company mission. “BarkBox is a good example,” he said. “They’re all about dogs and dog owners.” The New York-based startup ships monthly samples of pet products to subscribers. BarkBox gives a portion of its revenue to animal shelters, Hippeau said, and sets up pop-up stores for dog adoptions. “That is one way to [broaden] their mission,” he said.
It can be important for management to take real ownership of a company’s identity and culture, said Knoll of New York’s Integral Ad Science (previously known as AdSafe Media). He said he rebranded the company, which developed a valuation platform for buying and selling ad media, when he took over as CEO. Knoll wanted the name to better fit his vision for the company’s future.
But pushing a cultural agenda without a reason may not be productive; rather, culture needs to align with the overall objectives of the business. Lynn’s Kansas City, MO-based Adknowledge, a digital ad marketplace, said many people expect Internet companies to have Ping-Pong tables and coffee machines. He wonders whether such things really boost team spirit. “I’m not sure how much that actually contributes to the culture of an organization,” he said. “It’s probably a good recruiting tool.”
Perks alone, said Casalena, cannot abate personality conflicts. “When people become unhappy, when the culture has more serious problems,” he said, “no one’s hanging out at the company because they’ve got free lunch.” If the perks are the only reasons an employee sticks with a company, he said, management should rethink how they pick new hires. The goal, he said, is to choose people who invest in the company’s mission, not just chase benefits.
Squarespace in New York offers website building and hosting services, emphasizing the design of the pages. The company offers unlimited paid vacation to its staff (another trend among Web startups). However, unspoken restraint with this perk is expected among the staff. Casalena said if someone were to abuse vacation time and avoid work, it would show they were not engaged in the company’s mission.
Tackling issues of culture early in the formation of startup is a big deal, he said, and in hindsight he wished he did not wait to confront such problems. Casalena had believed, back in the early days of his company, that people who did not blend well with the team would just, you know, leave. He wanted to avoid having an uncomfortable conversation—but ultimately it had to be done.
“It felt like breaking up with a girlfriend,” he said.
