Slides from my talk at the #leanstartup event at SxSW 2013.

1. Creating A
Kick-A#!
Culture
Dharmesh Shah,
Founder/CTO
v3

2. Hi, I’m
@dharmesh

3. All-in-one marketing software

4. Gross MRR
Dec-06
Feb-07
Apr-07
Jun-07
Aug-07
Oct-07
Dec-07
Feb-08
Apr-08
Jun-08
Aug-08
Oct-08
Dec-08
Feb-09
Apr-09
Jun-09
Aug-09
Oct-09
Dec-09
Feb-10
Apr-10
Jun-10
Aug-10
Oct-10
Dec-10
Feb-11
Apr-11
Jun-11
Aug-11
Oct-11
Dec-11
Feb-12
Apr-12
Jun-12
Monthly
Revenue
Recurring
Aug-12
Oct-12
Dec-12
-
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000

5. Gross MRR
Dec-06
Feb-07
Apr-07
Jun-07
Aug-07
Oct-07
Dec-07
Feb-08
Apr-08
Jun-08
Aug-08
Oct-08
Dec-08
Feb-09
Apr-09
Jun-09
Aug-09
Oct-09
Dec-09
Feb-10
Apr-10
Jun-10
Aug-10
Oct-10
Dec-10
Feb-11
Apr-11
Jun-11
Aug-11
Oct-11
Dec-11
Feb-12
Apr-12
Jun-12
Monthly
Revenue
Recurring
Aug-12
Oct-12
Dec-12
-
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000

6. culture:
Set of shared beliefs,
values and practices.

7. Now, an
observation…

8. Most startups
don’t think much
about culture.

9. WE’RE PUTTING
A DENT
IN THE UNIVERSE.
THAT’S OUR F#!@ING CULTURE!

10. Culture?.
Relax. I got
this…
We have beer
and ping-pong

11. Create a culture?
Sounds fishy.
Culture should
just happen.

12. WHY SHOULD
YOU SPEND
CALORIES ON
CULTURE?

13. You may not be able
to craft culture.
But, you can kill it
through neglect.

14. 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics:
Left alone,
most things
degrade to
crap.

15. convention
over
configuration

17. “Startups are about
people who
build sh#t.”
- @sgblank (earlier today)

18. Culture is about
getting and
engaging
amazing people.

19. product:marketing
::
culture:recruiting

20. product is to marketing
as
culture is to recruiting

21. The effective interest
rate on culture debt is
usually higher than
technology debt.

22. Cultural debt is rarely
“forgiven”
You’re going to have
to pay it.

23. Questions for your culture deck:
1.What are we doing?
2.Why are we doing it?
3.What do we believe?
4.Who do we want joining us?
5.How do we get them?
6.What does success look like?

24. Don’t create the
culture you think you
should have.
Create the one you
want to have.

25. Whether you plan
it or not, you will
have a culture.
And, it determines
your destiny.

26. Why not
create a
culture you
love?

27. tweet me:
@dharmesh
Slides and notes:
CultureCode.com