Why Coinbase Bans Slides and "Endless Meetings"

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong seeks increased efficiency from his internal teams, noting that fast-growing companies often become complacent and slow .

Crypto exchange Coinbase is getting rid of slides and “endless meetings” to improve productivity after purging around 18% of employees last month.

In a July 13 blog post, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong noted that the company is currently focused on “improving efficiency” as it continues to grow, indicating a 200% year-over-year employee growth over 18 months. began to strain the organizational structure of the company.

He suggested that many large companies that grow rapidly usually end up getting complacent and slowing down, while large companies do the opposite:

“While this trajectory is natural, it is not inevitable. Every major company, from Amazon to Meta to Tesla, have found ways to conserve their founding energy in conjunction with proper controls, even if they have evolved to be much bigger than Coinbase is today.”

As part of the focus on efficiency, Armstrong said the company is "experimenting with banning slide decks in product engineering reviews" to speed up the product development process.

“Within growing companies, there is a risk that product and engineering teams will start shipping great slide decks instead of great products,” Armstrong said.

Slides are basically a series of slides used for visual representation when presenting ideas. These are very popular ways to communicate great ideas, but they often have a reputation for not being realized.

"But our customers never see the slide decks we create. They only see the product."

Armstrong says he instead wants his employees to show realistic previews of how products work in real time using dashboards with metrics, product mockups, and the product itself.

"The important thing is to become familiar with the product, to see what the customer sees (or is about to see) and...