Where the Best Argument Wins: How Vertica Built a Bossless Company

This blog post is part of 80+ case studies of progressive organizations we created for the ZeroDX awards 2025. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:

• Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace

• Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution

• Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.

What began as a small, bossless collective has since grown into a 150-person technology firm delivering complex e-commerce platforms for major Danish brands like Bolia and Club Matas. Yet Vertica’s true innovation lies not in itssoftware, but in the way the company has managed to grow without giving up its founding principles.

At the heart of Vertica are its customer teams. These are small, cross-functional units made up of developers,designers, project managers, and at times account managers. Each team works directly with clients and has the freedom to organize itself, make technical and strategic decisions, and manage customer communication without external oversight. Most teams are dedicated to a single customer. In a few cases, a team serves multiple smaller clients. In all cases, the team takes full responsibility for delivering value.

This setup naturally creates a sense of ownership. There are no managers to hand out tasks or steer direction. The people doing the work are also deciding how it should be done. While Vertica doesn’t use the language ofmicroenterprises, its setup shares some notable similarities. These teams operate with high autonomy, and their decisions shape not only the customer experience but the company’s direction as a whole. Their proximity to clients ensures that customer feedback isn’t passed up a chain, but acted on directly. It's a structure that keeps the voice of the customer at the center of every decision.

To support this autonomy, Vertica has developed ways for teams to stay connected across the organization. Peoplewith similar roles, like developers or UX designers, come together regularly in communities of practice. These groups aren’t about enforcing rules. They’re a space to compare notes, learn from each other, and notice what’s working or not. For example, project managers often sit in on each other’s meetings to offer feedback and exchange ideas. This kind of peer-to-peer learning keeps the culture from drifting and helps maintain quality without relying on top-down control. The organization behaves more like a living network than a rigid hierarchy, one that is collegial, responsive, and fluid in how it shares learning across boundaries.

A similar philosophy guides professional development. Employees don’t wait for yearly reviews or ask a manager fordirection. Instead, they can choose their own career coach from a pool of trained colleagues who volunteer for the role. The conversations are informal but meaningful,
focused on personal goals and real challenges. Coaches might suggest gathering feedback, taking on a new responsibility, or connecting with someone else who’s already walked a similar path. It’s low-pressure and self-directed, but still creates momentum. No one is assigning career paths, but support is always there. Everyone isencouraged to grow, and learning isn’t limited to job titles. It moves wherever curiosity and need align.

Money, too, is handled with openness and care. Every month, everyone at Vertica gets a full update on the company’s financial performance. The numbers are shared, the context is explained, and people are trusted to understand theimplications. Ten percent of the company’s annual profit is distributed to the team, with a little extra going to those who’ve been with the company the longest. But what seems to matter more is being part of the conversation. People aren’t chasing bonuses. They’re paying attention, asking questions, and contributing with a sense of ownership. Results aren’t only tracked. They are lived, talked about, and shared as a collective experience.

One choice that stands out is how Vertica avoids breaking the business into financial units. There’s no pressure for each team to hit its own profit target. Instead, the entire company is treated as one P&L. Teams estimate hours fortheir work, track how things go, and learn from the results, but there’s no internal competition over margins. This avoids the trap of turning colleagues into rivals and keeps the focus on doing great work together.

Decision-making is another area where Vertica has carved out its own path. For big changes, like shifting the salarymodel or deciding on office space, a small group takes the lead. They talk to colleagues, gather input, test ideas, and come back with a proposal. For everyday decisions, the approach is even simpler. You involve the people who are meaningfully affected, and you move forward together. Whether it’s ordering blinds for a sunny part of the office or choosing a new tool, there’s no need to escalate. The people closest to the issue are trusted to figure it out. Autonomy isn’t a slogan here. It’s a habit, made real by simple, consistent practices that let people act when it matters.

It’s common for people to switch teams, whether to try a new role, learn a different technology, or simply bring a fresh perspective. Around 20 employees make such moves each quarter.

These transitions aren’t seen as disruptive. In fact, they’re encouraged. They spread learning, create fresh energy,and help people stay engaged. If someone wants to step into a leadership role or pick up a new skill, switching teams is one way to grow. Opportunities for development are not limited to formal promotion tracks. They are discovered through action, relationships, and curiosity.

Still, being a bossless company doesn’t mean being without challenges. One of the trickier areas right now is role clarity. When no one is formally in charge, it’s easy for certain responsibilities to slip through the cracks or landunevenly on a few shoulders. Vertica is aware of this and is working on ways to make expectations clearer. Some teams are mapping out responsibilities more deliberately. Others are discussing how to share leadership tasks in a more balanced way. These conversations are ongoing, but they’re happening in the open, with input from the people doing the work.

Vertica never set out to follow any formal framework. But look closely at how the company actually works, and you’ll see a system of organizing that shares real affinities with RenDanHeYi. Only without the labels.

Start with the way teams operate. The people delivering the work are also the ones listening to the customer, shaping the product, managing the timeline, and refining the solution. There’s no need for layers of approvals or oversightbecause those closest to the user have the authority to act. This is zero distance to customers, not as a principle, but as a built-in behavior. When someone spots a need or an opportunity, there’s no one telling them to wait for permission.

Decisions aren’t reserved for a leadership tier, either. Whether it’s changing the salary model or choosing a new office,the people affected are the ones consulted. Day to day, individuals make choices by talking to their colleagues, theones sitting beside them, not above them. Teams act, adapt, and improve the company without relying on escalation. This is zero distance to action, baked into daily habits.

Coordination happens, but not through control. Communities of practice, peer coaching, and shared forums createplatforms for learning and connection. These structures offer guidance, not gatekeeping. In RenDanHeYi terms, they function like enabling platforms, responsive, non-hierarchical, and owned by those who use them.

Access to financial data is open to all. Everyone sees how the company is doing each month, and everyone shares inthe outcomes. But there’s no internal P&L competition, no bonuses tied to team targets. Instead, the entire organization works from one profit line, with shared rewards and shared responsibility. The outcome is similar to P&L ownership, but shaped by Vertica’s culture of solidarity rather than internal markets.

Growth, too, reflects a kind of quiet evolution. Roles aren’t set in stone, and mobility between teams is common. Development doesn’t depend on promotion or a fixed path, but on curiosity, initiative, and feedback from peers. People stretch, try, and grow by doing the work and reflecting in real time. This rhythm, learn, test, adapt, mirrorsRenDanHeYi’s dynamic evolution, though no one at Vertica calls it that.

Even the absence of formal managers points to a deeper shift. At Vertica, leadership emerges through initiative.Those who build trust, contribute insight, or support others earn influence. It’s a culture where leaders are accountable to the led, not the other way around.

The terminology might differ, but the underlying logic is familiar. Reduce distance, push decisions to the edge, supportteams with platforms, and let value creation drive the structure. Vertica didn’t borrow these ideas. It discovered them byfollowing a simple belief: trust people, and let the best argument win.