In the early days of a startup, engagement doesn't come from feature lists or polished landing pages.
It comes from how the founders see the future.
Before companies had traction, they had manifestos. Before metrics, they had beliefs. People followed not because everything was figured out, but because the way of thinking felt honest, coherent, and human.
That's why we decided to publish our company handbook openly at Hyprnote.
Two Documents, Not One
At the start of Y Combinator, a visiting partner named Eli shared something that stuck with me.
When he was trying to hire exceptional engineers, he never sent just one document. He sent two.
The first was straightforward: requirements.
The tech stack, the tools, how things worked on a day-to-day basis.
The second was harder to write: expectations.
How decisions are actually made.
What ownership really means.
What "doing a good job" looks like inside the company.
At the time, this sounded like a hiring tactic. Only later did I realize the second document was doing most of the work.
Requirements filter for ability.
Expectations filter for alignment.
What Most Early-Stage Companies Don't Write Down
Most startups are very good at explaining what they're building.
Very few explain how they think.
Culture, expectations, and definitions of success are often left implicit. People are expected to "pick it up" over time. But when expectations live only in people's heads, everyone fills in the gaps differently — and misalignment is almost guaranteed.
This problem compounds in open-source companies.
Our code is public by default. Anyone can read it, audit it, or contribute to it. But the thinking behind the code — the standards, the trade-offs, the way decisions are made — usually stays hidden.
We didn't want that asymmetry.
Why Put a Handbook on the Website?
Publishing a company handbook publicly isn't about transparency as a virtue signal.
It's about trust.
In the early days, people don't engage with companies because they're perfect. They engage because they feel real. They want to know how the founders see the world, how they make trade-offs, and what kind of future they're trying to build.
That's why some of the most respected open-source companies — like GitLab, Cal.com, and PostHog — treat their handbooks not as internal policy, but as living documents. Not slogans. Not posters. Just honest clarity.
We believe authentic writing — especially early on — creates more meaningful engagement than any polished marketing copy ever could.
What Our Handbook Is (and Isn't)
The Hyprnote handbook is not a rulebook.
It's not a list of corporate values.
It's not a finished product.
It's a snapshot of how we define good work, ownership, communication, and trust — right now.
Some parts may change. Some beliefs may evolve. That's expected. What matters is that our expectations are explicit, not assumed.
For us, writing this down is slightly uncomfortable. And that's exactly why it matters.
An Invitation
If you're building a company — especially an open-source one — I'd encourage you to ask:
What expectations exist in your company that everyone "just knows," but have never been written down?
And if you're reading this as a contributor, user, or future teammate:
this handbook is our attempt to show how we think, not just what we build.
That feels like the right place to start.
