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Hiro gathered for an all-inclusive experience in Riviera Maya, Mexico for our first team retreat since 2019. There was sun, surf, an absurdly competitive scavenger hunt, and too many tacos to count. It was everything we wanted it to be. What I learned from those few days in Mexico is that relationships are everything, and camaraderie wins the day.
Daydreaming of Meeting the Team
I joined Hiro two years ago, early on in the pandemic. I spent my first few months working on a ‘return to office’ plan. I strolled south from my midtown apartment to our offices in Flatiron once a week to water the plants. I chatted with my fellow NYC colleagues on Slack, daydreaming about the happy hours we’d plan once things got back to normal.
As the months passed by, I found myself looking for new homes for those beloved office plants (after 6 months of keeping them alive, I felt personally attached to them). I gave away our office snacks to whoever would take them and asked folks what they wanted me to do with the hoodies they left on the back of their chairs. It was clear that WFH wasn’t going to be temporary. We weren’t coming back to this space.
Fast forward to today: we’re still in our home offices around the world, and I feel closer than ever to my fellow Hiro’s.
When I was planning this retreat I asked Alex, our CEO, what he wanted to cover with the team. I figured he’d say something about strategy or OKRs (Objectives and Key Results, a goal-setting framework we use at Hiro), but he shocked me when he said, “Let’s just hang out.” My jaw hit the floor. I relayed this to our event planners, and we scratched our heads trying to figure out what to do with the conference space we paid for. Here’s what we came up with:
The Agenda
Day 1
- Welcome reception on the beach at sunset, complete with Hiro-branded coconuts for drinks! How nuts is that!
Day 2
- Full team ‘meeting’ in the morning, which consisted of a 5 minute ‘hello’ from Alex and devolved into a scavenger hunt that deserves it’s own blog post
- Full team lunch with a birthday surprise for one of our Hiro’s
- An afternoon on the beach with volleyball, windsurfing, and plenty of lounging
- Team dinner at an open air restaurant on the beach, followed by cocktails at a neighboring resort
Day 3
- A morning presentation from our engineering team, celebrating their accomplishments and discussing the future
- Team activities where each individual team got to spend quality time together, including four-wheeling, zip lining, cave diving, snorkeling, and some napping for those of us who were exhausted (aka ME!)
- Team dinner at our resort in a themed Mexican street food market set up on one of the lawns
- Team bonfire with a marshmallow bar for s’mores as well as fireworks that I didn’t plan but definitely took credit for
Day 4
- Our heartfelt goodbyes as everyone returned home
Putting Team First
That was the retreat. My business school brain wasn’t prepared for a retreat of this nature, but holy moly was it effective. We’re a remote first company, and we took the retreat as an opportunity to build relationships with each other instead of simply working in the same room together. Through that decision, virtual friendships were solidified, and so much context was absorbed. Even better, the retreat maximized our excitement for what’s to come. Bitcoin is changing the world, and through Hiro's developer tools, we empower developers to build new applications for Bitcoin and unleash its full potential. And there’s a place for you to join us too.
We’re a remote first company, and we took the retreat as an opportunity to build relationships with each other instead of simply working in the same room together.
Hiro is doubling the team in 2022 and growing even larger in 2023. This is a brilliant team tackling hard problems, and if you are interested in the cutting edge, Hiro may be the place for you. Hiro is the best place I’ve ever worked because we have a team that truly values its people and sees each member as an individual that is more than their job description. Come see for yourself. Check out our careers page to learn more!
P.S. We do have an amazing new office in Union Square in New York City, for those who want a place to visit with their colleagues. We have fake plants this time around, but the snacks are just as good.
