How to build culture in a startup?

In this article, let's ThinkZone Find out how Brian Chesky, founder & CEO of Airbnb, built the culture at his startup that helped Airbnb become “Company of the Year 2014” according to the ranking of Inc. magazine, a prestigious business magazine with more than 40 years of history in the US. 

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WHAT IS COMPANY CULTURE? 

According to Brian Chesky, Culture is all the thousands of little things that express the company's core values ​​right from the smallest activities, from writing emails, recruiting staff, to chatting, working on projects,... 

IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING CULTURE IN STARTUP? 

In a letter to all Airbnb employees in 2013, Brian Chesky answered the question “Why is culture important to startups?”: 

"The stronger the culture, the less the company will need processes. Once the culture is strong, you can trust that everyone is doing the right things. Each individual will become independent and autonomous. Each individual will become an entrepreneur. And when we have a company with an entrepreneurial spirit, we will be able to make strong "leaps"." 

For Brian, company culture is closely related to the company's vision and core values. A company with a strong culture will emerge a common identity for the company and every member in it. Everyone is aiming for a common goal, understanding what the company needs, what it is aiming for, how other members work, and demonstrating unity in the company's core values ​​right from working style, external image, to beliefs, mindset, and common vision. 

Such a strong culture in every organization will bring many great values ​​such as: 

➤ Motivate members: As a collection of outstanding people, Airbnb members are motivated by greater things such as the company's vision and core values, rather than mere material values. 

➤ Limit unnecessary processes, when all members understand what the company needs and what they should do. 

A strong culture is also the driving force for sustainable development for the company. And during the Series C capital raising process in 2012, one of the reasons investors chose Airbnb was because of the strong culture that Airbnb has built. And the advice this investor gives Airbnb is exactly that “Don’t fuck up the culture!” (Don't ruin the company culture!).

SO, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO BUILD CULTURE FOR STARTUP? 

When starting to build a startup culture, founders will wonder where to start, or which core value is more important. Brian Chesky's philosophy for building culture is as follows.

1, Shape the company culture before you hire any employee

This means: Company culture originates from the founder, and is based on the founder's personality, beliefs, and working style! 

Airbnb doesn't wait to hire dozens of employees before doing a survey to see what values ​​everyone has in common, and then building a "mixture pot" of core values ​​from there. On the contrary, Brian himself shapes Airbnb's culture before hiring anyone, and will only hire people who have the same vision and fit that culture. 

It took Airbnb 6 months to choose its first employee, after hundreds of interviews. Imagine how much time they sacrificed to increase revenue and customers just to focus on filtering candidate profiles. But these sacrifices have paid off in impressive ways, reflected in the strong culture this company has built. 

Explaining this, Brian Chesky explains as follows: "The first members of the company are people you must select carefully, must be people with the same vision and compatible with the company culture. Because later they will be the ones recruiting dozens, or hundreds of their subordinates, who are similar to them in orientation and way of working. So do you want to work with hundreds of people like that?" 

This doesn't mean that Airbnb is made up of all the same people. At Airbnb, the importance of diversity of people with different ideas always comes first. But no matter how diverse, all must have the same goals and value system.  

--> Or in other words, "people may be different, products may improve, but the common value system never changes". 

2, Choose unique core values ​​for the company 

"There is no good or bad culture, only strong or weak culture. And a culture that is suitable for one business does not mean it will be suitable for another." 

Just mention the phrase "corporate culture" to anyone, 90% of you will receive an eye roll from the employees. This is because many companies define their values ​​as too general and unrealistic. For example, “honesty” and “integrity” are not core values ​​of the company. They are definitely must-haves for every employee at every company. Look for values ​​that are unique to your company and cannot be duplicated by any other company or organization. 

--> If you determine that your business will exist 10, 20, or even 50 years from now, think about how you want to see your company then, what message the company name will convey. There are things that will change (people, products, markets,...), but there are things that will last, and that is the core value of the company. 

Some principles suggested by Brian to help founders determine who you need in your company. Let's look at some of Airbnb's values: 

➤ Champion our mission - Airbnb's mission is to help people feel like they belong everywhere they go, by ensuring everyone shares the company's vision. CEO Brian once asked candidates if they would continue working if they knew they would die in the next 10 years. If they say “Yes,” Brian knows they share his opinion. 

➤ To be “cereal” entrepreneurs - This is a play on words between "cereal entrepreneurs" (cereal entrepreneurs) and "serial entrepreneurs" (experienced business people). At a time when Airbnb had only 2 bookings/month, they even sold cereal with packaging related to the US Presidential election, and selling cereal at that time became Airbnb's main source of income. Through this, Brian wants to encourage unique ideas from his employees in solving company problems, especially in difficult times. 

3, Recruit people who are better and dare to challenge you 

Sometimes the founder's pride will make you hesitate in hiring employees who are better than you. However, Brian has the opposite view: 

“I think the first thing to do is build a team that is so talented that sometimes they can make you feel a little uncomfortable working with them, because you know you're going to have to try harder to work together.” 

To create a strong environment, you need people who not only make your employees better, but also force yourself to grow further. Instead of worrying that new people will be better than you and replace you, put the company first and think in the direction that the company needs such people, and you yourself need to make more efforts for the company.