The Culture Handbook

For the first ten years of PIRATE, we never had a culture book. We had guiding principles and a few hours of onboarding. After that, we led by example.

Today, around 70 people are part of the PIRATE family, spread across four companies. And we are still growing. It’s time to write down what drives us, and why we work the way we do.

Working at PIRATE is different. People coming from more traditional environments often need time to adjust - not just to learn how things work here, but to unlearn habits they’ve carried from elsewhere.

In this book, we share what’s worth knowing about PIRATE. Our history. What we stand for. What we value. Writing these things down makes them real; something you can question, debate, and change. Because PIRATE isn’t fixed. It’s shaped by everyone who works here.

Each company in the PIRATE family runs its own processes. We don’t prescribe how each business works day to day. What this book offers are the shared principles - the common thread that runs through everything we build.

Company value statements are often empty promises. The words look good on paper, but they rarely match what people experience at work. That’s the trap we’re trying to avoid. Some of what’s in this book is aspirational. But we’ve tried to make it honest; a true reflection of how we actually operate.

One of our guiding principles is that decisions are temporary. This book is no exception. As context changes, as we learn and grow, we’ll revise it. The act of writing is itself part of the work; it forces clarity. And you can only improve what you’ve put into words.

So let’s get started.