
Startup Culture - PStamatiou
http://paulstamatiou.com/startup-culture
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crazygringo
> _It's not with showing off office pictures of employees playing around with
> nerf guns. Those are gimmicks. Culture is not defined by a fancy workplace.
> It's all about the people._

I wish more people understood this. For me personally, seeing offices full of
nerf guns and foosball tables turns me _off_ , because I worry they're
focusing on that instead of _real_ culture -- managers that don't micromanage,
a sense of vision that's being communicated well, employees being listened to
in a real way, etc.

It's easy to buy nerf guns. It's hard to create a company culture that
thrives. I'm sure you can have both, but the nerf guns don't mean anything.

And me personally, I'd rather _not_ have the nerf guns, because it's clear
they _are_ just gimmicks, and I trust a workplace more if they can attract
good employees without gimmicks.

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nanijoe
I'm with you on this one.I also don't like to play with people I work with,
Its that simple... People at work should judge me on the value I bring to the
company, not on whether I like techno or their preferred brand of alcohol (see
original post)

~~~
evoxed
While I agree with the parent, it is still worthwhile to distinguish places
that _judge_ you based on those preferences or activities and those that
simply encourage you to have them. Sometimes a small part of your value is
getting others to be more relaxed, social, or just half-engaged until the idea
they've been searching for all week comes tumbling out mid-pingpong swat.
Granted, there are environments and people who function better with a clear
boundary between work and play, but I bet that a large number of people who
decry the mix would have second thoughts if play meant a game of chess, word
association (pictionary? more UX departments could probably benefit...),
cards, or whatever. I don't mean to say that tossing a football and playing
chess are the same thing, but when not explicitly working they can still have
positive effects. And hey, while the techno-blast-developer floor may be an
annoying fad, I don't see anything wrong from a management perspective to find
people who, in general, appreciate similar things. If you look closely you can
see this very clearly in design studios (though I believe it applies to
virtually anything creative, programming included)– people collaborating on a
project while one listens to delta blues and the other Vivaldi will may have
very altered perspectives, however fleeting, than two others who share a love
of Phillip Glass.

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calinet6
"How do you attract those Jobsian A-players?" and "let the culture naturally
build itself."

I think this is one of the biggest fallacies of "startup culture" and possibly
of business strategy in general.

This idea that you can hire the right people and culture magically comes out
of it is ludicrous. Yes, a lot of your culture is based on personalities and
people you can't control, and hiring is still important. But it is incredible
to me how people will rise to the culture they're a part of, and how culture
and the systems surrounding people will enable them to become better.

Define your company culture well. Know what kind of company you want, and
create _that kind of culture._ Hire based on that as best you can, with people
you believe will fit with your culture. But when you invariably end up with
people who aren't those perfect rockstar A-listers you think you need, don't
throw them away. Stick to your culture and be emphatic about it. Teach them,
allow them to learn. Have a culture of positive personal development, not
static employee hiring or firing decisions.

Do you think Stripe hires 100% perfect employees? Do you really think that's
why their culture works?

I think it's the exact opposite. Their employees work because they've figured
out a great culture, and they value it highly, and hold it as sacred. That's a
_company_ value, not an employee value. It's shared, and it comes from the
whole group, glued together by the resolve of a leadership that knows it.

Figure that out, and you can achieve what Stripe has. If you think it's just a
hiring strategy; sorry, try again.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming>

~~~
PStamatiou
" culture magically comes out of it is ludicrous"

What I was trying to say is that it's well nigh impossible to force a culture
to go in a certain way. Most you can do is have a certain type of work
process, don't micromanage, have a flat structure, small teams and let people
be independent and/or support employees working remotely if they wish (if you
want that kind of culture that is).

"Hire based on that as best you can, with people you believe will fit with
your culture"

I was also saying that you can't really determine culture fit in the course of
a regular interview process. You can somewhat determine their work ethic from
asking them about past experiences and projects.

Otherwise, I think we are pretty much saying the same thing.

~~~
calinet6
Awesome. I guess my addition to what you said is basically that you can lead
your company culture to a degree, by doing the kinds of things you mention and
creating a structure that supports a good culture. Also culture really does
affect people once you reach a certain size. I think you're mainly talking
about smaller companies, basically how to "bootstrap culture", but it's
important to keep it going as you grow and realize not only how your employees
affect your culture, but how your culture affects your employees.

Thanks, & apologies if I came off harshly.

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jonathanjaeger
Paul, your ability to refrain from micromanaging is probably the #1 thing
towards trust and building a great culture. You need to hire the right people
so you don't have to micromanage, but that's a given.

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zbruhnke
Glad to see you guys growing and kicking ass Stammy. Keep it up :)

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pclark
this is why you hire all your friends

~~~
mrkurt
Do you want a job?

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mkhalil
I am really getting sick of this word, "Startup". It seems like every other
article I read is an article about a "Startup". Let's call them what they are,
a small business. No more hipster talk :(

~~~
enraged_camel
Startup has a very specific definition. It refers to a company that aims to
solve a problem and/or create something new in a particular industry. This
means that it is a subset of the small business category; the corner deli that
just opened up last week is a small business, but not a startup. On the other
hand, a new tech firm that is trying to figure out an innovative alternative
to email is both a small business and a startup.

I'd say the biggest thing that distinguishes startups from other small
businesses is the risk factor. When your goal is to solve challenging problems
in your field, then by definition your chances of success are low. After all,
the problems are categorized as "challenging for a reason: nobody has been
able to find a simple and elegant solution to them yet. Whereas a typical
small business operates on relatively safe territory - they are most likely
providing identical products and services as other players in their industry.
So their risk is a lot lower.

~~~
calibraxis
I've generally worked in "startup" environments, and I actually do mentally
translate that word into "small business." I consider it to have more
realistic connotations. YMMV of course.

