How To Set Company Culture

Culture of a startup is defined by 3 things: 1) How the founders behave, 2) Whom they recruit, reward and recognize, and 3) Whom they let go
— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) June 22, 2014

I have written a lot about company culture on this blog. It is very important.

One of the hardest things about something abstract, like culture, is how to control it. And “controlling” culture sounds terrible. Yet, setting culture is the most important thing founders can do long-term for their team.

When I saw the tweet above, it resonated with me because it provides a list of 3 things founders can control within their startup:

1. How the founders behave
2. Whom they recruit, reward and recognize
3. Whom they let go

Included in #1 is the nature of the company:  free-spiritedness vs controlled/subdued, growth-oriented vs minimal effort oriented, metric-driven vs loose cannon, quiet vs noisy, constant agitation vs even-keeled, etc.

Then #2 and #3 set the deep bonds of employment with the company. If these are not done well, the moorings will be loose and the culture will not run deep.

What are your thoughts on how to set company culture?