[Report] Working at a Startup... Perfect Realization of the 'Horizontal Organization' Even Samsung Covets

Fintech Startup 'Finda' Employee Experience... CEO and Intern Both Addressed as 'OO-nim'
Indefinite Remote Work Policy... Horizontal Communication, Vertical Decision-Making
Welfare and Benefits at Large Corporation Level... Interest-Free Loan of 100 Million KRW for Home Purchase

Fintech startup 'Finda' People Team (HR Team) Manager Lee Hye-min (left) is conducting a new employee orientation for our reporter Lee Joon-hyung (right). [Photo by Finda]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] #There are two ‘Hyemin-nims’ at fintech startup Finda. The company’s co-founder CEO Hyemin Lee and People Team (HR) Manager Hyemin Lee are both addressed as ‘Hyemin-nim.’ This is because since the company’s founding in 2015, employee titles have been unified as ‘Name + Nim.’ Employees have no discomfort calling the CEO and regular staff by the same honorific. The seating arrangement of the two ‘Hyemin-nims’ also reflects the company’s organizational culture. Manager Lee’s seat is directly opposite CEO Lee’s. The CEO’s desk has no nameplate indicating title nor any partition. Unless you check the name tag above the monitor, you wouldn’t know it’s the CEO’s seat.

Thanks to the second venture boom, the ‘golden age of startups’ has arrived. What has drawn attention is not only the growth potential of startups. Recently, major Korean conglomerates like Samsung and SK have begun adopting startup organizational cultures one after another. This is because startups are expanding their domains in various fields leveraging creativity and flexibility, and are also absorbing many talents from large corporations. Especially, the response from the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), who prefer horizontal decision-making structures, is notable. So how exactly is the organizational culture of startups different? The reporter went directly to Finda’s office located in Seolleung, Seoul, to experience startup culture firsthand.

Flexible working hours and remote work... ‘Smart’ work style

The first thing that caught the eye was the flexible working hours system. The office was quiet around 9:30 a.m. when the reporter arrived. Only about 2 to 3 employees were at their desks working. Other employees arrived one by one during the morning. By 11 a.m., the office started to get busy. Finda had early on adopted a selective working hours system. Employees can autonomously adjust their working hours to fit their lifestyle. This means they don’t have to suffer through ‘rush hour’ commuting times. They can choose any time from early morning to evening to work autonomously, as long as they complete at least 6 hours a day and 40 hours a week. However, to discourage unnecessary overtime culture, Finda requires employees to get supervisor approval if they want to work in the office after 10 p.m.

Finda also indefinitely implements a two-day-per-week remote work system. When social distancing measures were tightened to level 4, remote work days increased to four days per week. This was another reason the office was quiet. Although communication among employees was mostly non-face-to-face due to remote work, there were no issues with work. This was thanks to active use of various collaboration tools such as Slack, Jira, and Google Workspace. Employees responded that this smart work style was actually more efficient.

Our reporter, Lee Junhyung, is experiencing a day as an employee at the fintech startup 'Finda.' Finda employees are free to work in places other than their office seats.
[Photo by Finda]

No titles... horizontal communication

Through two meetings, the reporter also experienced the startup’s ‘trademark’ horizontal communication style. The reporter attended the brand team meeting at 11 a.m. and the all-staff meeting at noon. At Finda, where employees use the honorific ‘nim’ for each other, job titles do not appear during work processes from interns to the CEO. Only the HR team knows employees’ seniority and age. Employees’ minds are also open. The company explains that most people in startups respect and follow horizontal culture. This is why the youngest employee born in 2003 and the oldest employee born in 1976 can communicate by calling each other ‘nim’ without any work-related issues.

The CEO is no exception. CEO Lee and CEO Hongmin Park personally visit employees’ desks to ask or convey opinions. This means that even the CEO cannot call employees to their own desk at any time. Reflecting the horizontal culture, the coats of CEOs Lee and Park were hung on a hanger along with other employees’ coats on one side of the office. However, decision-making follows a vertical structure to clarify responsibility for decisions. A Finda official explained, “Communication is horizontal, decision-making is vertical,” adding, “Supervisors have more authority in decision-making but also bear corresponding responsibility.”

The startup culture was also visible in the town hall meeting attended by all employees. On the day the reporter visited, the monthly town hall meeting was held from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Sixty-eight Finda employees participated via video conference to report on team progress. During the meeting, employees freely exchanged opinions beyond work content through the chat window, like an internet broadcast. The meeting ended with four new employees who joined in the past four weeks introducing themselves. Finda encourages new hires to share ‘TMI (Too Much Information)’ when introducing themselves. This means existing employees pay attention not only to new hires’ careers but also to their hobbies, interests, and various backgrounds.

Finda's December town hall meeting held via video conference due to COVID-19. All Finda employees participated.
[Photo by Finda]

Agile organization operation... career moves to startups

The startup’s unique agile organization also attracted attention. An agile organization breaks down boundaries between teams and departments. Depending on the project, personnel from various departments gather and disband in a ‘come together and scatter’ manner. Finda operates personnel using a two-track system combining function-based organization and purpose-based organization called the ‘Two Pizza Team (2PT).’ The function-based organization is similar to departments in general companies. The Product Owner Group (POG), composed of Product Owners (PO), is a representative example. On the other hand, the Two Pizza Team gathers experts from various fields such as developers, planners, and designers. The team size is kept to the number of people who can be fed with two pizzas. This is to respond quickly and flexibly to market changes. The 2PT method started at global e-commerce company Amazon and has been adopted by many domestic startups.

Some employees have left large corporations to follow organizational cultures hard to find in traditional companies. Industry insiders agree that the reason startups attract talent is not only growth potential. At the town hall meeting on the day the reporter visited, a 12-year veteran developer from LG Electronics was introduced as a new hire. In addition, Finda has many employees from large startups like Coupang and Woowa Brothers, as well as from commercial banks such as Hana Bank and SC First Bank.

Compensation comparable to large corporations is another reason talents choose startups. The welfare and benefits introduced during the new employee orientation at 10 a.m. were not much different from those of large or mid-sized companies in Korea. A representative benefit is an interest-free loan of up to 100 million KRW for home purchases. Paid leave is also provided for children’s school entrance ceremonies and graduations to allow time with family. Recently, Finda revamped its welfare system and introduced a workation system allowing employees to work remotely from desired locations. To facilitate smooth work outside the office, personal work equipment such as monitors and tablet PCs are supported up to 1.2 million KRW per person. CEO Park said, “We wanted to create the best environment so that employees do not experience stress outside of work.”

A hanger placed in a corner of the Finda office. The coats of the company's co-CEOs, Lee Hyemin and Park Hongmin, are hanging alongside those of the employees.
[Photo by Lee Junhyung]

The perception that moving to a startup means giving up salary in exchange for stock options is now a thing of the past. Venture investment, which has been hitting record highs day after day, has enabled dramatic improvements in startup compensation. According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the cumulative domestic venture investment in the third quarter of this year reached 5.2593 trillion KRW, surpassing 5 trillion KRW for the first time ever.

There are also opinions that startups are not a ‘utopia for office workers.’ It is pointed out that the organizational culture of domestic startups is not naturally created to attract talent but is merely a copy of overseas startups such as those in Silicon Valley. However, there were limitations in fully grasping the pros and cons of startup organizational culture. The experience time was only one day, so the reporter could not have in-depth conversations with employees. An industry insider said, “Not all startups are free from ‘old-fashioned’ culture,” adding, “The organizational culture suitable for the early startup stage has sometimes failed to evolve in line with the company’s growth speed.”