Most startups treat culture as "vibes." It's the beer fridge. It's the retreat to Ibiza. It's the "No Assholes" rule on the wall.
This is not culture. This is decoration.
Culture is What You Tolerate
Culture is the sum of your shared habits. It is how you actually behave when the pressure is on.
- If you say "We value truth," but you let a high-performing rep get away with a fake forecast... your culture is lying.
- If you say "We value speed," but you require three approvals for a £50 software subscription... your culture is bureaucracy.
Codifying the Operating System
At FounderScale, we don't do "culture workshops." We install Align.OS.
We codify the habits of high performance. We define exactly how decisions are made. We define exactly what "good" looks like.
When you change the habits—the meeting cadence, the decision rights, the accountability loops—the "vibes" take care of themselves.
Written by Ben P.
The Operator's Log
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