There’s a billboard beside the highway next to our headquarters that reads “Domo=Japanese for Bacon.” That’s not actually true; Domo is Japanese for “thank you.” But why be literal when the goal of advertising is to get people’s attention?
We hope the sign accomplishes that. But if our creative team ever decided to use the same format to send a message about the culture that exists at Domo, they could go with “Domo=One of the Best Companies You Can Work for.”
It’s a true statement. Last week, Utah Business magazine called Domo out as one of the best companies to work for in Utah. Again.
That’s right. For the seventh year in a row, Domo made the exclusive list, which included only 11 other companies that employ between 501 and 2,500 people. When you consider that in Utah there are more than 4,000 software/IT companies alone, that’s a major achievement.
Shane Koller, our Vice President of Human Resources, accepted the award on Domo’s behalf. Shane has been with Domo for six years, and while he could rattle off a million reasons why he still loves going to work every day, he says it mainly comes down to three things: the people, the product, and the opportunity.
I sat down with Shane after the awards ceremony and talked to him about his journey with Domo. Here’s a snippet of that conversation.
What drew you to Domo? I’d say the potential of the platform, the reach of the product, and the chance to help grow a company from very early stages. I came on at a time when the company was one, maybe two years old. We probably only had about 200 employees or so. The product was in such a different place then. But the vision Josh (James, Domo’s CEO) had around being able to connect all your data in one place was very compelling to me.
Why has Domo been such a good fit for you? One of the things I really enjoy about Domo is that, in most cases, we’re able to move quickly. We have a startup feel, so we pivot when we need to and make decisions when we need to without massive committees or a lot of extra steps getting in the way or holding us back. I like the idea that there really is no box when it comes to Domo. We’re encouraged all the time to think as if there are no constraints, and that leads to a different level of creativity and output.
How has Domo grown during your tenure? When I first started at Domo, we were in pure startup mode. It was all hands on deck, no day ever looked the same, and we were all pitching in and doing whatever needed to be done. There were so many things that needed figuring out. There still are, but we’ve gotten our feet under us and we know what our roles look like. And we’ve grown in complexity across the globe. So we’ve got many more moving parts to think about, and that’s exciting.
How would you describe the people and the culture at Domo? Probably driven, more than anything. And entrepreneurial. We all seem to see and understand the vision of the platform and want to be a part of that explosion, to see it become a reality. Also, everyone is incredibly intelligent. We attract the best of the best. Sometimes people who don’t work at Domo will ask me about the benefits, such as the parties, and the food, and the flexibility. We have all those things, but in my mind, what really separates us is what we have in spades, which is this massive opportunity ahead of us. To me, that impacts culture more than anything. It’s all kind of a follow-on to having an amazing opportunity that people get to be a part of. And the problems we’re solving are big problems. We’re trying to break down the silos that existed between sources of data, teams, and regions so people have access to the insights they need in order to help their companies reach their true potential. It’s awesome.