This is one of the best posts i’ve seen on hiring and cultural fit. I subscribe to the “inexperienced” hire angle at flashissue.com but it does come at somewhat of a price. at times it can be very energy sapping having to mentor newbies through a business when there is so much to be done and it becomes so tempting to opt for more-experience-and-less-mentoring. hiring people you’ve had from previous start-ups can be answer because you know you get the culture bit right.- phil
Your company culture is the foundation on which everything you do rests. Your culture acts as an unwritten set of rules that drives behavior and cohesion across the company.
Cohesive, insular cultures are more resilient and can withstand shocks to it (e.g. pivoting multiple times) as well as can be extremely motivational / draw out the best in people (e.g. engineers at Palintir sleeping under their desks in their belief they are helping national security, the emergence of Google’s “don’t be evil” doctrine).
Bad Culture Fits Lead To Pain
Most companies do a poor job of enforcing a common culture or are willing to sacrifice the cultural aspects of who they hire in order to “get someone effective” or “to fill a need”. This typically backfires in a big way over the short to medium term. Every single founder I know who has compromised on culture fit has regretted it due to the disruptions it has caused their company (having to fire the bad fits, creating a crappy work environment, good people quitting, trust eroding between co-workers, product moving in the wrong direction, bad actors building power bases, misaligned incentives emerging in the organization, etc.)
via Elad Blog: Never, Ever Compromise: Hiring For Culture Fit.
