KAPOST CULTURE JULY 2013

THIS DOCUMENT OUTLINES THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH KAPOST OPERATES AND BY WHICH ALL OF US INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER

IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS: WE ARE ALWAYS REFINING IT IS ALSO ASPIRATIONAL: WE STRIVE FOR IT, BUT RECOGNIZE WE DON’T ALWAYS ACHIEVE IT

BUT WHILE IT’S ASPIRATIONAL, EVERY ONE OF US CAN HOLD EVERY ONE OF US ACCOUNTABLE TO THESE PRINCIPLES

KAPOST CULTURAL VALUES 1.  WE TAKE OUR JOBS VERY SERIOUSLY 2.  . . . BUT WE DON’T TAKE OURSELVES SO SERIOUSLY 3.  NO JERKS 4.  WE ALL KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON 5.  WE ARE ALL RUNNING BACKS 6.  . . . IN FACT, WE’RE ALL-STAR RUNNING BACKS 7.  WE EVALUATE BY RESULTS 8.  WE SUCCEED AS OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCEED 9.  WE’RE MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

WE TAKE OUR JOBS VERY SERIOUSLY

WE ARE DEAD COMMITTED TO OUR OBJECTIVES: MAKING OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCESSFUL GROWING THE BUSINESS AND DRIVING RETURNS FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS

OUR DETERMINATION AND ENTHUSIASM ARE WHAT MAKE US WIN OUR DEDICATION IS OUR MAJOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

. . . BUT WE DON’T TAKE OURSELVES

SO SERIOUSLY

THOUGH WE’RE VERY DETERMINED, WE DON’T WALK AROUND WITH A SCOWL ON OUR FACE ALL DAY

IN FACT, WE THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO PASS OUR WORK DAYS WITH A SMILE ON OUR FACE SO WHILE WE GO ABOUT KICKING ASS, WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF FUN

ENJOYING OURSELVES AT WORK IS HOW WE WANT TO LIVE OUR LIVES ENJOYING OURSELVES AND TREATING EACH OTHER WELL (SEE “NO JERKS”) ALSO MAKES US A MORE EFFECTIVE COMPANY: IF WE CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, WE CARE ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THUS ARE MORE DEDICATED

MUCH OF THAT FUN COMES FROM ENJOYING EACH OTHER WE VALUE COLLEAGUES WHO BRING FUN AND LAUGHTER TO THE TEAM

NO JERKS

EVERYONE AT KAPOST IS NOT GOING TO BE BEST BUDS WITH EVERYONE ELSE

BUT EVERYONE NEEDS TO TREAT EVERYONE WITH RESPECT, KINDNESS AND INTEGRITY

JERKS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED

WE ALL KNOW WHAT’S

GOING ON

EVERYONE AT KAPOST IS DEDICATED TO ITS SUCCESS (SEE EARLIER SECTIONS)

BUT YOU CAN’T REALLY BE DEDICATED, YOU CAN’T REALLY CARE, IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON

FURTHERMORE, YOU CAN’T DO YOUR JOB TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT’S GOING ON (ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT COMMAND & CONTROL, WE WANT “RUNNING BACKS”; SEE LATER SECTION)

THEREFORE, WE ARE VERY TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMPANY: GOALS, FINANCIALS, STRATEGY, FUNDRAISING, ETC.

IF THERE’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT ISN’T CONVEYED, THEN ASK THERE ARE NO TABOO QUESTIONS

. . . BUT NOT EVERY QUESTION WILL BE ANSWERED THERE ARE LIMITS: E.G., LEGALLY CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, PRIVATE COMPENSATION DATA

WE ARE RUNNING

BACKS

WE ARE RUNNING BACKS WE ARE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE BALL AND RUN WITH IT

WE THINK WORK IS MOST REWARDING WHEN YOU FIGURE THINGS OUT YOURSELF WHEN YOU OVERCOME CHALLENGES WITHOUT INSTRUCTIONS WHEN YOU TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND GET THE JOB DONE

WHEN YOU ARE—IN A WORD— CREATIVE

WE ALSO THINK THAT COMPANIES’ SUCCESS IS A FUNCTION OF THEIR RUNNING BACKS IN OTHER WORDS, A COMPANY WINS IF ITS EMPLOYEES ARE TAKING OWNERSHIP AND MAKING THINGS HAPPEN

THEREFORE, WE WANT EVERYONE IN OUR COMPANY TO BE A RUNNING BACK

AND WE WANT TO CLEAR THE WAY SO THAT EVERYONE CAN BE A RUNNING BACK: MINIMIZE BUREAUCRACY, MINIMIZE MEETINGS, MAXIMIZE AUTONOMY

. . . IN FACT WE’RE ALL –

STAR RUNNING BACKS

WE WANT EVERYONE AT KAPOST TO BE SUPERBLY QUALIFIED FOR THEIR ROLE, AN ALL-STAR AT THEIR JOB ALL-STARS DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, AND START-UPS WIN BY CONSISTENTLY BEING EXTRAORDINARY

FURTHERMORE, THERE’S AN ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMIC BEHIND OUR FOCUS ON ALL-STARS . . .

AS ORGANIZATIONS GROW, COMPLEXITY GROWS EXPONENTIALLY COMPLEXITY LEADS TO PROCESS PROCESS STIFLES INNOVATION, TURNS OFF ALL-STARS, SLOWS GROWTH, CAN RUIN A COMPANY

FOCUSING ON ALL-STARS CREATES TALENT DENSITY TALENT DENSITY CONTAINS ORG GROWTH & THUS COMPLEXITY TALENT DENSITY CONTAINS PROCESS (ALLOWS FOR MORE AUTONOMY) AND ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: YOU CAN BE AN ALL-STAR FOR YOUR ROLE AT MANY POINTS IN YOUR CAREER PATH

WE EVALUATE BY RESULTS

ALL-STARS WANT TO SUCCEED THE COMPANY WANTS TO SUCCEED IT IS THE OBLIGATION OF EVERY MANAGER TO DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS IS FOR EVERY ONE OF THEIR REPORTS

SUCCESS IS NOT DEFINED BY FACE TIME SUCCESS IS DEFINED BY AN OUTCOME, WHICH IS HOPEFULLY CLEARLY MEASURED BY A NUMBER

THUS WHAT THE COMPANY CARES ABOUT IS THAT YOU ACHIEVE YOUR OBJECTIVES THE COMPANY DOESN’T CARE WHERE OR WHEN YOU DO THAT

AS A RESULT: IF YOU NEED TO WORK FROM HOME, TO GO TO CHILD’S EVENT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY, ETC. . . . THE COMPANY IS COOL WITH THAT, AS LONG AS YOU MEET YOUR OBJECTIVES

ALSO AS A RESULT: IF YOU ARE MEETING YOUR OBJECTIVES AND WANT TO TAKE >3 WEEKS OF VACATION, THE COMPANY IS ALSO COOL WITH THAT

SOME KEY POINTS HERE #1 - TALK WITH YOUR MANAGER: MAKE SURE YOUR MANAGER APPROVES EXTRA VACATION TIME, ETC. AND THAT BOTH OF YOU ARE ON THE SAME PAGE ON WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO YOUR OBJECTIVES

#2 – MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN HUMANS INTERACT IN PERSON: WHILE WORKING FROM HOME, REMOTELY, ETC. WHEN NEEDED IS COOL, COLLABORATION IS ENHANCED BY FACE-TO-FACE AGAIN, TALK TO YOUR MANAGER ABOUT THE RIGHT BALANCE

WE SUCCEED AS OUR

CUSTOMERS SUCCEED

A GROWING BUSINESS CAN GET TO BE REALLY COMPLEX BUT HERE’S A SIMPLE THOUGHT TO STEER OUR WAY: WE SUCCEED AS OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCEED

IF THROUGH ALL OF OUR EFFORTS—IN ALL DEPARTMENTS—WE STAY FOCUSED ON MAKING OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCESSFUL, THEN WE’LL BE SUCCESSFUL USE THIS PRINCIPLE AS A GUIDE IN DECISION-MAKING

FURTHERMORE, LET’S NEVER HESITATE TO GO OVERBOARD IN SERVING OUR CUSTOMERS LET’S CONSISTENTLY GO THE EXTRA MILE SO THAT WE DELIGHT THEM

WE’RE MAKING THE

WORLD A BETTER PLACE

KAPOST MISSION: TO EMPOWER MARKETERS TO TRANSFORM MARKETING FROM INTERRUPTING AND ANNOYING THEIR BUYERS TO INFORMING AND ENTERTAINING THEM

CONTENT MARKETING IS MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE KAPOST IS A MAJOR DRIVER OF THE CONTENT MARKETING REVOLUTION WE FEEL FORTUNATE TO WORK AT A COMPANY MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THIS DOCUMENT UTILIZES THE THINKING OF MANY OTHERS, IN PARTICULAR:

NETFLIX CULTURE DOCUMENT: HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/REED2001/CULTURE-1798664 HUBSPOT CULTURE CODE: HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/HUBSPOT/THE-HUBSPOT-CULTURE-CODE-CREATING-A-COMPANY-WE-LOVE