How to design your startup culture, according to HubSpot

Leading up to its initial public offering in 2014, HubSpot, a software provider specializing in customer relationship management and small and medium-sized enterprises, looked at data from companies that declined post IPO. The Boston-based firm, which has more than US$500 million in annual revenue, found that more often than not, the company’s culture and workplace personality changed drastically after going public.

HubSpot then decided to use its IPO as an opportunity to engage employees in what they were building and reinforce the company’s culture.

Enter Katie Burke, HubSpot’s chief people officer and all-around boss, who stepped into her role shortly after the company’s trade debut. Burke and the rest of the leadership team don’t envision company culture with posters on the wall, fancy pumpkin spiced latte machines, and other such perks, but as an opportunity to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

Katie Burke, chief people officer at HubSpot

From my interview with her, we’ll see how company culture creates competitive advantages for startups, how Burke and the company measure their initiatives, and how to design and operationalize your own company culture.

What is company culture?

HubSpot defines company culture as “a set of shared beliefs, values, and practices” that acts as “the operating system” of the company. According to Burke, it not only attracts talent but also amplifies their abilities.

Here’s how.

Recruiting flywheel

Intentionally designing a strong company culture turns employees into brand ambassadors that generate both content (e.g. reviews/content on Glassdoor) and word of mouth that attract more inbound applicants.

Building a recruiting flywheel that attracts candidates has become more important than ever. Candidates no longer have to rely on recruiters to provide internal references. They can now simply “ask the internet” by gathering information from platforms like Glassdoor and LinkedIn.

All companies, including yours, has an employment brand, whether you have taken steps to influence it or not. Similarly, all companies have a recruiting flywheel that is powered by their culture and works for or against the company.

Behavioral Sherpa

Candidates are interviewed for qualities HubSpot values. When employees join the company, they are recognized for supporting these values through peer bonuses and reviews. This means counterproductive activities like micromanagement, information hoarding, complacency, and non-metric-oriented decision making don’t survive.

The ways in which people work together will form organically, whether founders and leadership put effort into crafting culture or not. However, they can also be intentionally formed.

Intentionally forming culture

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