Leaked Internal Memo: What a Difference a Year Makes

By: Patrick Moran | Posted in: Company News, Top Post, Sep. 7th, 2012

Happy Friday everyone. I thought I’d share an email my friend and ‘boss-man’ Chris Cook (COO & President) sent to employees yesterday.  I was about to write a blog post about our great culture and how we’re different, but I asked Chris if I could simply repost his email as “exhibit A”.

Sometimes ‘leaked internal memos’ expose the ugly dark underbelly of the corporate world.  In this case… not so much!

I hope you consider joining our company family, too!

Begin forwarded message:

From: Chris Cook <chris@newrelic.com>

Subject: What a Difference a Year Makes

Date: September 6, 2012 12:00:28 PM PDT

To: All

Reply-To: chris@newrelic.com

One year ago today, I had the pleasure of walking into the New Relic office as its newest employee.  After more than 25 years in this business, working for both large corporations and startups, I was tremendously excited to join such a talented team with a rich culture and a strong opportunity for growth.  It was thrilling to be back in the startup world, as the 50th employee and I was as excited as a child on the first day of school.  One year later, my excitement remains just as strong, and I am motivated by the people around me, and the great work being done by this team.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk in the news about jobs.  HP recently announced they will be eliminating jobs, not just a few, but tens of thousands.  Both major parties have been talking about creating jobs during their national conventions the past two weeks.  While they talk about job creation, New Relic has actually been doing something about it that is quite exciting to me.  In the past year, we have added about 100 employees.  That is 100 new families who have been positively impacted by New Relic.  We hope to fulfill the dreams of each of our employees, both current and future, whether its buying a house, building a family, sending kids to college, saving for retirement, or just having a great environment to do their best work.  We view and treat our employees as family, and strive for them to see New Relic as an extension of their family.

With each new employee we hire, there is a collateral effect that positively impacts other jobs around us: baristas, waiters, delivery people, etc.  Additionally, we are having a direct and positive affect on job creation in other companies, all over the world.  Our employee growth is coming from growth in our business. New Relic’s customer base nearly tripled over the past year to more than 29,000+ customers.  This is a living example of what can happen when you assemble an amazing team, build a quality product, and serve a compelling need in the market.  Our customers are both big and small, but I am particularly proud of the work we do with smaller businesses, many of whom are like us, trying to build tomorrow’s successful companies, and fulfill the dreams of their employees.  These are companies that leverage the efficiency and reach of the internet through modern web applications.  In many cases, the app is the business, and New Relic is helping thousands of these companies succeed by providing quality service to their customers.  As they succeed, they grow, and more and more jobs are created.

I truly love what I do at New Relic and the many friends with whom I get to enjoy the journey each and every day.  For me though, there lies a deeper purpose and a greater satisfaction beyond the success of our company; the positive personal impact we are having on our employees and their families, and our extended family of customers.

Thanks for letting me be a part of this amazing story.

Chris