or recommendation I’m working on make a client’s day better? Will getting this website to show up well in Google make a searcher’s day better? Will giving a team member feedback in this way make their day better? If the answer is no, we have to ask if there’s a better way. Sometimes there’s not, but usually, there is. In the spirit of Betterment, we’re constantly making improvements to our processes and deliverables; we want every piece of work UpBuild puts out to be the best thing we’ve ever done.
Pride
We want to do work we’re proud of for clients who we’re proud to work for. If we’re not proud of what we’re doing, we’ve made a misstep along the way. This value is why we’re so selective about who we take on as a client. We ask: would we be proud to say we work with this client? Are we going to be able to get results for them that we can take pride in? This value is also the final test a document should pass before being sent out: “Am I proud of this work?” Finally, this value is why we put potential clients to a team vote before sending them a proposal.
Transparency
Whether with clients, the team, or the general public, we default to transparency wherever possible. We have no trade secrets. We’ll show the numbers. The only case where we’d be less than fully transparent is when that transparency would set unrealistic expectations or produce a negative outcome (sharing half-baked ideas before they’re ready, revealing salary information, or, of course, anything related to confidential client information).
Integrity
Hooking into Transparency, we want to be honest and truthful in everything we do. We’ll always do our best to avoid engaging in any deceptive optimization practices or working with unethical businesses. Valuing Integrity means that we’ll recommend what we think is best for our clients, no matter what — even if that means ending our engagement or sending the client to another agency who’s a better fit for their needs.
Focus
Being able to focus on our work is key; this is something we all know. But this idea is vital to the success of our company. UpBuild’s mission is to create a model where technical marketers can truly focus on doing great work and not be pulled in a million directions or constantly overbooked. This focus is also what we sell to clients: the promise that we’re going to provide them with a specialist who’s focused on their needs, challenges, and success. Focus is why we cap Senior Marketing Strategists’ client load at four clients; it’s the driving force behind our biweekly “No-Meeting Wednesdays”; and it’s why you probably won’t be able to reach the UpBuild team in the evenings or on weekends.
