What Pleo stands for and why

I’ve only been at Pleo for a little while, but this much is clear: I have no idea where the meeting rooms are. Also clear: Pleo and its company values mean a lot to the people who work here. And we can do better when it comes to communicating those values to you.

Up to this point, our small, overachieving team juggled communicating what we stand for with a bazillion other things. But with our company growing, some new people have been brought on-board to help manage how we communicate. 

And our team has got a real appetite for change.

How Pleo is changing

So what does Pleo want to talk about with you?

Rule one, we don’t want to sound like idiots. We won’t pretend to be experts where we’re not. But we do know plenty about expenses and how to help businesses manage their money better, so we won’t be shy in talking about that.

We want to say things that are interesting, that are helpful and that tie back to what Pleo is all about. So, what is that?

Well, yes, it’s about doing expenses in a better way. They’re boring, cause friction and waste too much of everyone’s time. Pleo is an easy, effective way to make expenses … well, as close to fun as expenses are ever going to be.

And we’re confident that we’re on to something with that. Something big, hopefully. $56m in Series B funding suggests that some people agree and want to see us take the Pleo mission to the next level.

But it’s not just how our system works (really well, at a great price) that we want to talk about. Nope, we want to talk about what Pleo stands for and the company values that inform that.

What Pleo stands for

1. Better spending

We know that giving your employee a Pleo card isn’t just about avoiding the pain of manual expenses. It’s about trusting workers with your company’s money – which is a big deal.

We also know that top-down control over company spending has been causing everyone the same headaches for far too long now. Don’t bosses have better things to do than chase sales reps for taxi receipts? Don’t employees have better things to be doing than desperately hunt for those taxi receipts in the back of their wallet?

We want to talk about better ways for businesses to spend their money.

Not just expenses but smarter business travel. Not just expenses but tools that will save your finance team time.Not just expenses but… well, everything that involves your company’s hard-earned money.

It goes beyond expenses too. Just think about all the other ways companies are spending money these days: buying new hardware for hires, sorting out subscriptions to that tool your design team craves, paying that freelance proofreader to check the words on your company blog aren’t just glorified lorem ipsum.

Companies pay for a lot of stuff. We want to help make that as smooth as possible.

2. The future of work

Take it from a new hire who still gets lost looking for meeting rooms, starting a job can be scary. But it’s also a chance to imagine where you and your career will be in six months, two years, ten years.

We want to talk about that – but on a bigger scale. What will we all be doing in ten years (and beyond) when it comes to the workplace? And what’s the mindset that will make sure companies, managers and employees can thrive when change happens?

Trust and transparency matter to us. Pleo empowers employees, frees up finance teams to get beyond number-crunching and allows bosses more time to do what matters. But our cards are just one part of a huge wave of tools and strategies that can help people get more from their job.

“The future of work” is a bit of a strange one to talk about, because at some companies, things like flexible working, remote teams or decentralised decision-making are already established. 

We’re lucky enough to say Pleo is one of those places. But in other offices, these ideas can feel like concepts from science fiction.

We want to shine a light on the trends that could revolutionise how people work. But we want to talk about those trends honestly and help start a conversation about how employers and employees can get there together. 

So, now that we’ve figured out the company values we want to talk about, how are we going to do it?  (We mentioned we’re big on transparency, so let’s keep that up.) We’re going to try some things. We’ll keep digging into better business spending and the future of work, and hopefully spark some ideas here on our blog.

We’ll keep a close eye on what people respond to, as well as identifying what helps us spread the word about Pleo.

But most importantly, we’re not just going to talk. We’re going to listen. To our customers, to industry experts, to thought leaders, to anyone who cares about better spending or the way that workplaces are changing.

… And in the meantime, I’m going to figure out where that meeting room is.