My startup sent me to a deserted island with no running water

2026-05-28 · Source: Sifted · Field: Business & Management — Human Resources & Workforce Development, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, short

Summary

Swedish AI company Sana implements a unique onboarding ritual where new joiners spend a week on a small island outside Stockholm. Author Elina Mäkelä recounts her three-day experience, which began with the unexpected failure of the cabin's running water system. Despite initial concerns, the group of new hires improvised, using the Baltic Sea for showering, rainwater for washing dishes with a three-bucket assembly line, and bottled water for cooking and drinking. This shared adversity, including rationing water, fostered deep bonding and revealed individual resilience among colleagues. The water system mysteriously reactivated just as they departed, leaving them with a memorable and "bad ass" shared history within the company.

Key takeaway

For HR professionals or startup founders designing onboarding programs, consider incorporating unconventional, challenging experiences that force new hires to collaborate and improvise. This approach, exemplified by Sana's island ritual, can accelerate team cohesion and reveal individual resilience far more effectively than traditional methods, despite potential logistical hurdles. Your goal should be to foster genuine connections and problem-solving skills from day one.

Key insights

Sana's island onboarding, despite a water outage, fostered deep team bonding and resilience through shared adversity.

Principles

• Shared adversity builds strong bonds.
• Improvisation is key to problem-solving.
• Unconventional onboarding creates lasting memories.

Method

Sana's method involves sending new hires to a remote island for a week of foraging and team-building, intentionally creating challenging conditions to foster resilience and camaraderie among the group.

In practice

• Design onboarding for shared challenges.
• Encourage resourcefulness in new teams.
• Facilitate informal bonding outside work.

Topics

• Startup Culture
• Team Building
• Onboarding Programs
• Employee Experience
• Sana AI
• Organizational Development

Best for: Entrepreneur, HR Professional, General Interest

Related on AIssential

• Nikki Barua on reinvention, reframing problems, identity shifts for AI adoption, and the future workforce (AC Ep29) — Continuous reinvention and human-centered identity shifts are crucial for successful AI adoption and organizational transformation.
• What founders can learn from Anjuna’s layoffs and recovery — A strong culture of care and adaptive strategies are crucial for startups navigating market volatility and workforce reductions.
• Panathēnea: The festival model reshaping Europe’s startup ecosystem — Innovation thrives in environments fostering movement, serendipity, and interdisciplinary connections, not just formal presentations.
• Wolt CEO and Slush chair Marianne Vikkula on building a superapp, leadership lessons and Slush’s secret sauce — Wolt's strategy involves expanding local commerce, leveraging subscriptions, and maintaining a startup culture through talent development and external benchmarking.
• Why Agents Make Every Job a Startup — AI agents transform jobs into startup-like endeavors, creating an "infinite backlog" that intensifies work and necessitates new support structures.
• Sequoia CEO coach: Why it’s never been easier to start a company, and never been harder to scale one | Brian Halligan (co-founder, HubSpot) — Scaling a company is harder than ever, requiring specific leadership traits and adaptable strategies.

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Sifted.