Hello everyone,

I’m Ting, the founder of Marais Home (yes, the very opinionated one whom everyone else just needs to follow) (but if you don’t have strong opinions, you really shouldn’t start a business). I originally didn’t want to respond to these comments, since so much time has passed. But recently, a new employee hesitated because of the comments here, which made me feel that I had to take responsibility and write a public post, so that people interested in Marais Home can think and make their own judgment.

I’m not here to deny everything or curse at the people who left the comments. In fact, some of what they said is true, including late labor and health insurance enrollment and incorrectly calculated salaries. But I swear this first: even during Marais Home’s most difficult times,

we never paid salaries even one day late. And throughout our six years in business, even when we were operating at a loss, the office still paid out two months’ year-end bonuses, because I know that it’s impossible to have a good New Year without money.

What I want to say is that startups are not easy. Few companies have dedicated HR, legal, or professional finance roles in their early stages. When these responsibilities are handled by people without professional expertise, it’s difficult to avoid mistakes. All we can do is make adjustments after mistakes happen, issue back pay, make up the labor and health insurance contributions, learn from the experience, and work hard to improve—just as we have done throughout our time as a startup: stay flexible, and fix our mistakes.

As for the unclear division of responsibilities, emotional managers, messages sent on weekends, and the small office, I have to take responsibility for these issues. In the year when we came closest to shutting down, I hired a professional manager who had worked at a large company, thinking that the systems and structure of a large company might make Marais Home better and more complete. But the timing, circumstances, and people were all wrong, resulting in frequent personnel changes and turmoil at the company that year. The comments here all came from colleagues who left us during that year. (What I actually want to say is: you worked hard, and I’m sorry I couldn’t provide you with a better environment at the time.)

But I was lucky: Marais Home made it through. After undergoing changes and restructuring, we worked very hard to stabilize the brand. Our revenue has doubled for two consecutive years (the office has also gotten bigger, and next year we’ll redesign it to make it more comfortable). Our workload has increased, we have more professionals, responsibilities are more clearly divided, and of course we now also have HR and finance (so salaries and labor and health insurance won’t be calculated incorrectly again).

I won’t say that we’re perfect, but I can guarantee that we’re a good company. Marais Home has been around for six years, and 40% of our employees have worked here for more than three years. We’re not a “big family”—that would be too cringey—but we work hard toward a common goal. When we make mistakes, we discuss and adjust together. And we’re still growing, so there are always new challenges and a sense of accomplishment. After working hard all year, we eat and get drunk together.

That’s all I wanted to say. I hope more people will join us and grow together. If you’re interested in interviewing or have already interviewed, and you have my contact information, feel free to ask me questions at any time. I’ll be happy to explain everything!

Quite a lot! We stay flexible and fix our mistakes!