Range · Jul 2021
Interview with Lynne Tye about how engineering hiring changed during the pandemic, the confusion around remote work, and why candidates should look for clear, documented team values.
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Key Values is a solo-founded, values-based engineering jobs and company-profile platform that helps software engineers evaluate team culture before applying. Companies publish engineering-culture profiles, and the company appears to monetize via paid annual subscription/listing fees rather than charging candidates.
Primary product
Values-based engineering job and company culture profiles for software teams
Founded
2017
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, United States
Team size
1-10
Industry
Staffing and Recruiting
Sub-industry
Engineering recruiting / jobs marketplace
Business model
0 jobs at Key Values
Check back later for new openings
Stage
Seed
Total raised
$245K
Latest round
Seed · Aug 2018
Latest amount
$120K
Leadership
Founder
Investors
Founder-led, transparency-oriented, and focused on matching engineers with teams whose values align with their own. Public materials emphasize work/life balance, psychological safety, diversity, open communication, and specific, concrete culture documentation over generic employer branding.
Compensation
No public employee compensation bands or salary program were found. The clearest compensation-related signal is commercial: companies pay Key Values a flat annual fee / subscription to be listed, while candidates use the site for free.
Pricing
Annual company subscription / flat-fee listing for engineering-culture profiles; engineers are not charged.
Differentiators
Technology
Customers
Competitors
Estimated revenue
≈$300k/year (historical six-figure revenue estimate in public interviews)
Estimated monthly visits
20K
Traffic estimate as of Nov 2018
Range · Jul 2021
Interview with Lynne Tye about how engineering hiring changed during the pandemic, the confusion around remote work, and why candidates should look for clear, documented team values.
Indie Hackers · May 2019
Discusses how Key Values became a profitable six-figure, bootstrapped business and how Lynne learned sales and priced the product as a company-paid subscription.
Forbes · Nov 2018
Profiles Lynne Tye as the solo founder behind Key Values and reports the site had about 20K monthly visitors at the time.
Hanselminutes · Oct 2018
Podcast episode on the product concept, why interviews are a two-way street, and how Key Values helps candidates assess companies before applying.
Code Without Rules · Dec 2017
Early interview describing Key Values’ launch, the culture tags it used, and the motivation for helping engineers find teams that share their values.