“We are Light Keepers. We help with processes, administration, paying bills, and making sure the administrative and operational wheels on the bus are kept going. We are the custodians of essential but often mundane processes that enable and support the work of everyone else - including idea owners. What is that work? Everything from minutes, committee meetings, KPI tracking, studio logistics, expense and contract oversight, and legally required filings. When it comes to idea owners, we focus on not doing this work for them. We want idea owners to learn how to do this on their own, so we are there to support and remind them about the procedures. We are engineering and designing the new company (NewCo) formation process.
We are Smooth Operators. We empower Moon Mates to have autonomy. We try to make our operational procedures and structures as hassle-free and smooth as possible for idea owners (and everyone else) so they can focus on what’s important: the idea! We constantly look to find the right balance between giving autonomy while ensuring governance of Moon’s resources. A balance that is contextual to the idea’s “stage” if you will.
We are Cultural Gardeners. We design the creative space for Moon Mates to feel safe to let their ideas roam freely. We encourage seeing failure as an opportunity to learn and feel comfortable sharing imperfect ideas. Culture is not just about building beautiful studio spaces, but rather creating an environment that makes it possible for people to work together to come up with innovative products and ideas. How do we do this? We empower and encourage Moon Mates to live out Moon’s values.
We are Anthropologists. We are continuously investigating the current Moon mood and seeing how we can design cultural initiatives that speak to the moment.
The Operations team metaphor: We are the blue in blue cheese: we are essential, penetrate every aspect of the organization and create flavor that is not always to everyone’s liking.”
“As a designer and a member of our innovation team, I have the opportunity to collaborate closely with idea owners to help bring exciting new ideas to life. My initial responsibility is driving products and solutions that service the goals of both the users and the venture being incubated. We strive to first look at the target market, understand the potential users’ behaviors and needs, and create a design that meets their needs. My role is to also help the idea owners research the problem they’re seeking to solve and validate their idea before any further roadmapping.
Being a part of this creative jam, our team doesn’t only care about generating new ideas and solutions, but also helping idea owners move from ideation to action. We help illuminate a deeper understanding of the business objectives of the venture and address its problems through early prototypes. Our team helps influence the product roadmap through creative insights we learn from user interviews. My team and I always work to make sure Moon is the first-in-class place to build innovative businesses that bring the greatest impact to our world.”
“As a software developer and creative technologist working in experiential design and other design–oriented domains, interdisciplinary context has been a constant of my work. My ultimate responsibility has always been to help synthesize the various considerations from different stakeholders across disciplines - design, content, hardware, architecture, and strategy - into a coherent plan that will lead to an outcome meeting our expectations, project to project.
At Moon, we’re faced with similar kinds of interdisciplinary synthesis in a constantly evolving context, as ventures come in and out of the organization. As the engineering team, on top of actually building software, our job is to help turn broad concepts into actionable reality — from consulting, prototyping, helping to understand technical requirements, providing constraints, and influencing processes that will set up ventures for success, while working with product, design, and research teams in Moon to continue to evolve our own process for doing so.”
“In my role as an HR associate at Moon, I am fortunate to have one of the first interactions with a new hire. We have hired a wonderful, diverse group of people this year – in both backgrounds, perspectives and creative thinking. I strive to provide full support to everyone as they work to better understand their individual role and how they can best contribute towards the success of Moon and its ventures.
As HR looks to the future, we plan on developing projects that will provide value to Moon’s employees, foster a positive work environment, and build a unique culture that yields success. Finding that perfect balance between streamlining procedures while promoting creative freedom will ultimately drive Moon to be a leader in a competitive marketplace.”
“As a design researcher at Moon, I help foster curiosity and empathy to uncover deep human insights that would support ideas into becoming bold new ventures. Understanding the user’s humanity, background, and context will let us acquire empathy which is essential to uncovering deep insights.
At Moon, I work with idea owners that are extremely passionate about solving problems, helping users, or bringing their solution to life. My role is to lead research to discover, synthesize, and derive insights to guide the design process and business development based on user needs. Not only through unlocking insightful conversations by sharing unfiltered opinions from users, but also by collaborating with the team to turn these findings into powerful designs or strategic decisions to communicate in an inspiring way. I enjoy being part of this wild journey supporting a variety of ideas from various industries, countries, organizations that are creating a new future from zero.”
