The Five Es: The Values that Drive Nex’s Culture

The Nex Way · Post #6

When I was young, I thought writing on the wall was mostly propaganda.

At Apple, I walked past the quote below many times. It left an impression. It may have given me the courage to leave Apple, and later, to navigate multiple pivots at Nex.

Later, my friend Frank Barbieri shared how Walmart uses its values internally. Respect. Integrity. Service. Excellence. RISE for short. Easy to remember. Often placed at the top of the agenda in major all-hands meetings. Guiding 2 million employees to make the right decisions every day.

Now, as Nex is on track to exceed 200 employees this year, I realize this is what we’ve been missing.

We need a shared value framework that is unmistakably Nex. Something easy to remember. Something that binds us, and everyone who joins after us.

And so my search began

The Five Es

I’ve been pondering this for weeks: What sits at the core of Nex?

In our logo, the middle “e” is personified. Expressive. Unassuming. But as we reflected on what must guide us for the next 100 years, we realized something simple:

The “e” can represent the principles that power us.

Ethics. Empower. Excellence. Empathy. Endure.

They are not an addition to Nex. They are embedded in it.

If we are fortunate enough to build a 100-year company, values may be the only thing that remains consistent. Technology will change. Products will change. People will change.

Values endure.

Values guide our decisions. Values shape our culture.

We have a clear mission. Our culture is rooted in the definition of fun: autonomy, mastery, and connection. And we aspire to build a 100-year company.

The Five Es are simple and memorable. They guide daily decisions at scale. They are the clarity we seek.

Ethics

Not doing evil is not enough. Nex is here to do good.

We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards. Nex exists to serve families, not to exploit them. Trust is our ultimate moat. Trust is non-negotiable.

We are not optimizing for time spent on our games. We are optimizing for the value of time spent.

We have chosen a business model that aligns us with our customers. We put families at the center. We aim to give more than we take.

Profit is society’s reward for serving families well.

Empower

We empower our employees, and through our products, we empower our customers.

Empowerment creates autonomy. It unlocks ownership. It unlocks potential. It allows people to grow and take responsibility.

Our game studios and teams operate with a high degree of autonomy. We invest in values and culture so everyone is equipped to make the right decisions.

We hold our why tightly, then entrust teams with the how and the what.

Excellence

We pursue mastery. We hold a high craft bar. We keep pounding the rock.

Excellence is not perfection. It is the discipline of continuous improvement. It is a commitment to respecting the time and trust of the families we serve.

We review our consumer touchpoint and continuously improve each of them. We aim higher. We push to be better. We want to be remarkable.

Given time and iteration, we believe we can stand among the best in the world. And the team has proven that again and again.

Empathy

Be curious, not judgmental.

We listen. We stay open-minded. We seek to understand our colleagues and our customers more deeply.

Without empathy, connection is shallow.
With empathy, connection is lasting.

We engage with our community every day across Facebook, Reddit, and beyond. We listen, and we build with and for our customers.

Internally, we are still early in building our people function. There is more to do.

Endure

We think long term. 100-year scale long term.

When we optimize for endurance, short- and medium-term trade-offs become clearer. We choose what strengthens Nex for decades, not quarters.

Endurance gives us patience. Patience gives us clarity.

Nex has gone through multiple pivots before arriving at Nex Playground. We listen to customers and do what’s right, even when it’s hard.

The process can be gut-wrenching. We have come close to running out of money multiple times.

We endured.

Technology will change. What matters is understanding the timeless human needs we serve, and continuing to serve them better over time.

Values Drive Culture

The Five Es are a starting point. There are still many pages to fill.

For those who have been with Nex for a long time, this should feel familiar. We are simply writing down what we’ve already lived.

For those joining us, this is how we help them get there faster.

Writing this down is where the work begins.

From today forward, the Five Es serve as a checklist for every decision we make.

This is not just writing on the wall. It is a practical decision-making tool.

If a choice compromises Ethics, weakens Empowerment, lowers Excellence, ignores Empathy, or sacrifices Endurance, we reconsider.

We scale without losing ourselves. That is how we build a 100-year company.