The Importance of Culture
If you are starting a business, you will think first about the product you want to create. You will devote most of your resources to building that product. However, that same product will emerge from a startup composed of human beings and driven by some form of energy and passion. This limited infrastructure can be described as “culture”.
Culture is to a startup what structure is to a corporation. A startup has very limited processes in place, making it difficult to know how to behave when something new occurs. Working on your culture can become the framework that replaces unnecessary processes. Culture is the personality of your startup, which will help people behave, even if nothing has been written or expressed.
That said, it becomes essential to quickly describe your startup‘s culture. Again culture is your only way to create a cohesive team. Most startups don’t really care early on. This is the biggest mistake you can make. Without a clear “culture” here is a quick list of consequences:
Wrong hires not sharing the same values
Bad onboarding for new employees
No clear point of view within the startup
Misunderstood decision making
Priorities not clear
The list could go on and on.
Let’s try to be practical and see what the culture description could look like and how it could be useful.
New Hire
Create a document that describes your hiring philosophy. Who do you want to hire? Forget hard skills; what kind of individuals do you want to be around?
Here’s an example from my list:
1-No compromise, only the best. Best=incredible skillset or incredible potential
2-Never hire someone “good enough” because we can’t find anyone.
3-Hire slow, fire fast
4-Key character traits we need to see: Abstract minded (analytical ability), Nice (treats everyone with respect), infinite learner (know what they don’t know, curious), Smart, understands that sharing is power (no ego, helpful, teamwork), honest.
5- Each co-founder had veto power over a hire
HR
How you manage human resources is obviously important. Set up the rules and share them with potential employees to make sure they are aligned.
Here’s an example from my list:
1-No HR department until we reach 50 employees
2- We do not believe in annual reviews (reviews are ongoing)
3-We do not have a vacation policy (take time off when needed)
4-We never lose people to salary issues, we pay what’s fair
5-Titles are not helpful
Decision-making
In a startup, decisions are made all the time. Often, decisions are changing and can be contradictory. It’s not important to explain the why but rather the how.
Here’s an example from my list:
1-The CEO is the ultimate decision maker, we are not a democracy
2-Each co-founder has functional responsibilities and is accountable for them
3-We do not allocate a budget, we decide based upon what we can afford and the quality of the investment
4-We have the right to be wrong, however the same mistake twice is not acceptable.
5-The decision is good until there is a better one
Product Development
Culture can also affect product development. Being clear about the product development culture allows everyone to enforce it at all levels.
Here’s an example from my list:
1-We favor iterations over perfection
2-We know why we do things and what to measure before we do them
3-We iterate often
4-Everyone can contribute not just the tech team
5-When adding a feature try to see if we can remove one
Communication
Communication is always a sensitive subject. Again be clear on your beliefs.
Here’s an example from my list:
1-We are not paranoid about what we do, we are open and transparent
2-We do not try to look good at all cost, we can display weaknesses and doubts
3-PR agencies are not for us
4-We never communicate to ‘feel good’ but to serve our purpose
5-What’s sensible information stays inside
This is of course a small sample. Culture can cover every possible topic within the startup. Netflix released a masterful document some time ago that is now considered a reference. Here it is: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
Do not wait, get started, create your culture paper, it will have an immediate impact. It will create a point of view that will define your startup, it will align individuals inside, some bad mistakes will be avoided.