How to run a transparent startup

PostHog argues that internal transparency has helped the company in every situation it has faced. The post says startups should share more by default inside the company, and sometimes externally too, because written, visible information helps remote teams work asynchronously and makes hiring easier.

The article lays out what PostHog shares and how. It describes where information should live, how weekly all-hands meetings surface key updates, and which topics are shared openly, including fundraising, stock options, financial reports, sprint plans, OKRs, board materials, pay structure, hiring and firing decisions, holidays, and personal readmes.

Reading notes

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• Transparency is presented as a major advantage for the company.
• Internal transparency is the main focus, because it is seen as realistic to practice and useful for more people.
• Sharing externally by default is encouraged when there is no clear reason not to.
• Transparency is said to work especially well in all-remote companies because written information supports asynchronous work.
• It also helps hiring because candidates can trust the company more easily.
• To reduce context overload, the company prefers fewer places to look, with priorities from pull requests to email.
• A weekly 30-minute all-hands meeting is used to surface top-level news, revenue updates, OKR updates, policy changes, and demos.
• The company shares why it is fundraising, what its goals are, and updates on the process.
• People are expected to know their ownership percentage, strike price, option terms, and the effects of fundraising.
• Monthly financial reports are shared with the team.
• Small teams share sprint outcomes, next sprint plans, open calendar links, and related GitHub issues.
• The executive team follows the same sharing pattern as other small teams.
• OKRs, board slides, board notes, and long-term vision are shared.
• Pay is structured so that compensation can be justified, reviewed, and adjusted over time.
• Individual pay details are kept private to avoid feedback becoming defensive.
• Final-stage hiring decisions are shared with the wider company.
• Performance-related firing decisions are shared with the rest of the company, sometimes alongside a hiring post-mortem.
• Holidays are shared so people can see when colleagues are working.
• Personal readmes explain how team members can help, what they focus on, and how they work.