Levy's Values

Autonomy + simplicity

Simple rather than over-engineered solutions

Act like an owner — take risks and take initiatives, when it comes to Type 2 decisions (those that are easy to reverse), even if it means messing up once in a while.

As an employee, prioritize outcomes for the client first, then your team, then yourself. The company will succeed as a natural consequence.

Integrity

Integrity rather than self-interest

Corporations are not just a “nexus of contracts.” They are social entities. If a company's management ignores the social nature of a common enterprise — aka, trying to do right thing or fair thing — the company becomes a nameless, faceless monolith with no identity, culture, or integrity.

Ignore "shareholder value" and focus instead on stakeholder value: for your clients, your suppliers, your partners, your employees, etc., with a sound strategy and business model. Profit and shareholder value are a natural consequence.

Be someone who sticks their neck out for other people, at personal cost.

Radical Candor

Honesty rather than paranoia

It's okay to be a little rough around the edges, as long as you have good intentions.

Interrupting is okay as long as you're not being rude (i.e., "yes, and..." is encouraged).

Practice thoughtful radical candor. Solicit feedback — on yourself, and on your work — and offer the same to others. Show, appreciate, and encourage vulnerability-based trust.

There is no such thing as “healthy” paranoia. Instead, pick colleagues and partners that are trustworthy and beyond reproach.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism > Process

Avoid both unbridled chaos and perfect harmony — put the bare minimum process in place to avoid total chaos.

We believe the best decisions are made at the intersection of empathy and pragmatism.

Assume good intentions: Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence or oversight (Hanlon’s razor). Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by differences in personality, behavioral tendencies, or value systems.

Foresight

Foresight rather than short-term efficiency

“Wise restraints set (wo)men free” — place checks and balances and create accountability for yourself and others, to improve reliability and outcomes.

Outcomes and processes are both important, but fair outcomes are more important than predictable processes. Identify ways processes can go wrong and fix them.

Cleverness + Curiosity

Cleverness rather than predicability + Curiosity rather than depth

Run experiments with asymmetric outcomes (low downside / high upside), because that’s how you build and compound success.

Think holistically, about the big picture. Avoid false dichotomies, and avoid silos; look for better cross-discipline and cross-functional outcomes.

Simple rather than over-engineered solutions

these almost always address customer problems, efficiently and effectively.

Requires Autonomy rather than caution

operators can't keep coming back to the mothership, it's inefficient + see judgment below

Requires Integrity rather than self-interest

right call for the client + just outcomes overall, not for AO

Requires Honesty rather than paranoia

need to make tough calls and have tough conversations sometimes, but don't let that freeze you in your tracks because you think it'll go badly

Requires Empathy rather than hyperrationality

make human decisions

Requires Pragmatism rather than process

make quick and thoughtful calls; put the bare minimum process in place, when critical to avoid reinvention or blowups

Requires Foresight rather than short-term efficiency

help me see around corners

Requires Cleverness rather than predictability

past solutions are not always predictive of future outcomes

Requires (Broad) Curiosity rather than depth

have generalist tendencies, to detect holistic solutions + see foresight below)

Autonomy + simplicity

Act like an owner — take risks and take initiatives, when it comes to Type 2 decisions (those that are easy to reverse), even if it means messing up once in a while.

As an employee, prioritize outcomes for the client first, then your team, then yourself. The company will succeed as a natural consequence.

Integrity

Corporations are not just a “nexus of contracts.” They are social entities. If a company's management ignores the social nature of a common enterprise — aka, trying to do right thing or fair thing — the company becomes a nameless, faceless monolith with no identity, culture, or integrity.

Ignore "shareholder value" and focus on stakeholder value instead: for your clients, your suppliers, your partners, your employees, etc., with a sound strategy and business model. Profit and shareholder value are a natural consequence.

Be someone who sticks their neck out for other people, at personal cost.

Empathy + honesty

It's okay to be a little rough around the edges, as long as you have good intentions.

There is no such thing as “healthy” paranoia. Instead, pick colleagues and partners that are trustworthy and beyond reproach.

Practice thoughtful radical candor. Solicit feedback — on yourself, and on your work — and offer the same to others. Show, appreciate, and encourage vulnerability-based trust.

Interrupting is okay as long as you're not being rude (i.e., "yes, and..." is encouraged).

Pragmatism

Avoid both unbridled chaos and perfect harmony — put the bare minimum process in place to avoid total chaos.

We believe the best decisions are made at the intersection of empathy and pragmatism.

Assume good intentions: Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence or oversight (Hanlon’s razor). Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by differences in personality, behavioral tendencies, or value systems.

Foresight

“Wise restraints set (wo)men free” — place checks and balances and create accountability for yourself and others, to improve reliability and outcomes.

Outcomes and processes are both important, but fair outcomes are more important than predictable processes. Identify ways processes can go wrong and

Cleverness + Curiosity

Run experiments with asymmetric outcomes (low downside / high upside), because that’s how you build and compound success.

Think holistically, about the big picture. Avoid false dichotomies, and avoid silos; look for better cross-discipline and cross-functional outcomes.

Mission, Vision, and Culture

Mission & Vision

Mission (what we do now): as the foundational back-office operational core, we accelerate world-class startups and founders who strive to change the world.

Vision (what we will be): Create a world where every business owner - regardless of background, race, or creed - has an equal chance at building the business they and the world deserves. levy is the organized, efficient, thoughtful, stable, happy partner they trust.

culture

Life is not about what you do but, rather, about how you do it.

Every day, we strive to better ourselves through learning and caring about others. Our teammates, our clients, and our personal family’s success creates the condition for our own success.

Key Values

Delightful outcomes

  • Strive for excellence: We consistently strive to do better today than we did yesterday and achieve perpetually better outcomes.
  • Knowledge sharing: With our teammates, with our clients, and with the wider world
  • Mentorship: Time is of no consequence when it involves mentoring a teammate or clients
  • Helpfulness: Offer a helping hand (even if you don’t have the perfect answer). You never know when you’ll need one yourself.

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Long-term decision-making

Every day, we are faced with choosing short-term or the long-term decisions. We always choose long-term including in how we build our company, how we treat each other, and why we choose to do what we do. Life is a long-term game and we choose to spend time with teammates and clients who also build for the long-term.

‍

Passion

  • Passion is not innate. It comes from hard work (grit), dedication to a craft, and that which you work hard at.
  • The harder you work, the easier (and more fun) it gets.
  • The more experienced you become, your hard work begins to compound and then its off to the races (in whatever direction you want - monetarily, publicly, or impact-ability).

Problem solving

  • levy is not only about task completion. levy is also about solving the bigger problem. Every task is part of a larger whole. We are strategic.
  • Time is our most precious resource. We focus on efficient solutions to save ourselves and our clients time. Every moment counts.

Smiles

  • Fun: Life is too short not to have fun. Even the most frustrating situations should bring a smile as they lead to learning & growth.
  • Satisfaction: Knowing you are a critical component to businesses changing the world means you are also changing the world (but get to touch so many more startups than being at just one of them!).
  • Note: this is last not because it is least but rather because it is the foundation upon which all else depends.

Join our team

We're always looking for the most passionate long-term thinking operators. If that's you, check out our open roles.

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Levy is a provider of back-office services, including human resources, compliance management, financial review and equity management.
Levy is not a public or private accounting firm or law firm and does not provide services that would require a license to practice accounting or act as a lawyer.