All this stuff is kind of MBA 101, but much of it has been very useful for me in practice. Some companies in my region have the "inside joke, work hard play ha

All this stuff is kind of MBA 101, but much of it has been very useful for me in practice. Some companies in my region have the "inside joke, work hard play hard, let's party after work" "culture" the slides mentioned, and it has zero bearing on the trajectory of the company. I'm sure everyone's having fun, but god forbid you're 30-something with kids who wants to make a real impact. Interestingly, cultures like the above tend to come from the employees themselves, despite the CEO's intentions. I'm a firm believer that your culture is what your employees say about your company, not what you, the founder, says. The performance + values quadrant is probably the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to building a team. That, and "hire slow, fire fast"