The Toss team Leader Answers Questions About Toss

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Q1. Toss is known for its top-tier compensation. What’s the reason behind such extraordinary compensation?

I want to give each and every member money to start their own business one day. These people are courageous enough to set up a business, and so dedicated to their work. Even with the challenging workload, they are fully engaged. Therefore, I believe it makes sense to provide the appropriate level of compensation and rewards to our team members.

Those who join Toss later should also have the opportunity to have their share, too. This reflects the economic principle described in John Ruskin’s book, ‘Unto This Last,’ and the Toss team’s perspective on humanity.

Q2. Is it true that you can’t work at Toss if you value work-life balance?

At Toss, no one forces you to work. Toss team members are people who enjoy what they do, want to do something meaningful, and want to reach the peak of their career. This doesn’t mean you must do a lot of work, or that you need to work overtime.

We all want to create a service that can change the world and influence people. Honestly, I don’t think you can create a service that can change the world if you’ve never been fully engaged in what you do, to the point where you’re not even thinking about work and life balance.

Q3. What’s the definition of a ‘high-performer’ at Toss?

We don’t consider the longest working employee a high-performer. What’s important is the impact the person creates. Grit (the strong willingness to reach a goal) and obsession (tenacity to create perfect results) determine the size of impact. To achieve extraordinary outcomes, one must put in a significant amount of time and be fully engaged. 

Q4. I heard Toss evaluates performance, and the bottom 10% are told to leave the team.

‘Recommended resignation’ is a word that does not exist in Toss. We also don’t have the concept of the bottom 10%, which is common in large companies. Even if we did, we wouldn’t have a process that forces members to leave.

Q5. It seems like you need to compete to get promoted.

That is actually an important concept – ‘promotion’ in the Toss team is very different from the typical company. Promotion at Toss doesn’t mean a change in hierarchy. It refers to the expansion of roles.

At Toss, you can’t be a leader without earning the respect from your team members. As Toss Team Leader, I’m no exception. Then, how do you expand your role? Roles are naturally expanded when the person has earned the respect of more people.

Q6. Dare to make conflict? Seems really unrealistic…

We used to call ‘Dare to make conflict,’ ‘Radical candor.’ This culture started from the idea that we should be able to say what we need to say in order to reach our common goal as a company. And there are two reasons that make this culture possible.

The first reason is because people who believe in the courage to say “no” come to Toss. Therefore, that culture is naturally formed. The second reason is because we have an environment that allows us to challenge each other. Even team leaders work as an equal member of the team, which makes it possible for team members to challenge each other.

Q7. It seems like a very utopian company.

We don’t consider this utopian – rather, consider ourselves a different kind of company. Corporate culture is not about right or wrong – we chose our culture, because it fits our team.

In this light, the Toss team is an organization with different strengths and weaknesses. And this also means we have a lot to improve as an organization.

Q8. Do you have any apprehensions about taking risks?

If it’s an idea that’s worth giving it your all, you should be fearless – because not many people have the opportunity to leave a positive impact on many people.

We don’t dream about what’s possible. We set impossible and ambitious goals, find various ways to reach them, and pioneer our own path when we meet obstacles. I think this is exactly the spirit of the Toss team.