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BASE.VN
Principles
Base.vn | Principles
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Base’s Philosophy of Leadership
Leading with hearts
01
Good
purpose
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03
04
Room for development
Grow
together
Do things to be
proud
Everyone has a good
Everyone has a room for
Everyone is a key part of
You should always be
purpose when they join
development. No matter
the organization and their
yourself and do things you
Base and wants to
how they are now, there
growths contribute
are truly proud of and
contribute for as much as
are a huge room for them
significant to the growth of
believe. It means a strong
they could.
do become better.
the company. What we
alignment between
have right now is so little,
personal values and the
the future will be much
company’s principles itself.
Base.vn | Principles
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BASE.VN
PRINCIPLES
Principles are here when you have to make a hard choice.
Every business goes through many difficult moments in their lifetime. It is the decision they
make at each certain moment, when there’s no clear right or wrong answer, which defines
who they are, and what they could become.
The principles are not necessarily remembered words by words. It is what saves us in the days of
hot waters when we have to make a hard choice. It is what defines our cultures, our people, our
behaviors, and our standards. It is what defines Base and shapes who we really are.
Base.vn | Principles
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01
Only for
GOOD PEOPLE
This principle states that without a good personality, nothing else matters.
Base only fits for good people, because honestly, we cannot deal with bad ones. We
only work with people we sincerely respect. Working with good people is
comfortable, motivating and healthy. Good = doing the right thing when nobody is
watching.
Strict on hiring. It doesn’t matter if one person holds a high position, if you have to
Base.vn | Principles
deal with a high performer with questionable personality, it’s time to take him out
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02
Product
OBSESSION
This principle states that Base is a product-centric company, and all internal
operations are ultimately to support making the product better.
As product-centric company, we obsess in building great products, exploring all
possible ways to make them better, experiencing them as much as we can, and
deeply thinking about them.
If you have to make a decision of applying an incomplete product of Base which
Base.vn | Principles
could potentially reduce performance, still keep applying it. Remember, the product
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WORK
HARD
The principle states that hard working is the highest gift and most valuable
competence – more valuable than who you are.
In other word, we favor hard working more than intelligence, background and
current achievements. There is no substitution for hard working while hard working
can substitute for almost everything. The reason is that without hard working, there
is no room for important improvement.
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04
Jump IN
***
There is case when a manager sees a risk of his/her subordinate not finishing a task,
project or mission at an expected time and quality. This principle states that the
manager MUST immediately jump in to help fix/fix the risk.
On the other hand, it implies that the overall completion and the speed of moving
forward is more important than roles and emotions of anyone.
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Respect
LEGACY
This principle states that we value legacy so much that every action which could potential
affect the founded legacy should be prevented or should only be processed with extreme
caution.
Each move at Base leaves a good legacy. A win deal leaves potential renewal for next year. A
great coder leaves great codes for future improvements. A successful customer story leaves
insights for us to learn and to grow. Many things like that. We can’t do great things in the future
Base.vn | Principles
if we do not respect the past.
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06
Be
HUMBLE
This principle states that we will favor a person/candidate with a humble mindset
OVER a talent who thinks he is too good and not ready to learn & fully adapt at
Base.
Being humble is the key for a growth mindset. We can’t learn so much if we think we
are too good. Many people out there are better than us. It should be easy at Base to
say that “I don’t know about it, please advise me”, or “I am making a mistake”.
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Everyone will help you.
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Asking
“FOR WHAT”?
The principle states that we always need to question ourselves about
the real value of everything, and we do not accept convention as the
source of reasoning about real value.
Asking “for what” constantly whenever we can before doing anything.
Everything we do must be on clear purpose and a good value for the
company.
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Let builders
BUILD
The principle states that we value builders more than philosophers, and
thinking without a clear action plan/result is meaningless.
We need actions and crystal-clear results. We don’t need people who just like to
think without making real contribution to the company. It also means that builders
who really get things done are the best to hold critical positions.
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Done is better
THAN PERFECT
The principle states that we won’t wait too much time for a perfect version,
instead we prefer iterative releases.
It also means that if we get something done, there is a much better chance
to improve the current state of the result. On the other hand, the “perfect
version” we thought previously may not be the actual “perfect” because the
“launched version” tested in practice will give us a lot more knowledge, data
Base.vn | Principles
and insights for future iterations.
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Real trust
IS EARNED
The principle states that real trust has to be earned by real merits and trust
is more favor than performance for career development.
Given trust is given generously when anyone joins Base but can be taken at
any time. Earned trust belong to yourself and cannot be taken away. It’s your
legacy.
On the other hand, it also means the company favors a trusted person OVER
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a high performer for all critical missions.
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Respect
AUTHORITY
There are many cases we cannot have an unified consent of everyone for a certain
matter. The principle states that we will favor the authority’s decision over major
consent and/or votes.
The principle also means that we are open for discussion, but closed for decision. New
idea should be freely discussed and everyone will have room for comments. But we do
not make decisions on votes or consent; once a decision of authority is due, everyone
Base.vn | Principles
must fully follow.
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Company
FIRST
The principle states that we favor the company’s benefits over any individual or team’s
benefits & roles. In the case we see something weird, have to make a change, or handle
something so unexpectedly that we’ve never ever been in the situation before, we will ask
“What is better for the company, in short-term and long-term” to make a move.
The principle also means that everything which may impose a risk on the company
should be classified, clarified and fixed as fast as we can. Everyone can speak about it.
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Attention
TO DETAILS
The principle states that we do NOT tradeoff speed for irresponsibility, negligence
and carelessness.
Everything should be handled with a good attention. We may fail, we may not have
the result with best quality, but we cannot be careless. Whenever we write an email
to the customers, fixing a bug, helping them on an issue – it has to be done
thoughtfully and carefully. Don’t let problem run down the line so that some others
Base.vn | Principles
have to fix it again.
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Const. Pushing
NEW LIMIT
The principle states that in case we achieve a big goal (personal, team or
company), we are NOT allowed to be too excited about it. We NEVER stop pushing a
new limit for ourselves because the room and possibility is always unlimited.
In order to insist for highest standards and open new rooms for improvement,
everyone should be challenged for a better result. Continuing raising the bar and
driving the team to unbelievable goals. We have learnt that the harder the goal, the
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more we can do.
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Don’t
COMPROMISE
The principle states that we aggressively and strictly commit to the principles we
stated here and DON’T compromise. We don’t compromise with a lot of things:
principles, policies, work rules, and our values – even in a tradeoff of revenue or
cutoffs. It also means that if anything is broken inside the company, we need to
speak out and get it fixed. It also means that we don’t accept lower standards.
Base.vn | Principles