The best perks for a very small startup are the ones that don't scale, because then Twitter can't copy them. For better or worse, serving lunch scales. Laundr

The best perks for a very small startup are the ones that don't scale, because then Twitter can't copy them. For better or worse, serving lunch scales. Laundry service scales. What doesn't scale? - Find out what your employees REALLY like and make it part of the culture. Tofu of the month club. Concert tickets for Mongolian mandolinists. The key is this taps into people's personal identity, and helps the team bond. It is VERY hard for Google to copy things like this. - Hire much better management. Google can no longer give large chunks of equity to new managers. A small start-up can. Outstanding managers (which are very hard to find, and need to be hunted just like outstanding programmers) will find a way to keep the best employees by challenging them and keeping them engaged with the work. - More autonomy. A small company can say "Use your judgment on expenses" and "Give it your best guess on new technology" much easier than large companies who have to worry more about cross-organizational consistency. These are all very hard to copy.