FreshBooks, a Toronto company that created an online billing system for freelancers and small businesses that's attracted millions of users in the seven years since its launch, is looking to add at least 15 staff to its team. (See Yonge Street's
January profile of the company).
The company began as 2ndSite in 2003 by founders Mike McDerment and Joe Sawada, working out of McDerment's parents basement. They rebranded as FreshBooks in May 2006 and, by November of that year, had attracted 100,000 clients. Today they measure the number of users in the millions and have a team of more than 40 staff (
many with eccentric titles such as "Chief Handshaker," "Support Rockstar," and "Server Monkey"). And they're preparing to grow again.
President and Founder Mike McDerment
notes on his blog that at the business, "we've blown through many stages, and now we've come to another one." Currently the company is
seeking to add 15 members to its staff in positions ranging from "Marketing Manager Dynamo" to "Technical Evangelist," to join a culture in which McDerment notes that he encourages his staff to be independent. "My new mantra: 'beg for forgiveness, don't ask for permission,'" he writes. "I don't
want people asking me, 'here's what we are going to do, what do you
think?' I want to shift the conversations to 'here's what we did,' so I
can ask, 'what did you learn?.'"
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source:
Mike McDerment, President and CEO, FreshBooks
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