Fastmail

Philadelphia, PA
Founded in 1999
Status: Active

Company Stats

Industry:
Software
Headquarters:
Melbourne, Australia
Employee Count:
11-50
Tax Status:
For-profit
Founded:
August 2, 1999

Address

1429 Walnut St. Suite 1201 Philadelphia, PA 19102
Info

Company Overview

A Look Inside
Details
Jobs
Philadelphia, PA
Founded in 1999
Status: Active

Company Stats

Industry:
Software
Headquarters:
Melbourne, Australia
Employee Count:
11-50
Tax Status:
For-profit
Founded:
August 2, 1999

Address

1429 Walnut St. Suite 1201 Philadelphia, PA 19102

Desperate to permanently delete the deluge of marketing emails from brands you never signed up for? The good internet citizens at Fastmail are at your service.

For as little as $3 per month, the Australia-based independent email provider offers completely ad-free products and services — unlike “free” email providers that get paid by selling your data to advertisers. Your inbox stays clear of unwelcome solicitors, and your privacy intact.

Fastmail is a 40-person, 20-year-old company established in Australia. The small business went global after acquiring Pobox in 2015, a Philly-based email service created by Penn student Helen Horstmann-Allen, now the COO of Fastmail. Since then, the email provider’s Philadelphia office has grown to 17 employees, and counting, and recently underwent a stunning renovation featuring design elements that are representative of the company’s warm, inviting nature.

Despite being 10,000 miles apart, Fastmail’s offices are linked through a cohesive internal culture. The company follows Australian labor laws and practices, featuring laid back vibes, empathetic and collaborative communication, respect for all employees and generous benefits. As an employer, much like its role as a product developer, the company strives to be human-centered, empowering and connective. It encourages all employees to be full partners in the development of internal processes, technical standards and Fastmail’s commitment to an open internet.

Providing a human-centered approach to the email experience for customers who value their privacy is at the core of every product and service Fastmail designs — right down to its own internal framework. With a custom, open-source application, technologists at Fastmail have complete control over every aspect of the company’s tech stack, how to build upon the application and what to build next.

If building ethical, inventive and strategic technology is your jam, take some time to explore Fastmail’s latest job openings. The company is currently looking to hire Philly-based JavaScript programmers, backend software developers, customer support agents, project managers and more.

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Technical.ly Coverage

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  • Fastmail office image
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  • Fastmail office image
  • Fastmail office image
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Culture Q&A

What does “being a good internet citizen” mean?

For us, it’s all about behaving ethically and responsibly in today’s internet landscape. We strive to always do the right thing and put people first. We value customers’ trust and never compromise the privacy of their personal data. We build and contribute to open-source projects that help move our industry forward. And most importantly, we bring a human touch to a high-tech industry.

 

What benefits do you offer that stand out from other companies?

In response to Covid-19 and its new demands on workplace culture, we offer very flexible hours to enable a healthy work-life balance for all of our employees. We also offer very generous PTO with no leave cap. And if an employee has been with us for seven years or longer, they are able to take what’s called a "Long Service Leave," which is a 2-month paid sabbatical.

As one of our company values, we place a heavy focus on our employees’ personal and professional growth. Every employee has their own personal/professional development budget to use as they wish, whether on a course, conference, books, etc. It can also be applied to board service at a non-profit or charity.

 

Being a global company, are there opportunities to travel?

Yes! Before Covid-19, many of our Philadelphia staffers had regular opportunities to travel to our office in Australia, and vice versa. When it's safe to travel again, that is definitely an opportunity for the future.

 

What is the company’s current tech stack?

Our client application is written in modern JavaScript using our own open-source framework, Overture, as well as Squire, a popular rich text editor which we wrote. Our client and server communicate using JMAP, a protocol we developed and turned into an open standard. Our server is made up of quite a few different software systems written primarily in Perl 5, but most customer data is stored in Cyrus, an open source JMAP (and IMAP and more) server written in C, and we're its primary maintainers.  All this runs on Linux running on our own real hardware.

 

What kind of qualities do you look for when hiring new technologists?

We are looking for people who have a true passion for programming and the continual desire to push themselves in their understanding of programming concepts and techniques. Our culture is one of constant learning, and we look for that same interest from candidates. Development at Fastmail is a highly collaborative process so we want people who work well with others and are excited to build new things.

Here are some details behind the employee experience here, including highlighted perks and benefits and notes on the tech they work with.

Perks & Benefits

Health & Wellness
  • Dental Insurance
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
  • FSA
  • Health Insurance
Other
  • Hybrid Work Options
Parental Benefits
  • Family Medical Leave
  • Parental Leave
Perks & Discounts
  • Casual Dress
  • Snacks Provided
Professional Development
  • Training & Development Budget
PTO/Flexibility
  • Commitment to Work/Life Harmony
  • Flexible Work Schedule
  • Paid Holidays
  • Paid Sick Days
  • PTO
Retirement & Stock Options Benefits
  • 401k with company contribution