It was quite literally the eleventh hour when Gynger’s VP of Revenue Drew Olsen and the sales team at Gynger crossed the finish line — with only 15 minutes to spare.
While they weren’t competing in an actual marathon, the pressure felt comparable. Olsen and his peers were racing to hit a high sales target during one particular quarter, which required every team — from product and engineering to marketing — to work together against the clock.
Head of Talent Acquisition Jonathan Graber had his own part to play in the effort, as he had to fill critical positions that were needed to ensure the organization met its goal.
“It was all-hands-on-deck to the very end,” he said.
But that wasn’t the first time Graber saw Gynger’s mission-driven culture in action.
He said that the company’s mission, “Combining software with capital to help businesses scale with the technology they love,” guides how employees serve customers and connect with each other every day.
This mission, coupled with a strong set of core values, gives way to a vibrant in-office culture and a tight-knit remote workplace. Whether they’re connecting over drinks after work or establishing the next steps for a project in a virtual meeting, Graber shared, every employee gets to “leave their mark” on the fast-growing company.
Below, Graber shares more about Gynger’s mission-driven culture and the impact it has on employees.
About Gynger
Founded in 2021, Gynger offers an AI-powered platform that’s designed to simplify how businesses manage payments and financing for technology expenses. Through the company’s platform, business leaders can apply for credit to pay off their companies’ expenses upfront and create a custom payment plan that enables them to pay back Gynger in a manner that suits their organizations’ unique needs.
How would you describe Gynger’s culture?
Building culture is a challenging process that doesn’t usually stick to a straight and defined path. Since our beginning, Gynger has invested in the development of a core defined mission and set of values that we all operate under. As a hybrid workplace, however, we have additionally focused on nurturing both in-office and remote subcultures.
The Gynger headquarters in NYC is a bustling office that mainly consists of our go-to-market team. Having camaraderie in the “sales crucible” is important for any growing company, and the office fosters a “work hard, play hard” attitude with friendly competition.
As we continue to grow, we’re cultivating our remote culture as well. Our product and engineering team is almost all remote along with some other individuals, including myself. In lieu of a shared office environment, we’ve developed a culture of collaboration and trust. We emphasize clear communication and regular check-ins to ensure everyone feels valued and heard.
Core Values That Guide the Gynger Team
- “‘Win Together’ means we move, grow and win as a team.”
- “‘Be Accountable’ means we celebrate our successes but also learn from our failures and adjust as needed.”
- “‘Stay Curious’ isn’t just about merely staying relevant; it’s about shaping the future of our industry.”
- “‘Listen to Understand’ goes beyond hearing words. Over the course of the past year, we’ve incorporated many product features that came from listening to our clients and investors.”
- “‘Go Above & Beyond’ — if there’s anyone that emulates that value, it’s our CEO, Mark Ghermezian. Not only has he been a pioneer before, but he constantly reinvents himself as a pioneer and challenges us to do the same.”
How would you describe your approach to leading others and building culture? What principles do you follow?
I’m a team of one currently, but I’ve managed others in the past. I generally lead by a few guiding principles, and I hope that I can not only impart this on my own team when the time comes but also influence how our management operates in general.
These guiding principles start with accountability. We’re building a culture in which we stay true to our customers, vendors, partners and team. However, it starts with staying true to ourselves because accountability begins within. It’s about consistently aligning our actions with our values, creating a strong foundation that naturally influences everything we do. Secondly, it’s important to guide, not micromanage. Part of accountability is sharing your expertise while allowing the individual contributor room to operate. This allows for two things: diverse perspectives and mistakes, the latter of which is OK as long as it enables you to grow.
Finally, it’s key to be philanthropic. A wise person once told me to be philanthropic with your time, money and wisdom; but if you can’t do all three of these things, make sure you’re doing at least two at any given time. Philanthropy helps people stay true to themselves, grounding them in their core values. By giving back, we ensure our actions are aligned with a greater purpose, reinforcing the ultimate accountability to ourselves. Obviously, within a business setting, philanthropy means something different than helping those in need, but the idea is the same: making sure you’re grounded in the basic tenets of how to stay true to yourself.
“Philanthropy helps people stay true to themselves, grounding them in their core values.”
What opportunities do employees have to stretch their skills and grow professionally?
As a growing startup, Gynger is actively developing systems for structured support and personalized development. While we're in the process of building these resources, we’re already offering self-serve continuing education courses through Udemy, empowering our team to advance their careers and explore new interests.
We often promote from within. Our directors of engineering and product both started off as leads. One of our account executives was promoted from being a business development representative, and we specifically tailor our BDR role to follow that trajectory.
Given our startup environment, we tend to wear many hats. As such, we encourage cross-functional collaboration, allowing employees to stretch their skills by working on diverse projects beyond their immediate roles. Therefore, regular performance reviews focus not just on current responsibilities but also on long-term career aspirations, helping to create actionable growth plans within areas that employees wish to strengthen.
What do you consider to be the greatest benefits of working at Gynger?
Employees have the opportunity to work for a fast-growing company that’s disrupting the way B2B technology is bought and sold. They also get to work for a serial entrepreneur, Mark Ghermezian, who was the founding CEO of Braze, which is now a publicly traded company.
Lastly, team members have the ability to wear many hats and leave their mark. I can’t think of anything more impactful than that.
