Applied Intuition and Brex on Mission, Strategy, and Metrics

1. How Qasar Runs Applied Intuition

Applied is 8 years old, has raised $600M (with all of it still in the bank), and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in Revenue. It’s a deeply technical company, with 82% of the team in engineering, product, and design. Applied operates across three core product pillars: (1) engineering tooling to help companies write and deploy software onto vehicles, (2) a full-stack operating system for automotive and defense customers, and (3) autonomy solutions for vehicle domains beyond robotaxis.

Values Are the Operating System

• Applied was built on a foundation of tactical values—not an aspirational mission statement.
• These values are embedded into hiring, compensation, and how the company operates day-to-day.
• As such, values must be specific and reflect how the company actually works—not how it hopes to.

At 10 people and ~$10M in revenue, Qasar and the team codified what was working:

• They identified 10 values based on what was driving success—not what sounded good.
• While the values have evolved incrementally, the core principles have remained consistent.
• The goal was to attract self-selecting candidates—people who would thrive in this environment.
• This clarity has helped Applied become the default destination for high-quality technical talent in autonomy. They are the largest employer of ex-Waymo employees in the world
• Values are intentionally pragmatic and help codify decision making and execution principles

Example: Applied Intuition’s 10 Cultural Values

01 Move fast, move safe
We believe in a culture of fast and responsible execution. Decisions are made at the lowest level possible where the right knowledge exists. A decision made is progress made. Action items and deliverables should have time horizons within days, not weeks.

02 Never disappoint the customer
Our customers should consistently feel we are, hands down, their best vendor because our products and training are best in the market. That means we help our customers make quick, consistent, and measurable progress. All decisions should start with the customer in mind, beginning with a commitment to “understand the other side.”

03 Raise the quality bar
Each person on the team should be able to clearly answer the question “Am I doing the best work of my life?” A key component of “best work” is the quality of the work. We emphasize a hygienic, professional approach to everything from processes to our own attitudes. In communication, quality means being concise, thoughtful, and direct.

04 High output matters
Winning matters, and we can win when we row as one. Rowing as one means we have high individual output while being in sync with our team and company. Another aspect of high output is knowing busyness doesn’t mean progress. We should be very sensitive to “work theater.”

05 Cultivate technical mastery
We should be the best in our respective domains. If we are not, we should be curious and seek out ways to get there. There is a base expectation that we have a strong technical command over our areas of work.

06 Be self-regulated
We are a self-directed team and trust each other to get our work done. We believe some of our best work is done quietly and alone. With this, there is a much higher responsibility to self-regulate and take personal responsibility for reaching out to others when one needs help or support. When someone is not pulling their weight on a self-managed team, everyone suffers.

07 Be cost conscious
We are thoughtful about how we use resources. Financially, a business is revenue minus expenses; all expenses should provide high value. There is also a decision and time cost, so if the resource on the line is small, the decision should be expected to be quick. We should be very skeptical of meetings, especially large ones or ones that have nebulous goals like “catching up.”

08 Laugh a lot
Building a company, especially a high-growth technology company, is tough. With a light-hearted attitude it also becomes a fun and gratifying experience that we can be excited about and look back on fondly. We should actively nurture and support positive, optimistic people. Also laughter breeds authenticity while seriousness breeds superficiality. If you’re not laughing frequently, it’s a sign something is wrong.

09 Leave it better than you found it
The most competent professionals can anticipate issues and proactively tackle them. We need to take quick action on all issues before they become structural and accepted as the way we do things. The path to mediocrity is paved with apathy. If we don’t look for patterns and leave things better than we found them, the company will degrade. Don’t walk by the small fire in the hallway because you think it’s on someone else to put out.

10 Half of the work is following up
If something is not written down and followed up on, it might as well have never happened. We should have notes and action items with clear timelines. This is from casual discussions to code reviews and customer meetings.

Mission Was Layered On Later—Too Late in Hindsight

• Applied didn’t start with a mission statement. In the early years, it was purely execution- and values-driven.
• The early team was highly pragmatic—motivated by working with smart people and building great software.
• As the company scaled past 1,000 people, some employees flagged that something was missing: a long-term narrative that could unify the team and inspire retention.

Qasar and the team formalized the mission as a response to feedback, not as a founding belief.

• The mission: Accelerating the world’s adoption of safe and intelligent machines.
• It was designed to be durable and credible—not aspirational fluff.
• It now serves as an anchoring narrative, especially for engineers joining from failed or stagnant autonomy companies (e.g., Cruise, Tesla, etc.).
• The company still operates with strong pragmatism, but the mission provides a “why” that connects the dots for long-term alignment.

In hindsight, Qasar believes they may have waited too long.

• While values got them far, he acknowledges that being overly pragmatic created a culture that was “almost transactional.”
• Earlier articulation of mission may have helped with internal alignment and storytelling as the company scaled. Mission becomes another powerful alignment tool alongside values that he wishes he added earlier

“We were so pragmatic we were almost transactional. That worked for a while—but we had to evolve.”

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Strategy and Metrics—Don’t Overthink It Early On

• Qasar believes most early-stage founders over-prioritize mission and strategy docs before they matter.
• At <50 people, Applied didn’t have strategy docs—they focused entirely on execution driven by values.
• Qasar’s belief: “The best strategy is great tactics.” Writing docs doesn’t replace doing the work.
• Instead, Qasar created a lightweight but high-frequency system called “tables”—cross-functional working groups organized around key parts of the business.

Two primary tables:

• High Table – The equivalent of an executive staff meeting. This group met regularly and openly discussed team performance, execution gaps, and business updates. Meetings were recorded and shared with the broader company to reinforce transparency and accountability.
• Commercial Ops Table – Included sales, support, and GMs. Met 2–3x per week with no formal agenda. The focus was on surfacing and solving the company’s biggest blockers in real time. This let the team course correct weekly if needed.

Why it worked:

• Frequent, direct discussions helped the team constantly adjust strategy based on market dynamics—especially critical in an emerging field like autonomy. Enabled real-time learning across functions. Tables gave the company rhythm, visibility, and a shared sense of urgency—without over-structuring.

Team Boards—Scaling Operating Discipline Through Metrics and Regular Reviews

• As Applied scaled beyond 100 managers, informal systems like “tables” hit their limits.
• The team introduced Team Boards—structured, quarterly internal reviews that now serve as the backbone of how the company runs.

How it started:

• The first version was just an Excel spreadsheet.
• Managers filled out a simple template with:
  
  • Highlights & lowlights
  • Core metrics
  • Headcount requests for 1–2 quarters out
• It focused purely on output—manager health and employee happiness were tracked elsewhere

How it works today:

• Every team presents a 10-minute review to execs each quarter.
• Reviews are tightly structured and time-boxed.
• Managers are publicly graded (A–F) on performance—not sentiment.
• Underperformance is acted on—managers receiving Cs and Ds are often coached or exited.

What they learned:

• They discovered significant variance in team performance across the company.
• The process helped create regular review and feedback mechanisms across 100+ teams.
• In the early days, informal feedback loops are enough. At scale, systems drive execution.
  

Why Team Boards work:

• Enforces operating rigor across 100+ teams.
• Creates a predictable rhythm for accountability and headcount planning.
• Enables leadership to spot underperformance early and allocate resources accordingly.

Board Meetings—Structured Agendas to Maximize Value and Feedback 

• The board meeting agenda has remained consistent since the company's founding.
• Fail case: No agenda and board meetings become aimless 90 minute presentations
• Meetings include an open session attended by executives and a closed session for board discussions.

Meeting format:

• Start with highlights and lowlights
• Followed by structured deep dives into key areas (Product, Support, Sales, Finance)
• Each deep dive focuses on: highlights/lowlights, last quarter’s achievements with key metrics, a spotlight topic, and next quarter’s focus. For recruiting, the key metrics would be the recruiting funnel
• Board typically provides feedback only in the closed session after execs leave.

Additional resource: A deck on board management prepared by the avra team. 

Engineering Managers—The core lever for execution in a software company

• Engineering managers at Applied are viewed as the core lever for execution. Qasar emphasizes that first-line managers (direct managers of ICs) are critical because employee retention and productivity directly correlate to manager quality.
• Managers are rigorously evaluated on their adherence to the company's explicit tactical values (e.g., technical mastery, decisiveness, high output). This creates clarity, accountability, and transparency.
• Good engineering managers are not merely administrative—they must excel technically and actively participate in the engineering craft itself. Their authority derives from their technical credibility and their ability to mentor their teams effectively.

The most important trait in engineering managers:

• Qasar identifies decisiveness as the critical gap in engineering management, frequently overlooked yet highly impactful.
• Decisiveness means clearly making decisions in ambiguous situations without over-analysis, accepting approximately 65% information as sufficient.
• Engineering managers often hesitate, waiting for complete data, stalling progress, and hurting overall velocity. Qasar explicitly prioritizes decisiveness and is willing to demote managers who consistently fail at timely decision-making, even if they're strong technically or popular culturally.

Characteristics of a great engineering manager:

• Demonstrates technical mastery—they are among the strongest technical contributors, maintaining credibility and trust.
• Is an effective teacher and mentor, actively improving team skills and creating a high-performance environment.
• Shows exceptional decisiveness, quickly making informed decisions without undue hesitation, thus maintaining execution speed.
• Has high personal output and work ethic, setting the standard for their team.
• Is self-regulated and accountable—does not need external prompts to manage effectively.
• Is proactive about solving problems, anticipating issues, and addressing them directly rather than allowing them to escalate.

Manager training:

• Historically, ~80% of managers at Applied have been promoted from within.
• Applied explicitly avoids external training because they lack company specific context.
• Instead, training is designed in-house. Applied’s best managers, identified by surveys, lead training.

Example: How Qasar ensures Engineering Manager Quality

• Applied emphasizes structured, regular, and quantitative feedback for managers
• ICs quantitatively rate their managers every six months on specific criteria tied to Applied’s values
• They started regular 6 month feedback cycles for managers when the company was 50 people
• This was critical because some managers are bad employees but great at managing upwards
• This helps Qasar have a clear picture of who is performing and who isn’t in an objective fashion
• Managers receive exact numerical scores ranked against all other managers company-wide, creating a transparent system that clearly indicates performance issues
  
• Managers scoring low on decisiveness are told: "You’re 68th out of 68 on decisiveness”
• This is beneficial because employees see that feedback directly translates into actions (coaching, demotion, or exit).

Scores are given as:

• 5 (Always)
• 4 (Most of the time)
• 2 (Rarely)
• 1 (Never)

01 Move fast, move safe

• My manager is decisive.
• My manager is available on short notice.
• My manager completes items at a surprisingly fast rate.
• My manager gives immediate feedback, both positive and negative.
• My manager is immediately responsive on Slack.
• My manager does not cut corners when it comes to safety.
• My manager slows things down when safety is at risk.

02 Never disappoint the customer

• Note: Customers can be external or internal depending on the team.
• My manager prioritizes customer needs above everything else.
• My manager resolves customer issues thoroughly.
• My manager impresses the customer and has polished presentations.
• My manager actively seeks out customer interaction.
• My manager focuses on the actual results and performance rather than on how things are perceived.

03 Raise the quality bar

• My manager holds the team accountable for high-quality work.
• My manager creates work that prioritize quality.
• My manager’s communication is concise, thoughtful, and direct.

04 High output matters

• My manager is present. 
• My manager is inspiring.
• My manager is the right person for the job.
• My manager makes our long term goals clear.
• My manager talks to me about my career goals.
• My manager does things that have impact rather than things that just look good.
• My manager is a great recruiter.

05 Cultivate technical mastery

• My manager is a clear technical lead and subject-matter expert.
• My manager is a good teacher.
• My manager regularly meets people at their level in the industry and shares learnings internally.
• My manager has the right answer or knows how to find it.
• My manager presents our work to the company regularly.

06 Be self regulated

• My manager communicates clear expectations of me.
• My manager is reliable.
• My manager works harder than me.
• My manager is balanced (neither so positive as to be delusional nor so negative as to be unpleasant; not too passive to be leaderless or too active to micro-manage).
• My manager makes me feel comfortable bringing up difficult topics.
• My manager maintains composure under stress.

07 Be cost conscious

• My manager prioritizes effectively for the team.
• My manager is skeptical of using just money, vendors, or headcount to solve problems.
• My manager ensures meetings are short and necessary.

08 Laugh a lot

• My manager is enjoyable to be around.
• My manager actively cultivates team camaraderie.
• My manager has regular, unstructured time where I can talk to them live ad hoc (e.g, they are around at the end of the day past 6pm, as opposed to a fully booked calendar).
• My manager calls out cultural deviations and actively works to correct them.
• My manager contributes to our meme culture.

09 Leave it better than you found it

• My manager proactively looks for opportunities to make improvements (e.g. processes, structure, culture, etc).
• My manager tackles small fires before they become big fires.
• My manager prioritizes the company goals before themselves.
• My manager prioritizes the team before themselves.
• My manager is very ingrained in the company and cares about making it a good place to work.

10 Half of the work is following up

• My manager drives closure across all tasks.
• My manager makes sure someone is taking notes in meetings. 
• My manager assigns timelines to action items.
• My manager is very organized.
• My manager has a strong understanding of what our team is doing.

Other thoughts

• What should your manager continue doing?
• What should your manager focus on for the next 6 months?
• Were these questions representative of what we’re trying to assess?
• What should we be asking that we’re not asking?
• Anything else you’d like to add?

The Key Risk at Scale: Mediocre, Agreeable Employees

• Qasar identifies the single biggest hiring risk at scale as allowing "mediocre, agreeable" employees into the organization—individuals who neither actively detract nor significantly contribute.
• Over time, these employees erode organizational excellence by lowering performance standards, diluting culture, and increasing bureaucracy.
• Applied sets clear, explicit expectations to create self-selection mechanisms that filter out passive hires:

1. Encourage decisiveness through explicit expectations

• Applied sets a maximum 50-hour workweek expectation - you need to finish your work in that timeframe
• It reinforces decisiveness by insisting managers make timely decisions with incomplete data
• Avoids rewarding consensus-seeking behavior that slows down execution.

2. In-person culture to naturally self-select talent

• Applied enforces a strict in-office policy (five days/week) in South Bay
• Candidates who opt-in are naturally committed and it self-selects out of “mercenaries”

3. Transparent feedback culture with actionable outcomes

• Applied provides monthly feedback to employees. This was only implemented at 200-300 people
• This makes it hard for the mediocre, agreeable employee to hide from execution

4. Incentivize actual output

• Applied explicitly tells employees real work is only when your hands are on keyboards
• The message needs to be delivered tastefully, but Qasar focuses the team on actual output

2. How Pedro Runs Brex

Brex is a 7 years old with around 1,200 employees across offices in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Canada, and Brazil. Brex is a spend management platform serving businesses from early-stage startups to global enterprises. Brex now supports over 160 large public companies—including Meta, Uber, DoorDash, Coinbase, and Palantir.

Mission was Determined based on Customer Needs, and not from Day 1

• There are very few true “mission-oriented” startups; most companies retrofit something already working for customers to drive internal alignment and decision-making.
• Brex followed this approach, focusing first on practical customer problems and past experiences to shape its mission.
• The mission emerged organically after repeatedly meeting customers who struggled to balance two competing financial needs: speed and control.
• These insights helped Brex arrive at its current mission: "Empowering employees to make better financial decisions."
• The mission is particularly valuable for internal focus—if a decision doesn’t help with speed or control, it likely isn’t in service of the mission.

Leaders Manage the Work, not the People. Drive Accountability based on Outputs. 

• In 2023, Pedro realized that managers had become disconnected from the work. They were managing people, not outputs. This created inefficiencies, slowed execution, and encouraged empire building.
• To fix this, Pedro audited Brex’s leadership by looking at which managers were successful and which were not. He identified that the most effective leaders were those who had strong individual contributor (IC) skills and were able to operate at all levels—not just manage people but also engage directly with the work itself.
• Pedro fired 27% of the team (22% of the 27% were managers). This removed almost two full layers of management. He replaced them with people who had demonstrated excellence at the IC level and promoted them into leadership roles. Brex is now executing faster because there are no “people-only” managers at the company. Everyone is focused on output and execution.
• Because of this realization, Brex tests everyone for IC skills to ensure leadership candidates have a deep understanding of the work they are leading. This ensures leaders are grounded in the work and maintain high standards. This is a self-selection mechanism for people successful at Brex

The CEO Is the Quality Bar. Create Mechanisms to Stay Connected to the Work

• Pedro sees the CEO as the only person in the company who can truly set and hold the quality bar—across every function: product, sales, design, marketing, and finance. Therefore, it's critical to stay connected to the work.
• He spends ~50% of his time reviewing actual work product, not summaries—he's hands-on with sales decks, pricing models, marketing copy, growth experiments, and product specs.
• This is not micromanagement—it’s about setting cultural precedent and defining the quality bar. Create mechanisms that let you evaluate work-in-progress and provide feedback

Example of how this works:

• In a product review, Pedro saw a low-quality design and said: “This sucks. We’re not shipping this.”
• That moment set a clear standard for what’s acceptable.
• Weeks later, in an unrelated meeting, someone from that original review said: “This isn’t going to cut it—remember what happened last time.”
• The expectation had spread organically—not via memo, but through “case law”: norms set by memorable, high-impact examples.

Great Hiring Starts from Knowing What Success Looks Like

• What Success Looks Like at Brex:
  
  • High energy, high conviction: Brex employees move fast and make decisions without excessive consensus-building. They bring urgency and clarity to their work.
  • Builders who operate at all levels: The most successful people are hands-on, fluent in the details of their craft, and can shift fluidly between strategic thinking and IC execution.
  • Growth = greater responsibility, not more headcount: Brex doesn’t reward empire-building. Progress is measured by the impact and complexity of the work you own—not how many people report to you.

• This clarity helps Brex screen effectively. Pedro evaluates candidates by:
  
  • Looking deeply at past success: Pedro’s key question is, “Did the company scale because of you—or in spite of you?” To evaluate this, Pedro deeply probes your past roles, decisions to understand whether you inherited something great or actually built it 
  • Looking for evidence of obsession or high slope: He looks for candidates who show signs of obsession—people who went deep on something early, iterated relentlessly, and demonstrate a steep growth curve over time.
  • Conducting a lot of backchannel checks: Brex relies on informal reference checks to validate actual performance, impact, and working style—beyond what interviews alone can reveal.

3. FAQ

Hiring During Difficult Periods

• Pedro’s takeaway: you’re not a church—you don’t convert people. You describe the challenge honestly, and the right people walk in. In tough times, you need people that embrace pain and hard work
• The best example is Brex’s new CRO. Instead of being turned off by issues in the organization, he leaned in. Pedro walked him through all the ways Brex was struggling:
  
  • Win rates were low
  • Pipeline was broken
  • Attrition was high
  • Revenue growth was weak
• Pedro framed the potential pain as a huge opportunity. The CRO understood that when things are broken, the chance to create impact is higher—because outcomes will be causally linked to what they do. He ended up accepting because he saw the opportunity to impact Brex was huge
• In Pedro’s experience, great people are motivated by the chance to be causal, not just correlated with success.

Company-Wide Communication Strategies

• Pedro and Qasar both use 1) company wide emails and 2) all-hands meetings to repeat ideas
• It is critical that you also tie concepts and ideas back to action to give your words meaning
  
• Example. When Brex said it wanted to focus on output, not team—it removed layers of people who optimized for team size instead of output and promoted those focused on output.

Compensation Frameworks

• Early employees often play a crucial role in a company's initial traction—but that doesn't entitle them to outsized compensation indefinitely.
• At Applied, if someone was instrumental early but hasn’t kept pace with the complexity or expectations of their role they are often layered or moved out.
• It’s important to be aware of this to manage compensation once you are 3+ years into building. Qasar tracks employees by total compensation to keep a pulse on this dynamic.