Friends,

If you ever heard the term ‘never waste a meal’ that’s what I’m coming out the other side of.

I’m back after a week in Brisbane for Something Tech and used every spare minute to squeeze in a meet up, coffee catch up or, you guessed it, a meal.

I could (and probably should) fast for a week now…

If there’s one thing I’ve missed since moving to a beachside town, its the in-person networking. Virtual is great, don’t get me wrong, but in person is better.

I’m coming back tired, but also grateful for the many wonderful people in my network who I get to share so much with. Making more time for in person feels like a good resolution for 2026 (which will be here before we know it).

In other news, I’m eagerly awaiting the return of F1 from its summer break (or ‘winter boredom’ as I see it in the southern hemisphere) and what I’m hoping will be the season we see an Australian F1 champ 🤞

Ok, we’re diving into compensation philosophies with Aubrey this week and tackling some very core truths for how to make them better.

Enjoy,

Matt

I still remember when I read my first great compensation philosophy and wondered how I could ever write something that brought structure and clarity to such a difficult topic.

Since then, I’ve had a hand in writing over 30+ compensation philosophies, and read dozens more.

This deep guide is built with the best of those philosophies in mind, and in a way that enables you to easily build your company’s needs into your very own compensation philosophy.

This step-by-step guide arms you with everything you need (including a ready-to-use philosophy template) to go from blank page, to exec buy-in, to building trust with your people.