Ashby

I'm obsessed with this company. 

Truly. 

Not just because of what they do - but how they operate.

Meet Ashby, the all-in-one ATS with CRM, scheduling, surveys, analytics, and onboarding. 

In this episode, Jena Dunay talks with Jim Miller, VP of People and Talent, about their document-first async culture, "frustratingly patient" hiring, and randomized offsite dinners that accidentally became tradition.

What you'll learn:

• How Ashby's async remote model uses documents over meetings and communication norms for Slack, email, and Docs
• The power of "frustratingly patient" hiring focused on quality over speed
• Randomized offsite dinners and company trips that build real connections
• Jim's exact pitch strategy that got him hired at Ashby after being their customer
• Transparent job descriptions that tell candidates why NOT to apply

Ashby Highlights:

Founded: 2018
Team Size: 250+ employees across 28 countries
HQ: San Francisco, California
Work Model: Fully asynchronously remote
Culture: Intentionally transparent, autonomous, impact-focused
Unique Perks & Programs:

• Company-wide offsites (Mexico trip with family option)
• Randomized dinners at offsites
• Professional development budgets for all
• Internal job alerts before public posting
• No time-based hiring quotas, quality first

To learn more about Ashby:

• Careers Page (They're hiring!)
• Linkedin Page
• Jim's Profile

Transcript

Jena Dunay: Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Culture Uncovered where we go behind the scenes of the coolest companies to work for around the world within the US, different stages and ages. And we are so excited today to welcome the VP of People and Talent, Jim Miller of Ashby. So Jim, thank you so much for joining us here today!

Jim Miller: Thanks for having me!

Jena Dunay: I'm super excited to chat a little bit about your organization. One, because I think what you guys are doing, you gave me a demo of your product, which I love when I have a people person give me a demo of a people product, number one. And number two, it is so much more than an applicant tracking system. So I'm excited for you to share a little bit about what is Ashby, what does Ashby do?

Jim Miller: Ashby is an all-in-one ATS. So that includes the traditional ATS functionality, but also CRM, scheduling, a survey engine, and deep, deep analytical capability, as well as onboarding. And all of that is multi-threaded and multi-layered with AI functionality. We've had 30-plus meaningful product releases in the last three months alone. So the product is evolving in front of our eyes, and it's incredible, if I do say so myself.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, what's so fun, Jim, about you is you and I got a chance. We always do prior to us actually recording. Always like to do it like an intro call with all of the chief people officers or anybody that any guest that's going to be on this podcast. And you are such an advocate of your product in a way that I don't know if I've had. Not calling out any of the other VP of People's or anything like that we have on the podcast, but you are so passionate about your product. And as a people leader, I think that's really cool to witness. I just want to give you kudos for that. But I'd love if we could take it back a little bit. When was this company started? Like, what was the reason and why did it start?

Jim Miller: We're about seven years old now. Our founders, Benji and Abhik, worked together at a company called PlanGrid, which was blueprints for the iPad for construction sites and civil engineering and so on. And they were incredibly frustrated as hiring managers with the way that recruiting systems worked. They did all of their own recruiting in those roles. Moving forward when they left, there was an exit, and they decided to start their own company. Their focus was to build a system and record. And the area that they knew best was through all of the recruiting activity that they had been doing themselves. So this was their focus: to build an applicant tracking system, initially with data at its core. And that was the standout piece for me when I became a customer, which led me to be here and led me to be so passionate about the product.

But the data and analytics is the first thing that attracted me to the product. That's still at the core. And then the whole concept of making it all-in-one, so you didn't need a whole ton of different point solutions in order to operate. That was the focal point. The main product has been on the market in general release since September of 2022. So we're just over three years now that the main product has been out there. And we're just touching 4,000 customers.

Jena Dunay: Wow, it's really incredible, quite frankly, of you really taking, I feel like, the industry by storm, which is a hard industry just to break into in general. So congratulations to you and your team! Tell me, how many employees are you right now? And where are you located?

Jim Miller: We've just gone over 250. We are headquartered in San Francisco. We have a tiny little office, an art gallery just off Union Square, but we're a fully asynchronously remote company. I think we're in 28 countries, 250 employees in 28 countries. We hire the best people where we find them. And that's pretty cool.

Jena Dunay: Yeah. Tell me, can you just describe that a little bit more? So for anyone that's listening that's like, what did he say? Asynchronous. What is that? Can you explain what you mean by that to any job seeker that's listening that's like, have no idea what he's talking about?

Jim Miller: So asynchronously remote, there's no FaceTime, I suppose is the easiest way to describe it. You don't expect to have to be online to talk to another human. There's a lot of white space in your calendar to get your work done. We have operating principles that give you the construct to operate within whilst you're doing your job, rather than having to ask for instructions from a superior or another leader or another peer. You're able to get your job done in your time zone with flexibility. And because of all this, the document becomes the most important artifact, not the meeting. So if there's a discussion needed, then a document is created and the right people are invited to collaborate on it. If a conversation is required, then a meeting is set up with the right voices to get to the final decision. We have communication norms that define use cases for Slack, email, Google Docs, and other tools. What you won't find at Ashby is a long Slack thread when you come back from lunch and you're the key decision maker. Instead, the document is created and you, as the key decision maker, will be invited because it's the right medium for that situation, not 100 Slack messages that may or may not be followed.

Jena Dunay: Yeah, I think it's fascinating because I don't know companies with communication norms like that. My one question is, I love less meetings because it means we get work done. But how do you keep connectivity? Because meetings build relationships.

Jim Miller: There are lots of connection points for peers. We don't ban meetings or one-to-ones with people you work with closely. We're intentional about not having meetings that don't concern you. Can we deal with it asynchronously rather than meeting? It's inclusive because folks in Asia don't have to get up in the middle of the night to talk to folks in the U.S. We also do Donut meetings on Slack for random connections. Every department meets at least once a year physically co-located. For example, our go-to-market teams will be together soon. We also did a company offsite in Mexico. People could bring family. It was only four and a half hours of everyone in the same room over five days. We deliberately ensured lots of different interaction points, including randomized dinners where no one knows who they're dining with until 6 p.m. Everyone checks their calendar anxiously.

Jena Dunay: Yeah.

Jim Miller: It's fantastic!

Jena Dunay: I'd love that, but my social anxiety friends might not.

Jim Miller: That idea was accidental. Two years ago, dinners were planned and grouped. Last year, it was chaotic and spontaneous. Feedback was amazing, so now it's part of the culture.

Jena Dunay: Even better! So good! Before we go more into culture, I've already asked, but how did you come across the organization? How did you land the job?

Jim Miller: Mine goes back 14 years, which seems strange for a 7-year-old company. In 2011, I was at Google for 15 years, spent 10 years in recruiting. In 2011, I was in Krakow, Poland, got a tap on the shoulder to be in New York Monday morning to build a recruiting ATS for Google from scratch in 30 days because the old one was failing. I went there for what was supposed to be four days. Eight weeks later, I was still there. That morning, five recruiters on one side of the table and 60 engineers and leaders on the other.

Jena Dunay: Wow!

Jim Miller: I started conversations and drew ideas. Fast-forward, I wore systems and product hats for a decade at Google. I was Google's LinkedIn representative managing licenses. When I left Google in April 2021, the talent tech stack had changed drastically and was broken. I searched for a data system matching how I thought about data, found Ashby. Their analytics gelled with me. I kept in touch with sales, found out they were launching an ATS. I pushed forward and the fit was right. Flip over to Halloween 2022, we customized recruiting workflows overnight that matched our culture.

Jim Miller: The macroeconomic downturn was happening. I pitched myself to Ashby with my experience and network via a long email to Benji, the CEO, who responded, "We hoped you’d ask." After rigorous interviews, I was offered Head of People and Talent in March 2023. Two and a half years later, I love it.

Jena Dunay: Wow! Can you share how you formulated that pitch?

Jim Miller: Sure. It was basically "You know me, here’s what I think I’d bring." I outlined my TA systems experience, leadership history, transferable skills, and how I could add value to marketing and sales. Ashby was 50 people then; I led much larger teams. That landed the role.

Jena Dunay: I encourage listeners to note how tailored and research-driven that approach was.

Jim Miller: Absolutely! At that time, I needed a new job. My youngest was born two weeks late then. I knew I wanted to stay in tech, particularly talent acquisition and people technology. That guided my outreach. I targeted companies without someone in my exact role or capability, to avoid pitching to companies already staffed there. I did a lot of research before crafting that email.

Jena Dunay: Totally! That’s a great strategy. Let’s talk about culture.

Jim Miller: Our culture is intentionally transparent. The founders set the communication norms and operating principles before I joined. Culture changes with every new hire. You have to let it evolve. These frameworks help people do their best work intentionally, removing stress and aligning efforts with company goals. Transparency means employees always have the relevant information at their fingertips, which brings meaning and comfort. Stress greatly reduces productivity; we want to avoid that.

Jena Dunay: That’s important. You’ve chosen to hire “frustratingly patiently.” Can you explain?

Jim Miller: We focus on quality, not speed. Unlike recruiters who chase quantity of hires per quarter, our focus is on hiring great people who bring choice to hiring managers, not just the first person across the line. We build processes to generate multiple above-bar candidates. We believe in choice, quality, and drive. That intentionality drives our success.

Jena Dunay: I love that. And it works!

Jim Miller: Yes. We also lead rather than manage. Our teams are empowered to own their work.

Jena Dunay: What perks do you offer?

Jim Miller: Autonomy and trust. People value being trusted to use their expertise and grow. Our product teams can have deep impact due to small focused teams, getting to use a broad set of skills and impacting both the product and people. We offer professional development budgets. We notify all employees of jobs internally before posting externally to promote career growth from within. Many have risen from support roles to core positions.

Jena Dunay: That’s amazing career growth.

Jim Miller: Yes. It’s common at Ashby. Our customer success manager at Fullstory implemented Ashby there before joining us.

Jena Dunay: What about areas to improve?

Jim Miller: We don’t always get hiring right. We’re generous when it doesn’t go well. Also, remote work isn’t for everyone. Some folks feel isolated, especially away from cities with coworking options. We help facilitate shared spaces when possible. We’re trailblazing solutions for these challenges but not close to perfect.

Jena Dunay: That’s honest and insightful. Who thrives at Ashby?

Jim Miller: People comfortable with ambiguity and change do well. If you want the same old, it’s not a fit.

Jena Dunay: What about growth?

Jim Miller: Revenue has grown phenomenally. We’re among the fastest growing mid-market SaaS companies. We tie headcount planning to revenue, not arbitrary timelines. That helps avoid layoffs and reputational risk. We’re expanding product footprints into new people tech areas, investing heavily in AI.

Jena Dunay: How can candidates stand out?

Jim Miller: Every open role is posted externally on our careers site. Read job descriptions closely; they tell you not only what’s needed but also why you shouldn’t apply. Application questions are important and separate strong candidates; take time with them. We review every single application by a human.

Jena Dunay: That promise means a lot.

Jim Miller: Ashby uses AI for resume review, but humans set the criteria and make final decisions.

Jena Dunay: Thanks so much, Jim. I’m excited to see Ashby grow and evolve your culture and team. Thanks again for joining us on Culture Uncovered.

Jim Miller: Thank you.