# Startup Employee Handbook > A modern, culture-forward startup handbook covering values, how-we-work (async/remote), equity and comp philosophy, unlimited PTO, modern perks, communication norms, and growth. Source: https://buildpdfs.com/templates/startup-employee-handbook Category: Business A modern, culture-forward startup handbook covering values, how-we-work (async/remote), equity and comp philosophy, unlimited PTO, modern perks, communication norms, and growth. ## What's included - Founder’s note and values & culture section - How we work: async, remote-first, meetings, tools - Ownership / equity basics and compensation philosophy - Time off (recharge policy) and modern perks - Communication norms, growth, the brief legal stuff, and sign-off ## Sample content Cadence Internal · v2026.2 Confidential to the team The Company Handbook How we build, together. The operating manual for life at Cadence — what we value, how we work, what you're owed, and how we grow. Read it once, then keep it close. Remote-first Async by default Real ownership Recharge, don't burn out Company Cadence Labs, Inc. Team 38 people, 11 time zones Founded 2023 · San Francisco 00 Start here A note before you read Welcome to Cadence. We're really glad you said yes. We started Cadence in 2023 because we'd spent years watching great teams drown in noise — endless meetings, scattered context, work that never quite added up. We're building the connective tissue for how modern teams stay in sync without grinding each other down. That mission only works if we live it ourselves. This handbook is how we try. It isn't a rulebook and it isn't legal boilerplate dressed up as culture. It's a set of **shared agreements** — the defaults we reach for when no one is watching and no one told us what to do. Most of what makes a company good never fits in a document. But the parts that can be written down, we've written down here, as honestly as we know how. You'll notice we ask for a lot: high standards, real ownership, blunt-but-kind honesty. In return we mean to give a lot back — meaningful equity, genuine flexibility, and the trust to do your best work without someone hovering. That trade is the whole deal. If something in here feels wrong, outdated, or just off — tell us. The best version of this handbook is one the team keeps rewriting. — P&R Priya Nadar & Reuben Okafor Co-founders, Cadence Labs How to read this doc * It's organized front-to-back, but jump to what you need — sections stand alone. * Anything time-sensitive (benefits enrollment, equity windows) is also pinned in Notion, which always wins if the two disagree. * "We" means the whole team, not "management." There isn't much of a them-and-us here. * Comments welcome any time at **handbook@cadencelabs.com** — we review them every quarter. 01 The heart of it Values & culture These five aren't poster slogans. They're the behaviors we hire for, promote on, and occasionally part ways over. When two good options compete, these break the tie. 01 Default to ownership If you see it, it's yours until it's solved or clearly handed off. We don't wait for permission to fix what's broken, and we don't drop things at the first sign of friction. Ownership isn't having every answer — it's being on the hook for finding one. In practice: You flag the bug in a repo you don't own, then open the PR. 02 Write it down A decision that lives only in someone's head doesn't scale across 11 time zones. We think in docs, decide in docs, and leave a trail so the next person doesn't have to reconstruct the reasoning. Clear writing is clear thinking made visible. In practice: Every meaningful call ships with a one-paragraph "why" in Notion. 03 Blunt, but kind We say the true thing early, even when it's awkward — and we say it because we assume the other person can handle it and wants to get better. Candor without care is just cruelty; care without candor is just avoidance. We aim for both at once. In practice: "This direction is wrong, here's why" in review — not in DMs afterward. 04 Ship to learn We'd rather put a real thing in front of real users than polish a guess. Small, reversible bets beat big, perfect plans almost every time. Finished and improving wins over flawless and theoretical. In practice: Behind a flag, to 5% of accounts, by Friday — then iterate. 05 Protect the team's energy This is a marathon. We guard each other's focus time, notice when someone's underwater, and treat rest as a performance input, not a reward. The work is better when the people doing it aren't running on fumes. In practice: You take the recharge week — and you cover for someone taking theirs. 02 Operating system How we work We're remote-first and async by default. Synchronous time is a scarce, expensive resource — we spend it on the things that genuinely need it and protect the rest of the day for deep work. ##### The defaults Remote-first Work from wherever you do your best work. We have hubs in SF and Lisbon, but no one is required to be in them. Decisions never happen in a hallway someone can't reach. Overlap window Be reachable 9am–1pm Pacific, four days a week. Outside that, shape your day however suits you — early, late, split, whatever ships the work. Async first If it can be a doc, a Loom, or a thread, it shouldn't be a meeting. Threads get a reply within one working day, not one working hour. Meeting hygiene No agenda, no meeting — it's fine to decline one without it. We keep them to 25 or 50 minutes, and Wednesdays are company-wide no-meeting days. Focus is sacred A status of "heads down" means heads down. Reserve real-time pings for things that are genuinely on fire. ##### Where the work lives Notion Source of truth Docs, decisions, specs, and this handbook. If it isn't written in Notion, it didn't happen. Slack Async chat Day-to-day comms. Public channels by default; DMs are for things that are actually private. Linear Execution Every piece of work is a tracked issue with one owner. No silent side-quests. Loom & Tuple High-bandwidth Loom for walkthroughs and feedback; Tuple when two people genuinely need to pair. Operating principle Optimize for the person reading this six months from now in a time zone you'll never meet. Context written down is context multiplied; context in your head is context lost. 03 You own a piece Ownership & equity Everyone at Cadence gets equity. You're not just an employee — you're an owner, and we want you to understand what that actually means, in plain language. ##### The basics, plainly What you get Incentive stock options (ISOs) — the right to buy shares later at today's price (your "strike price"). If Cadence grows, that gap becomes real value. Vesting Four years, with a one-year cliff. Nothing vests in month eleven; 25% vests at month twelve; the rest accrues monthly after that. Refresh grants We grant additional options at promotion and on a rolling basis from year three, so your ownership keeps growing as you do. Exercise window If you leave, you have **10 years** to exercise vested options — not the usual 90 days. We don't think people should lose what they earned because life moved on. Transparency Your grant, strike price, vesting schedule, and current 409A are all in Carta. We hold an "equity 101" session every quarter — bring any question, nothing is too basic. Honest caveat Startup equity is a real upside and a real gamble. It is not salary, and it isn't guaranteed to be worth anything. We'll always tell you what we know and never oversell what we don't. Talk to a tax advisor before exercising — early exercise and 83(b) elections have deadlines that bite. 04 How we pay Compensation philosophy We'd rather pay fairly and explain how than negotiate hard and stay quiet. Our goal is for you to never have to wonder whether you're being treated squarely. ##### Principles Benchmarked We target the 75th percentile of San Francisco market rates for your role and level, regardless of where you live. No geo-discounting. Transparent bands Every role has a published salary band and leveling rubric, visible to the whole company in Notion. You can see what the level above you pays. No haggling We make our best offer up front rather than rewarding whoever negotiates hardest. Same level, same band — full stop. Annual review Compensation is reviewed every January against fresh market data and your level. Raises follow leveling, not tenure alone. Pay target 75th Percentile of SF market, location-independent Review cadence Annual Plus off-cycle adjustments at promotion Bands Open Every level published company-wide We don't run individual cash bonuses — they tend to distort the wrong behaviors. Instead, value flows back to you through salary that tracks the market and equity that grows with the company. If we win, everyone who built it wins. 05 Rest is a feature Time off & recharge Our PTO is unlimited — which only works if people actually take it. So we've built in floors and rituals to make sure "unlimited" never quietly becomes "none." Minimum, not maximum 20 days The floor everyone is expected to take each year Company recharge 1 wk The whole company logs off the first week of July — together Sick & mental health ∞ Separate from PTO. Rest when you're unwell, no forms ##### How it works Booking Drop it in the team calendar and give a heads-up in Slack. Under three days needs no approval; a week or more, just loop your lead early so coverage is easy. The 20-day floor If you're tracking under 20 days by October, your manager will gently push you to plan more. Taking time off is part of doing the job well. Truly off Off means off. We don't expect Slack replies on vacation, and we cover for each other so no one comes back to a pile-up. Parental leave 16 weeks fully paid for all new parents, birth or adoption, with a phased ramp back. Your equity keeps vesting throughout. Sabbatical At five years, a fully-paid four-week sabbatical on top of PTO. Go build something, walk somewhere far, or do nothing at all. 06 The supporting cast Benefits & perks We spend on the things that compound — your health, your growth, and your setup — and skip the gimmicks. No ping-pong table you'll never use; real money toward a real working life. $2,000 Home-office stipend One-time, to build a setup that works — desk, chair, monitor. Plus $50/mo toward internet and utilities. $1,500 Annual learning budget Courses, books, conferences, coaching — anything that makes you better at your craft. No pre-approval under $300. $1,200 Wellness allowance Per year toward therapy, fitness, childcare — whatever keeps you well. Spend it how it helps you most. 100% Health, dental & vision Premiums fully covered for you and 75% for dependents. Top-tier plans, no Cadence markup. 4% 401(k) match Dollar-for-dollar up to 4% of salary, vested immediately. Free money — take it. 2×/yr Team offsites We fly the whole company together twice a year to plan, build, and actually meet the people behind the avatars. How to claim Stipends and allowances are reimbursed through Ramp — snap the receipt, tag the budget, done. Most land in your account within 48 hours. When something's ambiguous, spend like it's your own money and ask if you're unsure. 07 How we talk Communication norms Async, distributed work lives or dies on how we communicate. A few shared habits keep us fast without making anyone feel they have to be online at midnight. Do * Write the context once, in public, so nobody has to ask twice. * Assume good intent; tone is hard to read in text. * Use threads to keep channels readable. * Over-communicate timelines and blockers early. * Record a Loom when text would take ten paragraphs. Don't * Expect instant replies, or apologize for not giving them. * Make decisions in DMs that affect the wider team. * Send "you free?" with no context — just ask the thing. * Mistake being online for being productive. * Let a hard conversation rot into passive-aggression. ##### Response expectations Slack thread Within one working day. If it's urgent, say so explicitly — and that should be rare. @here / @channel Reserved for genuinely time-sensitive, whole-group news. Misuse erodes the signal for everyone. Doc comment Within two working days. Resolve threads once addressed so the doc stays clean. After hours & PTO No expectation to respond, ever. Schedule-send your late-night thoughts for the morning. 08 Getting better Performance & growth Feedback shouldn't be a surprise that arrives once a year. We aim for a steady, low-drama rhythm so you always roughly know where you stand and what's next. ##### The rhythm Weekly 1:1 with your manager A 30-minute conversation about your work, blockers, and how you're doing. Your agenda, not a status report. Continuous In-the-moment feedback Praise and course-corrections land close to the event, not banked for review season. If you're not getting enough, ask. Twice a year Growth review A structured look at impact against the leveling rubric, with written peer input. Tied to growth and compensation, never to a stack rank. As you grow Promotion You're promoted when you're already operating at the next level, not as a reward for waiting. The rubric is public, so the bar is never a mystery. If things aren't working We don't do silent stack-ranking or surprise terminations. If performance is genuinely off-track, you'll hear it directly and early, with a concrete, supported plan to turn it around. No one finds out their job is at risk on the day it ends. 09 Brief, but real The legal-but-important stuff We keep this short on purpose. It still matters — these are the ground rules that protect you, your teammates, and the company. The full policies live in Rippling; this is the human summary. At-will employment Employment is at-will: either of us can end it at any time, with or without cause. Nothing in this handbook is a contract or a promise of continued employment. Equal opportunity We hire, pay, and promote without regard to race, gender, age, religion, disability, orientation, or anything else irrelevant to the work. Discrimination has no home here. Anti-harassment Harassment of any kind is a fireable offense. Report concerns to your manager, People Ops, or anonymously via our third-party line — every report is taken seriously and handled discreetly. Code of conduct Treat people with respect, assume good faith, and represent Cadence honestly. Bring problems forward early — covering things up is the only true firing-level mistake. Confidentiality & IP Customer data and company secrets stay inside the company. Work you create in your role belongs to Cadence, per the agreement you signed on day one. Security basics Use the password manager, enable 2FA everywhere, lock your laptop, and never put customer data anywhere unsanctioned. Report a lost device or suspected breach to #security immediately — speed beats blame. Outside work & conflicts Side projects are fine as long as they don't compete with us or use our resources. If something might be a conflict, just disclose it — early and honestly. Expenses Spend company money like it's your own. Reasonable, work-related, documented in Ramp. When in doubt, ask first rather than after. One last thing Now go do the best work of your life. This handbook is a starting point, not the final word. The culture isn't on this page — it's in how you and everyone around you choose to show up tomorrow. We can't wait to build it with you. Read & understood Date Cadence Labs, Inc. handbook@cadencelabs.com v2026.2 ## Frequently asked questions ### What goes in a startup employee handbook? A startup handbook leads with values and culture, then covers how the team works (async, remote, tools), equity and compensation philosophy, time off, modern perks (learning budget, home-office stipend, wellness), communication norms, performance and growth, and the brief legal essentials (at-will, conduct, security), ending with a sign-off page. ### How is a startup handbook different from a corporate one? Startup handbooks are shorter, culture-forward, and written in plain language. They emphasize values, autonomy, remote work, and equity rather than long legalistic policy. The goal is to align people on how you work, not just to list rules. ### Is this startup handbook template free? Yes — free to use. Describe your startup’s values and policies to the AI and it will draft the handbook. Have counsel review the legal sections before distributing. [Use this template](https://buildpdfs.com/signup?templateId=startup-employee-handbook) — free, no credit card required.