Flickr.com, CCL, Richard Moross

Earlier this week, FT.com did a feature piece on Moo founder Richard Moross. Those of you that have been following this blog for a while will remember I wrote about Moo before: in my last post, I wrote “in spite of being an entirely virtual business, Moo goes to great lengths to give you the feeling that you are dealing with an actual person.”

After reading the article, it seems like Moo is a rather magnetic place to work or hang around, too. Which made me wonder: to what extent is Moo’s personality and business philosophy linked to that of its founder ?

“I get hundreds of e-mails from people who want help or advice”; he says. “I certainly enjoy, and think my colleagues enjoy, being a citizen of the London tech and start-up community. We have tried to be a good friend of any business, whether that means making a product that suits them, or being a resource they can call up.”

Early on in my career, I remember doing some work for a startup. The thing I remember the most about them was that it all seemed so … intimate. From the guys on lunchbreaks playing racketball on an unoccupied top floor to the (in)famous “Pizza Fridays” where everybody gathered in a single crowded room for pizza and a good conversation, it all felt like much more than (a) business sometimes.

However, very much like Moo, there was also a distinctly business-oriented side. We were constantly focused on finding the best solutions for our clients, and making sure their needs were met. There was genuine dialogue, and a joint approach to problem-solving. People looked you straight in the eye, and told you what they thought of you and your ideas. And no matter what, everybody stayed for as long as was needed to get the job done - not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

In short, nobody forced us to do anything, but we went out there and did it anyway. I sometimes think back to those days, and wonder: what if we could get the same level of engagement within all of our companies ?

What would that mean for the way in which customers are being served ? Problems are being handled ? Innovative products are being created ? What would this mean for the way in which people feel engaged and motivated, readily giving the best of themselves ? What would it mean for companies and  brands ? And what would it mean for the bottom line, whether in financial or other terms ?

For Moo, it seems to work rather well – according to the Financial Times, “Moo declines to give detailed financials, saying only that it has printed more than 10m minicards, tripling its revenues every year since launch in 2006. It plans to do so again this year.”

Not bad for a startup in what has been termed “the worst recession mankind has ever known.”