Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love: Summary & Key Insights

Before Menlo Innovations existed, I had lived the life of a traditional software executive. I had cubicles and titles, status reports and command chains. And yet, every day, I felt the spark of creation being smothered by bureaucracy. Meetings dragged on, fear dictated decisions, and employees were disengaged. The work had lost its purpose. The more systems we built to control people, the less joy they felt—and the lower our productivity dropped.

This realization didn’t arrive overnight. It came through years of frustration, failed projects, and a growing sense that something fundamental in business culture was broken. I witnessed how fear crept into every corner of the workplace—fear of making mistakes, fear of losing one’s job, fear of speaking truth to power. I began to question: why do we accept such a miserable norm? Why can’t software development—the act of solving human problems—be joyful?

The turning point came when I decided to start over. Along with my co-founders, I wanted to build a company that reflected what truly matters: trust, collaboration, and purpose. We named it Menlo Innovations, inspired by Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park, a place of experimentation and imagination. From day one, we committed to designing not only great software, but a great way of working. We would measure success not just by profits, but by the smiles on our team’s faces and the delight of our customers. That was the beginning of the Joy, Inc. journey.

Joy is not about superficial happiness or constant cheerfulness. It’s about profound satisfaction—a sense that what you do each day contributes to something meaningful. At Menlo, we describe joy as the intersection of purpose, teamwork, and human connection.

Purpose comes from knowing that our work improves the lives of others. When we design a system that helps nurses manage patient care more easily or a tool that enables businesses to serve their customers better, we feel the tangible impact of our efforts. Joy flourishes when we see how our code or our designs make a difference.

Teamwork is the second pillar. Joy rarely emerges in isolation; it thrives in connection. Working together in pairs, sharing responsibilities, and openly communicating create an environment of empathy and shared learning. Instead of competing for recognition, our developers support each other, constantly reviewing and improving the work together.

Lastly, there’s the human connection—our culture’s heartbeat. We created rituals that remind us that we’re not just employees but people. We celebrate milestones, share stories, and treat mistakes as opportunities for growth, not sources of shame. This definition of joy—grounded in meaning, relationship, and humanity—became our guiding star.