Designing & building culture at a startup
[ Three practical tools to help you ]
Boston College Carroll School of ManagementSeptember 15, 2010
Rishi [email protected]
What is startup culture?
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Started in a place like this?
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By people like this?
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To become world renowned places to work, like this?
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WRONG
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Culture doesn’t just
happen
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…especially in a startup
Startup culture is really hard to build…and harder to maintain
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WHY?9Rishi Dean – www.rishidean.com
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Hyper-growth
Stakeholders
MoneyAmbition
“Karaoke Creativity” won’t cut it
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Must be specific to
your problem,implemented by your
people,in your business context.
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…and withstand the test of time
3 Ps of Culture Creation
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1) Purpose2) People3) Process
1) Purpose
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What do you value?
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Customer Employee
Product
2) People
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Team DNA
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“Brains”: Right & Left, Judgment, Creativity
“Guts”: Conviction & courage under uncertainty
“Charisma”: Leadership, negotiation, relationship management “Character”: Bias for
action, integrity, empathy
3) Process
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Now, you’ve got
to stick with it
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You will be tested…
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Keeping regular meetings
Celebrating the small stuff
Remote teams Tough hires Tougher fires Personnel issues Winning a deal …
TakeawaysStartup culture is unique
Starting from zero (it just doesn’t happen) Driven by few, shaped by many Lots of external factors Can’t cut & paste
Three tools of culture creation:1. Purpose: what you value2. People: who you recruit & retain3. Process: what systems you build
Hard to build, easy to break23Rishi Dean – www.rishidean.com
I’m here to help
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E-mail: [email protected] Blog: rishidean.com Twitter: @rishidean