We believe
Great software will actually change the world
Our mission
To create lasting positive impact within the area of software products and services
Our strategy
To form a hybrid between a software company and an investment company
Our journey as a company dates back to 2011, when we started an IT consulting company with the mission of creating a collective with an awesome culture, where talented people could come together and enjoy working. Six years later we started a new journey, where we have evolved and want to embrace an organization that acts and adapts to the individual. For us it is not just about pursuing our own dreams and goals, it is also about being passionate about yours. This handbook serves as an introduction to what we - as a company - believe in, what we are, and what we want to become.
We want to welcome you to Evolve Technology, let your journey begin! Congratulations for passing our recruitment process, we are so happy that you are here.
Our company is formed by and for people and companies who are striving for excellence. If you can just embrace uncertainty in some areas and take on personal responsibility, Evolve will give you the opportunity to be a part of a creative working environment where most of the organizational obstacles and restraints have been removed.
We have big ambitions and are really committed to making this the greatest professional experience you have encountered. It may take some time getting used to our way of working and thinking, but don’t worry - you will be assigned a mentor at Evolve that will help you get on board.
Evolve Technology is a company within the Qamcom family of companies. Qamcom is a world class R&D organization within the area of signal processing, communication systems, radar systems, automotive systems and functional safety. They are also experienced entrepreneurs with investments in multiple companies and a group of subsidiaries.
We’ve gone out of our way to hire the most talented, driven and passionate people (after all, we hired you) and we want to put as little as possible in the way for you doing the best work of your career. That’s why we don’t do managers and hierarchies. At all. We believe that the collective intelligence is more powerful than the traditional pyramid (and there is even science backing that up). But that doesn’t mean we don’t put great value in leadership and structure. Whenever teams are formed around projects we usually assign ourselves roles, responsibilities and commitments for the lifetime of the project. That means you can easily try out a new role if you want to push yourself, or even take a step back for the next project if life just seems too busy.
We’re not in the business of burning people out, or exploiting our colleagues with a goal of maximizing short term revenue. Work is just one part of life, and a part that shouldn’t affect the other parts in a negative way. Together with you we will be working hard to find meaningful projects to be passionate about, but also projects that makes sense for you in terms of hours, location etc. Both research and our own experiences tell us that working long hours doesn't really make you more productive; instead it tends to lower the effectiveness and increases the risk of you burning out.
We care about you and the people around you, hence we do not promote long working hours. We promote balance and happiness. The key takeaway is that we truly believe that assigning people to projects should always consider the individual's own passion, interests and life situation. Anything else would be short sighted. And hey, don't forget to have fun along the way!
At some companies you’re told to keep your personal opinions to yourself. That could not be further from our point of view. At Evolve we put great value in clear and honest communication, even criticism. After all, the company is formed around the idea of constantly evolving, and how could we improve our faults if no one ever speaks up? Our only measurement as an organization is against our former selves. Have we improved over the past 6 months or are we getting stuck? We’re striving for a constant, open dialogue about what we can improve and change. Reading this you might be one of our newest colleagues - use that to your advantage, often the best new ideas comes from someone with a fresh pair of eyes. We like to think of Evolve as a living organism, which adapts and changes over time, always improving.
Key to pursuing our mission of creating lasting positive impact is to take every given opportunity to share the insights we’ve gathered over the years. Knowledge sharing is fundamental in creating world-class organizations and excellent software solutions. When knowledge is shared, we will have a more solid foundation to stand on when making decisions, which in return will create the best conditions for successful projects. Whether it’s about internal hackathons, daily discussions or speaking at public conferences we’re always trying to share, and to learn from each other. We encourage everyone to make use of our talented colleagues, learning from each other instead of competing. We’re also big believers in open source and giving back to the community from which we gain so much everyday.
Well, this is a part where you should pay a bit more attention, because this is very important for our long-term success. We do not have a specific growth plan. We intend to hire the best people, and we will do that at a pace that allows us to preserve and evolve our culture. Our long-term vision will always guide our decisions; we don’t hire just to make fast and easy money.
We only hire highly skilled individuals. It’s not about the years you have been working; it’s about who you are and what value you bring to the table. When we are looking for a new colleague we look beyond the technical skills. At Evolve we are strong believers in human equality. For us, diversity is more than just being willing to hire and work with everyone. It’s about accepting, celebrating and valuing all persons, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age etc. We value you just as you are!
We look for passionate people that are always striving to improve - people that are street smart, who always find a way to solve the problem at hand. It’s about seeing what value we can actually create and not get stuck in the details. We are always going to try to hire people more capable than ourselves.
When we are recruiting new colleagues, we are trying to ask ourselves the following questions:
- Is this a person I would like to spend 8 hours a day with?
- Will this person add value to the team?
- Is this a person that I can learn something from?
- Will this person stand out amongst their peers?
- Will this person be easygoing and collaborative?
It’s a little bit like being McGyver or Katniss Everdeen. To find a way out of every tricky situation and, like a chameleon, adapting to every situation. From opening a door with a paper-clip and a stick of gum to conquer seemingly impossible challenges by outsmarting the competition.
This means that you will always have highly skilled colleagues who can challenge you to evolve – we learn from each other!
At Evolve, we strongly believe that you do your best work where you feel the most comfortable. Going to the office every weekday from 8 am to 5 pm doesn't fit everyone nor everyone's life. To be the most effective and achieve life balance, we need flexibility. This is why we see remote work as a prerequisite to taking on projects. At Evolve we keep updated in techniques, tools and methods for enabling distrubuted teams. For you this means a true possibilty to create your optimal work environment while still keeping that cosy feeling of beeing an Evolver. For our environment this means fewer miles on the road, less pollution and more unicorns.
We value knowledge and passion very highly; those are two strong forces that have been changing the world since the beginning of mankind. There are a lot of people in the world who have brought enlightenment to the world, changing our point of view; Rosa Parks, Emmeline Pankhurst, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs. All of these people who have changed the world to the better because of their passion, knowledge and belief in a better world. At Evolve we value the following metrics:
When working in projects, how much of what you do have an impact, how are your efforts valued in that project, are you a valuable team member, do you take on responsibility and finish the work that needs to be done? Are you productive and efficient, or are you covering up by spending a lot of hours instead?
Are you the person who solves problems, or are you the person who creates them? How difficult and valued are the problems you are solving and how important or critical tasks can be handed to you? Are you an authority within your field, or are you on the path on becoming one? Have you specialized in solving a certain class of problems? When you bring up a problem, do you also suggest solutions to it?
Besides your day to day work, how much do you contribute to Evolve in other areas? How much do you contribute in our hiring process, recruitment, sales, culture building, getting to know your colleagues, improving us and our customers? We believe that these metrics offer a wide range of ways in which you can add value to our customers and us.
We are looking for ambitious people, so questions about career advancement are expected. As we’ve mentioned, Evolve doesn’t have a traditional organization based on a hierarchical structure. So you wonder how we can fit into your career plan and the path you have chosen, and if a career growth is possible?
As mentioned above we don’t have static roles or titles. Instead we distribute most of the tasks to volunteering colleagues. Sales, recruiting, strategy, R&D and marketing are some areas that usually are restricted to a select few within a company. Instead we encourage everyone to join in where they think that they can contribute the most, or simply just try out new things. This way we will have synergy effects and will always be improving in our processes at the same time as we broaden each individual's skillset.
You will be surrounded with a multidisciplinary group of people, all with great knowledge and experience within different fields. This is one of the advantages you will have at Evolve, the opportunity to learn and gather knowledge within other fields and disciplines - and the more you learn, the more value you are able to create.
After a while you might actually end up on a different path than the one you first started on. When you are able to explore other fields and learn new trades, you might find a new passion and role that fits you even better. Don’t let fear of the unknown stay in your way of success and happiness. The interpretation of the word success is very individual; success for us is doing what you love and what makes you happy.
Well, the answer is probably no… Over the years we all learn a lot of things, and we gain new habits. Some of the habits we have gained along the way might not be good for our personal growth, sometimes they even inhibit us from achieving our full potential. The same applies for the environment we exist in. When you are reading about our DNA, don’t let fear of the unknown stand in your way. And don’t limit yourself to the current way of thinking based on earlier work experience, because we are not an ordinary company and we do not aim to become one. We are all responsible for our own destiny; the decisions we make, big or small, will contribute to our future success or failure. On our path we will also learn a lot about making better choices, things we didn’t know before our journey started. The challenges we will face and overcome will ultimately define us as a company.
“A hybrid between a software company and an investment company.”
First of all, Evolve is a software company, serving our customers in most areas regarding development of software products and services. We love adding true value to our customers, since it aligns perfectly with our purpose of creating lasting positive impact in a world that never stops changing. The following sections will describe our areas of focus.
A startup will always aim for the bold ideas which make a real impact. That’s why we are dedicating a part of our strategy to making investments in the form of offering our services to startups for equity instead of money. This will allow us to work close with each other, their cause becomes ours, and we will form long lasting relationships and partnerships.
The graveyard is full of dreams and ideas that never got realized, but as a colleague at Evolve we want you to explore yours instead of ending up burying them in the ground. We will give you the time and tools required in exploring those ideas to see what they can become. Who knows, you might change the world, and we would love to be by your side doing so!
Whether crafting new software from scratch or adding new dimensions to an existing service or application, a team from Evolve can help in realizing good ideas. Our gathered experience from a large number of business areas, in combination with a strategically developed competence portfolio makes it possible for us to put together a highly productive cross-functional team.
Evolve is created to accomodate people who are highly skilled and passionate about creating true value with software as our tool. We will always bring highly knowledgeable people into the teams and improve a team's performance and capability. Most often we will work in pairs or teams from Evolve.
We’re always looking for partnerships that bring us closer, rather than just supplying members to existing teams. As with startups, we’re also working together with well established, bigger companies delivering end-to-end solutions, taking on entire projects, from the initial draft to delivery.
If somebody has an idea or if they are thinking about refining their existing software, but are uncertain about how or what to do when it comes to technical choices or methodology, Evolve can assist in the decision making. We have extensive experience and knowledge of the software industry, and also of the challenges these types of projects face. We will put all our effort into helping our customers avoid them.
Last but not least, thank you! Thank you for joining us, for choosing to be part of our exciting journey. Together we will create our own future, a future we believe has great things in store. With every initiative, project, team and line of code, we will make an impact. Steadily evolving together with you, beacause of you. Rest assured it will be an awesome ride.
We are different. We make a difference. We are Evolve.