Company CULTURE: Future-Proofing Your Startup Venture #scottsthoughts

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My name is Scott D. Clary. Welcome back to my channel. Today, I'm going to be speaking about culture. I'm going to be speaking about company culture, what it is, how to figure out what your company culture is, and how to build a company with a strong culture, and also why culture is so important for companies. Culture is a buzzword. It gets thrown around a lot. We always speak about you're trying to build culture and company, and culture is more than just the nice little slogans that they put on a wall. How do we actually build culture? And then also, lately, culture has gotten a little bit of a bad rap. When people try and build culture, and they think that the word culture means you just hire people that are going to be best friends with the people that are already working there. And then instead of actually building a culture, you build an environment that doesn't have a lot of diversity, doesn't have a lot of innovation, doesn't have any sort of new ideas being injected into it. So you can build culture incorrectly that can actually hurt your business in a lot of ways. But the reason why I wanted to speak about culture today is I wanted to highlight how to do culture properly. And why this topic came up was because of a podcast that I had on my show with Cherish Ned Carney. And we spoke about a whole bunch of stuff. Cherish has an incredible resume. I'll sort of give you a rundown of what he's done in his career. But one of the topics that came up was culture. And I feel like culture isn't brought up enough in the world of startups, inventor, capital, entrepreneurship. It seems like something that, oh, we'll worry about it later on. We'll worry about it when we've, you know, done five million or 10 million or 50 million in revenue. Then I can hire somebody in HR that can figure out the company's culture. But the reality is you have to worry about that culture from the get go from day one because that culture, whether or not you are aware of it, your company has a culture. So it's better to get ahead of it. So this is about future proofing your startup so that you do have a culture that you can be proud of that can actually help your company get to wherever it is you want it to go. So let's talk about Cherish first. I'll give you a little bit of background on who he is and why I was so psyched to have him on my show. Cherish is what you'd call a serial entrepreneur. He's well-versed in startup ventures. He co-founded live mocha and team on systems. Our conversation was an awesome conversation. What we spoke about was everything from fundraising to scaling to venture capital to culture, which I feel like is a very important topic. Basically, let's define culture as well. Culture is the idea that all members of a company must align with core values of that company and that founding team and purpose in order to reach true success. So as somebody with extensive knowledge and experience in building startups, I asked Cherish what he thought about company culture and where or even if it fits into the startup world. What he said both reaffirmed and challenged my personal thoughts on company culture. So I want to dive a little bit deeper into this. So in the early 1950s, that's where this story, not Cherish's story, that's where this story and the concept of culture started. So as the early 1950s and a man by the name of Dr. Elliott Jacques introduced a concept of organizational culture in his book The Changing Culture of a Factory. Jacques argued that organizational culture was not something that could be seen or touched, but rather it was the shared set of assumptions, values and norms that guided the behavior of members within an organization. He come to the conclusion through a study of the glacier metal company in which he observed that the workers displayed different behaviors depending on which part of the factory they were working in. The workers in the finishing department for example were more likely to take their break at the same time and chat with their colleagues, whereas the workers in the furnace room tended to keep to themselves. Jacques argued that the different behaviors of the workers was not due to their individual personalities, but rather to the culture of the factory in which they worked. They shared a set of assumptions, values and norms that guided the behaviors of members within an organization became known as company culture. So fast forward to today, company culture is more important than ever. With the advent of the internet and the globalization of business, companies are no longer confined to their local markets. So having a strong company culture globally is something that sets them apart from their competitors, but really what is it? What is the tangibles that are tied to company culture? So in the corporate world, the definition of company culture has evolved to become one of the most important strategic assets that a business can have. Culture is now understood to be a system of shared assumptions, values and beliefs that dictate how employees behave both within and outside the company. And it's not surprising that company culture has become an essential ingredient in the success or failure of companies. A strong company culture can help to attract the best talent. It can help retain that talent. It can help inspire innovation. It can help build a sense of community and loyalty amongst employees. But on the other hand, a weak or dysfunctional culture can lead to employee turnover, stagnation and even disaster. So without a strong company culture that binds employees together and drives them towards a common goal, your startup is at risk of becoming just another failed venture. You'll experience symptoms such as lack of cohesion and direction. So when employees don't share a common culture, they often don't know what the company stands for or where it's going. This can lead to confusion and a lack of motivation. Also low morale, a toxic company culture can quickly sap any sort of employee morale leading to decreased productivity and engagement poor customer service. A company with a weak culture is typically more focused on its own internal politics than on meeting the needs of its customers. This can lead to a loss of market share and damage of companies reputation. And lastly, a lack of innovation. A strong company culture is a breeding ground for innovation. When employees feel connected to each other and the company's mission, they're more likely to come up with new ideas and solutions. To fight to say that company culture is fairly crucial even from your first activity as a business when you're just starting out. If you want your startup to succeed, you need to focus on building a strong one. But that's so hard because there's already all these other things you're trying to do when you're building a business. How do you focus on building a culture purposefully? So in the conversation I had with Cherish, I learned some of the incredible successes that he has had in the startup world. But then we spoke about the cultures that he's experienced in some of these startups. So to give you again a little brief resume or a bio, he founded team on systems, which was acquired by research and motion or RIM Blackberry in 2002 and later became the core foundation of Blackberry's internet email service. He also co-founded Live Mocha, the world's largest language learning site with over 15 million members. So before all of this, he was an employee at Microsoft in its early stages in 1987. He was given the responsibility of launching Microsoft's email software at just 26 years old. He was also responsible for the acquisition and launch of Hotmail, which later paved the way for MSN messaging. As our conversation continued, I grew curious what the company culture was like in those early stages of Microsoft. It's very rare that you still get to speak to somebody that was working at Microsoft when it was like Bill Gates and a couple employees. So he said that it's not uncommon for startups to not prioritize company culture and most don't even give it a second thought. At least don't much later on and the outcomes aren't always pretty. But quoting sure, she said when he was at Microsoft, Bill Gates didn't define a culture and say these are our cultural values. The culture was emulating Bill. So everybody was super hungry, super aggressive. But that served them well for a while, but then they got into trouble with the Justice Department. So what can we learn from this? Founders have to realize that at the end of the day, the culture isn't the values that you put on the wall or the mission statement that you put out. The culture is who you are. That's going to be what is mirrored by your employees. Cherish made a great point. He advised the founders take time before they start their venture to lay out a set of values and attitudes that they want to instill within their company as it grows. How will you communicate? What will your goals be? What behaviors will you practice? What are your standards? But you have to understand that you have to be able to hold yourself accountable to these values because you can just save them. But what's really going to create that culture is what people see you do, especially at an early stage. And that's going to be how they look at their work and how they look at what they want to accomplish and how fast they accomplish it and how aggressive they accomplish it and how ethically they accomplish it. So you are the role model as the founder. The reason company culture is so important is that at some point the company is going to grow you, the founder, and you will not have the opportunity to work with everyone. So you want to make sure that the culture defines the guardrails and the process by which your employees make a decision. So if you want a certain type of behavior, then you need to define that culture. If you want people to behave the way that you behave in your company, you have to define that culture and you have to live it and breathe it and do it. Cherish gave examples of Amazon as a company that prioritizes its culture well. The company is laid out 14 principles by which every single employee should listen to and abide by. These principles guide the employee's decision and are meant to create a consistent customer experience. Netflix is also a great example of a company with a strong culture. They have a set of values that they live by which has led them to be one of the most successful streaming companies in the world. And lastly, another example of somebody who doesn't have a great culture, Uber has had some trouble with its culture. So Travis, a clinic was actually force a step down a CEO because of the company's issues that were rooted in aggression despite their incredible success to begin with after the company grew, that culture started to deteriorate. So how to create your company culture? Well, I already sort of gave you a big hint, which was you have to live it, breathe it, do it yourself, but we can get a little bit more tactical. So culture is your key to success. We've already established that, but how do you develop it? What are the right steps? So the key is to begin working on your culture before you even make your first hire. Culture of a company is like the DNA of a human being. It starts to develop in the moment of conception and evolves over time. As an entrepreneur, you are the father and mother of your company culture. You create it, you shape it, you pass it on to future generations. But don't worry, you don't have to do it alone. You can involve your team in the process and get their buy-in. And actually, this is what I was alluding to when we first started speaking about how culture isn't just hiring people that are going to be in line with you or friends with you or look like you or think like you. Culture is an ever evolving thing. And to have the best culture is to bring people into the organization that think differently, that act differently, that do things differently, all obviously towards the end goal. You all have your goals that you have to hit. But there's many ways to get there and as many ways to think through the problems that you will undoubtedly have as an entrepreneur in a company. So what do you do? Well, you hire people that think differently, act differently, have different backgrounds come from different experiences. And that's how you build the best company culture. Now the parts, the actual steps that have to be involved in always building culture outside of you living and breathing it and hiring people that think differently than you that will build onto the culture. There are four steps. So you have to define your values. So what is important to you and your team? What are your core values to find them and make sure everybody's on the same page? Create a mission statement. So what is your company trying to achieve? What are its goals? Again, make sure everybody is on board with this. Establish rituals and traditions. These help to define and strengthen the culture that can be as simple as daily stand-ups, team lunches or Friday beers and then be consistent. This is probably the most important step of all. You have to be consistent in your values, mission and rituals. If you want your culture to take root and grow. So when you define your values, you create a mission statement. You establish rituals and traditions and you be consistent about them. You are living and breathing these as the CEO every single day and everybody who comes into the organization should either want to be part of this culture or add onto it and challenge it. And then you include those person's ideas into your values, your mission statement and your rituals. And then that person and that group of people that you bring onto the organization, like say your second or third or fourth round of hiring will add on different values. They'll add onto your mission statement and then your culture will grow and get stronger because it will include the ideas of people that you hire into your org. But the point is that everybody at every point has to be living and breathing these things. And that's why if you feel like you're doing cultural things like you have like Friday beers and like nobody actually likes doing it, then don't force it because that shouldn't be part of your culture. Culture is not doing gimmicky things to get people to feel like they're part of a team. Culture is doing things that people actually enjoy doing so that they will want so that they feel like they're using their energy and their resources for the betterment of something that they actually believe in. So enough with the gimmicky culture stuff, enough with the CEO saying something and not living it and breathing it and doing it, culture has to be real and it has to be valuable and it has to actually achieve purposes and goals in your businesses and your business context, but also in the lives of the people that you're hiring on. If culture is annoying or if culture is something that is unaligned with what the people, the values of the people that you're hiring, it's no longer useful. And then you just have people that are pretending to try and fit into a culture just to get a job. That's not what you want. So again, it's not easy to navigate this. I'm not saying it is, but ultimately it's what you have to do to build a strong culture so that you can leverage that culture and attract the right people that always want to give 110%. Now what should a startup culture look like? So company culture cannot be cut and paste from one business to another. It needs to be tailored to fit the specific company employees and their goals. Otherwise, you're just creating meaningless corporate jargon, buzzwords and activities. But that's not to say there aren't some essential elements of a strong company culture. So we sort of went through this, but I'll reiterate mirror your values. So first and foremost, your company culture should reflect your brand and your values. If you're passionate about giving back to the community, for example, then your company culture should reflect that. Employees should feel like they're part of something larger than themselves and they're contributing to a greater good. They should also be able to see the company's values and action in the way that they're treated and their work is structured. Be ready to adapt. So company culture should be adaptable. As your company grows and changes, your culture should grow and change with it. It should be flexible enough to accommodate new employees, new ideas and new challenges. Support and appreciate your employees. So of course, company culture is about more than just values and brand identity. It's also about the day-to-day operations of your business. So employees need to feel like they're able to take ownership of their work and that they have the freedom and flexibility to be creative and innovative. They need to feel supported and appreciated both by their colleagues and by their leaders and their peers. A strong company culture can help your business whether any storm so when shit hits the fan, if you do have a strong company culture, people aren't necessarily just going to leave. I can't say with a hundred percent certainty, but there's a better chance. If you can build this culture, it can help you attract and retain top talent. It can give your employees a sense of purpose. It can align business goals with employees' personal goals. But most importantly, it's going to help you build a strong, sustainable brand that will truly stand the test of time. And a few closing thoughts on company culture, it's not easy to launch a startup. Much less a successful one. We all know this. A lot of people do not focus on company culture. And honestly, you'd be forgiven for neglecting the basics of company culture because you're just so damn stressed out. But I'm telling you right now, if you speak to any experienced entrepreneur who's done this more than once, they're going to tell you that, yes, sometimes it's stressful. Try to start building culture from the get go. But if you haven't yet, it's never too late to start putting those pieces into place. Why is company culture so important? Simply put, it's a glue that holds everything together. So a strong culture can provide a sense of identity and purpose for employees. It helps attract the best talent. It can also be used as a key factor in determining the company's long term success or failure. I'm going to leave you with one quote from Brian Chesky, Airbnb's co-founder, which I think sums up culture perfectly. Company culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion. If everybody in your team shares the same passion that started the venture in the first place, your potential for success has absolutely no limits. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. I hope you found value in that. It gave you some great ideas about what you should do to build your company culture. Or if you aren't a founder, you aren't a CEO, you aren't an entrepreneur, it should give you some ideas about what to look for when you're going into your next job or your next organization. As always, I would really appreciate you smash that like button, hit subscribe and then leave comments below if you like the video or if you didn't like the video. But any topics, any business sales, marketing, tech, startup topics or other topics, I don't care. If you want to hear me do a video on them, if you want me to break down something or if you want me to from my experience or from somebody on my show, leave it in the comments below and I'll put it in the list of video topics that I eventually have to get to. But I appreciate you all. Thank you so much for listening. We'll talk again soon. Have a great week. Cheers.