I'm of two minds here. Mind one: Cultures are stupid. They're artificial and require buy-in. This either alienates people, or indoctrinates them, and in either

I'm of two minds here. Mind one: Cultures are stupid. They're artificial and require buy-in. This either alienates people, or indoctrinates them, and in either case, you end up with something artificial, stupid and derivative. Mind two: Cultures are organic and incredible. They "become" because they are reflective of a small (VERY small) subgroup of people and their own rarely synchronous core values. Because of how humans only accept the idiosyncrasies of others if they're reflective of more than one person, cultures help to expose idiosyncratic tastes and behaviors to people who might not otherwise be exposed to them. Now that that's out of the way, at some point, your company will not have the clout or draw to be able to pull in the talent you want 100% of the time. Candidate A might be perfect on paper, but maybe doesn't like surreal humor. Candidate B might be the best Javascript gal you've ever seen, but she's not big on noise rock. These sound like stupid and trivial things, but the heart of a culture is the enthusiasm that lives alongside finding people who all march to the beat of the same drum. Who, for whatever reason, all were fans of The Gilmore Girls or who have a weird fascination with whale sounds or maybe like fighting with broomsticks. You will lose culture, so long as you're willing to bring on people who aren't exactly like you.