nashville's best places to workI’m thrilled that, for the sixth year in a row, we have been recognized as one of Nashville’s Best Places to Work. We’ve received a lot of awards over the years, but this is the one that I care most about, that award that recognizes the core of who we are and what we do.

There are so many reasons Rustici Software is a special place. From the Jenafits down to the toilet paper, there are a hundred little things that make me love coming to work on Monday morning.

The best part of Rustici Software is that we actually care about each other. It’s not just lip service, we really care about and respect each other as people. It makes all the difference in the world.

Parking at the office is getting scarce as we grow, but there is always one parking spot that stays open late into the morning. It is the spot right in front of the door.

Nobody takes the best spot. We don’t want it. We want each other to have it. This isn’t something that we’ve ever actually talked about around the office. It’s an unspoken thing that we just do.

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The best spot in the lot isn’t reserved for the CEO, nor for the employee of the month. It’s reserved for the guy or gal who had life get in the way that morning. The one with a sick kid, or who hit a rough patch of traffic. It is reserved for the person who probably needs it most.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to work with people who care so much. As the founder of a company, you can set a tone and you can offer great benefits, but you can’t make a great place to work. It takes a village to do that.

Thank you to everybody who makes Rustici Software possible.

Mike is the Founder and was President of Rustici Software until 2016. Most recently he was the CEO of Watershed Systems. He helped guide the first draft of the Tin Can API (xAPI) and believes ice cream is the "elixir of life."