23 Corporate Culture Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Now that we have the 3 Must Read Culture Guides for Entrepreneurs, let’s summarize the most important ideas that every entrepreneur needs to know. Some are common sense, some don’t make sense until you’ve experienced it, and some fluctuate with time. Regardless, culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage for an entrepreneur and needs to nurtured and worked on just like anything else in a high performing startup.

Here are 23 corporate culture ideas for entrepreneurs:

1. Culture is the collective of people
2. Culture’s influence permeates outside the organization
3. Culture is the only thing completely within the control of the entrepreneur
4. Culture starts with the entrepreneur
5. Culture must be intentional
6. Culture is different for every startup
7. Culture that works at one company isn’t guaranteed to work at another
8. Culture must be defined and nourished
9. Cultures can be completely different between two startups and still be effective for both
10. Culture isn’t defined by free lunches and masseuses — it’s all about people
11. Culture needs to be defined by core people values every team member believes in
12. Culture isn’t defined by company values placed prominently on the reception wall
13. Culture is either strengthened or weakened with each new hire, it’s never stagnant
14. Culture starts with the hiring process that must actively foster recruiting people that meet the values
15. Culture check teams should be part of the hiring process to counteract short-term desires of hiring managers
16. Culture needs to be reinforced daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/annually through systems and processes
17. Culture is shared through stories and emotional experiences
18. Culture looks cultish from the outside
19. Culture is fluid and always changing
20. Culture changes as organizations mature (a three-person culture is different than a 300-person culture)
21. Culture should absorb great-fit new hires and make them like they’ve found an amazing home
22. Culture should expel poor-fit new hires within the first month
23. Culture is king

Entrepreneurs that make culture intentional and value it create higher performing organizations and achieve a greater level of success. Culture is more important than most people realize.

What else? What are some other items you’d add to the list?