Letter to a future hire

If you are considering joining Manav, here is what the team feels like at the bench. This is the letter we wish we'd received when we were thinking of joining places that turned out to be different than they advertised.

What we work on, plainly

The cryptographic infrastructure that proves a human stood behind an action. Most days that means writing Rust against a signing service, or Python against a verifier, or copy that explains why an audit trail matters to a CISO. Some days it means running a benchmark. Some days it means saying no to a feature that would make us bigger but would make the protocol worse.

What we expect of each other

One thesis at a time. Every PR carries a single change with a single reason. Every blog post says one thing. Every meeting has one decision to make. We are loud about ambiguity but quiet about disagreement; we hash it out before the meeting if we can, in the meeting if we have to, in writing afterwards if it is going to compound.

What we do not tolerate

Three things, with patience for nothing. Telling a customer the protocol does something it does not. Telling a teammate they shipped something they did not. Telling ourselves we are the only ones who could be doing this work — we are not, and treating ourselves as singular hardens our judgment in the wrong direction.

What we are still figuring out

Honest. Two layers. Localization. The protocol is built in English; we serve a global category and we have not invested enough in non-English documentation. Sales-led growth. We hired a small protocol team and a small developer-experience team; we have not yet built out the sales motion that the late-stage enterprise pipeline will demand. Both are within sight; neither is solved.

What we believe about you

You came across this page because someone forwarded it or you stayed in our orbit long enough for the algorithm to surface us. Either way, you are looking for work that takes itself seriously without taking itself ostentatiously. We can offer that. We can also offer compensation that is competitive within the category but not the most aggressive in the field; we trade upside in exchange for protocol-grade time horizons. If that math works for you, we should talk.

What you should do next

Write us about something specific you would change about the protocol if we hired you. Not your résumé. The change. We will read it carefully. The result is not a job offer; it is a conversation, which is the only honest first step.

Common objections

Two objections worth answering. Stated values do not survive growth pressure — true historically, which is why we put structural mechanisms (open-source, governance, protocol-enforced custody) behind the words rather than just the words. This sounds like marketing — the test will be the audit hashes, the protocol design, and the operating agreements, not the prose.

Frequently asked questions

What does this commitment cost us if we honor it? Real money in the years where the temptation would have been highest. We are pricing it in upfront because the commitment is structural, not aspirational.

Where do we publish this commitment? Here, on the protocol governance page, and in the operating agreements with our investors. Anyone can audit whether the commitment is being kept by reading the audit hashes we publish quarterly.

What if leadership changes? The commitment is structural enough that a new leadership cannot quietly reverse it. The protocol mechanics make the breach detectable; the legal commitments add a second layer; the cultural commitments add a third.

Where to start

For the wider posture, read manav manifesto and manav values 200. The values, the protocol, and the operating model only fit together when read in that order.

What we are not promising

We are not promising that this will be easy. We are not promising that the protocol will get adopted on the timeline we hope. We are not promising that you will look back on the work as the most important you ever did, though we believe you might. The compensation will be honest market rate for your level. The equity will vest the standard way. The hours will be hard during launches and humane between them. Most of all: we are not promising that the company will be the only one that gets identity right. There may be three companies, ten, fifteen, before this is over. The promise is that we will be honest about the work, the stakes, and our own mistakes. We will write down what we get wrong and what we learn from it. The biggest career risk we know is taking jobs that demand you believe things you do not. We are not asking that.

If we cannot be honest about what working here is like, we cannot be honest about the thing we are trying to ship. We will try to be both.