designing and building culture at a startup: using the four ps framework

[ Using the ‘4Ps framework’ to help you ]

Rishi Dean [email protected] www.rishidean.com

MIT Sloan Entrepreneurs Breakfast Club February 11, 2011

2 Rishi Dean – www.rishidean.com

Past Present

Foun

ding

Te

am

Employ

ee /

Cons

ultant

  Been on the ground floor of three startups, shaping and growing them

  Been in big companies and little ones, and involved in different capacities with all types

  Seen the good, the bad, and the ugly

  Made some many mistakes, which I’ll share, so you don’t have to

Adv

isor /

Men

tor

Timing

Invo

lvem

ent


HP

Facebook

LinkedIn


*Burton, M. D. (2001). The company they keep: Founders' models for organizing new firms [Electronic version]. In C. B. Schoonhoven & E. Romanelli (Eds.), The entrepreneurship dynamic (pp. 13-‐39). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Engineering Work Skills Peer / cultural

Commitment Love Fit Peer / cultural

Bureaucracy Work Skills Formal

Star Work Potential Professional

Autocracy Money Skills Direct

Attachment Selection Coordination /

Control

*Burton, M. D. (2001). The company they keep: Founders' models for organizing new firms [Electronic version]. In C. B. Schoonhoven & E. Romanelli (Eds.), The entrepreneurship dynamic (pp. 13-‐39). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Innovation Enhancement Marketer

Engineering ✔ ✔ ✔

Commitment ✔

Bureaucracy ✔ ✔

Star ✔ ✔

Autocracy

✔

✔

Cost


Rishi Dean – www.rishidean.com 30


  Pink’s motivating factors for knowledge workers:

  Autonomy

  Mastery

  Purpose

  [+ Camraderie]


  Keeping regular meetings

  Celebrating the small stuff

  Remote teams

  Tough hires

  Tougher fires

  Personnel issues

  Winning a deal

  …

  Culture matters a lot, and just doesn’t happen by itself

  Startup culture is unique   Starting from zero (it just doesn’t happen)   Driven by few, shaped by many   Lots of external factors   Can’t cut & paste / cherry pick – must fit your situation

  Four tools of culture creation (ensure internal consistency): 1.   Purpose: what you value 2.   Patterns: how you organize key levers 3.   People: who you recruit & retain 4.   Process: what systems you build

  Hard to build, easy to break



  E-‐mail: [email protected]   Blog: rishidean.com   Twitter: @rishidean

designing and building culture at a startup: using the four ps framework

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