culture

no company has a culture; every company is a culture. A startup is a team of people on a mission, and a good culture is just what that looks like on the inside.

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

That statement is easy to dismiss, thinking “yeah, of course”, but few companies truly understand the truth contained in those words. Culture cannot be bolted on, but it can easily fall by the wayside if left unminded or is de-prioritized in times of growth or crisis. The effort to repair it later takes years and culture rarely runs as deep as it did in the early days.

Be mindful of your team, your startup and the internal reflection provided by your culture. If you want to build a great company, you cannot afford to let it slip.