What is Mode Set? 

We do technical execution for startups, brands, and agencies. Basically, we fill the need of a tech staff. We do software development, but not design. It's pure tech imlementation and consulting in that way.

How did you get started?

The team used to all work together at an ad agency, and we were always talking about getting to do more of the work that we liked (and less of the stuff we didn't) and doing it for more diverse sub-clients.

How did you come up with the name? 

Originally we were calling ourselves "Bit Theory," but we couldn't keep it  – there’s another one in CA in a similar line of business. We went through a process and Justin built a word smasher that canme up with permutations – had 600 variants off of that and picked it. So it's kind of cool, our name was actually chosen by a technical tool that we built.

How would you describe your company's culture?

We got into this from what we were doing previously because wanted to stay close to the tech side of things – work in coding and pushing the envelope. We're all about doing cool and interesting technical work, so, we take every ooportunity they can to do new things, work with new clients. We also just have fun with the type of work and tools - we're very laid back, sometimes we'll take Friday ski days, etc. You can be relaxed like that when your culture is  oriented around doing good work. Because of that, we like to hire people who are able to manage themselves, and never want anyone to be in the position where they have to be managers. Our company is very flat - we have staff be people who can manage themselves, take things and run with it.

Have you ever had a major failure or mistake that you'd share with us because of what you learned from it?

The toughest thing – particularly when working with startups - is that it's process that’s had to be refined a lot. There were a lot of fits and starts with that – every situation is different, every entrepreneur has a different set of experiences and background. 

What advice would you give to an aspiring startup founder? 
1)    Jump in fully right away. When we were in the very early stages, there was a lot of going back and forth over structure, how we wanted to position ourselves – all of that is really difficult to do in the abstract. But once you’re out there, those decisions become much easier. Get in the middle of things and move through those decisions – make something, move on, make it better later. Don’t have decision paralysis.

2)    Don’t be afraid to make huge mistakes – very rarely will you make mistakes that aren’t fixable. For the most part, if you’re doing something, you’re at least moving the ball. Pay attention to the feedback that you get from that.