About HeyTaco
HeyTaco makes employee recognition software that helps people feel appreciated at work.
Since 2016, thousands of teams have used HeyTaco to recognize great work, reinforce company values, celebrate milestones, and reward one another—right inside Slack and Microsoft Teams.
We are a customer-funded company based in the Washington, DC area. That means we answer to the people who use HeyTaco, not outside investors.
HeyTaco at a glance
Founded2016
FounderDoug Dosberg
Based inWashington, DC metro area
Customers3,000+ paid teams
PlatformsSlack & Microsoft Teams
FundingCustomer-funded
SecuritySOC 2 Type II
It started with one taco
In 2016, product designer Doug Dosberg created a Slack bot that let coworkers recognize one another with taco emojis. The idea was simple: make appreciation as easy and natural as sending a message.
People quickly began using tacos to celebrate helpful coworkers, thoughtful contributions, project wins, and everyday moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. That experiment became HeyTaco.
Today, HeyTaco helps thousands of teams around the world build recognition into the way they already work.
Built for our customers
HeyTaco is customer-driven and customer-funded. We do not have outside investors or a board pushing us toward someone else's priorities. The people who use HeyTaco fund the company and shape what we build.
When we consider a new feature, one of our favorite questions is, “Who is this for?” If it does not make HeyTaco more useful, meaningful, or enjoyable for the people using it, it does not belong.
See what customers are building with HeyTaco →
We build feel-good software
To us, feel-good software is technology that improves people's lives by encouraging positive behavior. HeyTaco makes appreciation visible, social, and enjoyable without turning it into another administrative program employees have to remember to use.
HeyTaco is built around three simple beliefs:
- Giving feels good
- Giving should be genuine
- Giving should be fun
When those principles are present, recognition becomes more than a workplace program. It becomes part of how a team treats one another.
Learning what makes recognition work
We believe recognition software should be built on more than good intentions.
HeyTaco studies anonymized product behavior to better understand what helps peer-recognition programs grow and last. Our research includes behavioral data from more than 5,000 organizations analyzed in collaboration with academic researchers.
The findings are observational and do not prove that a particular feature caused an outcome. We publish our research methods, definitions, and limitations so readers can evaluate our claims for themselves.
Our values
- People First: We value every relationship—with our teammates, customers, and the people whose work HeyTaco helps recognize.
- Do the Right Thing: Integrity is the foundation of everything we do. We choose what is right, even when no one is watching.
- Always Optimistic: We approach challenges with a positive outlook, an open mind, and the belief that there is always something useful to learn.
- Be Authentic: We celebrate the differences and individual qualities that make people and teams stronger.
