5. Culture doesn’t just help
attract amazing people,
it amplifies their abilities and
helps them do their best work.
6. Culture is to recruiting as
product is to marketing.
Click to tweet
this quote.
Customers are more easily attracted
with a great product.
Talented people are more easily attracted
with a great culture.
15. This document is
part manifesto and
part employee handbook.
It’s part who we are and
part who we aspire to be.
16. When something is still
aspirational (not yet true) we
try to call that out.
This document is
part manifesto and
part employee handbook.
It’s part who we are and
part who we aspire to be.
17. THE CULTURE CODE
1. We commit maniacally to both our mission and metrics.
2. We look to the long-term and Solve For The Customer.
3. We share openly and are remarkably transparent.
4. We favor autonomy and take ownership.
5. We believe our best perk is amazing people.
6. We dare to be different and question the status quo.
7. We recognize that life is short.
19. We love small and
medium-sized
businesses.
Especially those that
want to do better.
20. OUR MISSION is to
help these organizations
GROW.
We want to transform
how they attract, engage and
delight their customers.
21. We’re working to
help the world
GO INBOUND.
To take a more empathetic,
human-friendly approach
to marketing and sales. (Turns out, it’s also
more effective.)
22. “Pursue something
so important that
even if you fail, the
world is better off
with you having
tried.”
TIM O’REILLY.
Note: The O’Reilly conference room at
HubSpot is named after Tim.
24. Our commitment to our
mission will help us earn the
love of many.
Our commitment to our
metrics will help us earn the
resources to further our
mission.
We are passionate about both.
25. This dual personality of
mission & metrics is uncommon.
It’s partly what makes us
DIFFERENT.
And also kind of
quirky, in mostly
good ways.
27. SFTC.Solve for the customer
We don’t want to satisfy them,
we want to delight them.
Our goal is to help them succeed.
28. FOR EVERY DECISION
WE SHOULD ASK
OURSELVES:
“Selves, what’s in it
for the customer?”
29. WAIT. Does “Solve For The Customer”
mean just giving more away for free?
Wouldn’t that delight customers?
NO. To delight customers in the
long-term, we have to survive in the
short-term.
Because…
31. HubSpot has a professional sales team.
How do we ensure we SFTC?
How do we know we’re doing it right?
32. We’re on the right path as long as
we sell to customers that we
expect to delight.
33. We’re on the right path as long as
we sell to customers that we
expect to delight.
This is the key. Don’t sell to
customers we’re not justifiably
confident we can delight.
34. 34
3 We share openly
and are remarkably
transparent.
36. WE HAVE THE MOST ACTIVE
WIKI ON THE PLANET.*
Examples of things we share and discuss:
• Financials (cash balance, burn-rate, P&L, etc.)
• Board meeting deck
• Management meeting deck
• “Strategic” topics
• HubSpot Lore & Mythology (the funniest page on
the wiki)
*Unverified claim
37. We protect information only when:
It is legally required.
Example: Information covered under a
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
It is not completely ours to share.
Example: Individual compensation data
38. WAIT.
ISN’T HUBSPOT PUBLICLY TRADED?
Yes. We had our IPO in Oct 2014 [NYSE:HUBS]
Usually, publicly traded companies can only share
detailed information with a select group of “insiders”.
This didn’t fit well with our culture. So…
48. Just because someone made a mistake years
ago doesn’t mean we need a policy or rule.
WE DON’T PENALIZE THE
MANY FOR THE MISTAKES
OF THE FEW.
We only protect against big stuff.
51. Social media policy.
Travel policy.
Sick day policy.
Buy a round of drinks at an event policy.
Work from home during a blizzard policy.
Our policy on all of these (and most other) things:
USE GOOD JUDGMENT.
52. customer > team > individual
Here’s the cheat sheet on good judgment:
53. team > individual
Don’t solve for your personal interests to
the detriment of the team.
We loathe selfishness and
love teamishness.
54. customer > company
When in doubt, favor solving for the
customers’ interest over our own.
Solving for customers’ interest
is in our long-term interest too.
55. The thing that matters most:
RESULTS
(i.e. are we making a positive impact?)
74. STANDS OUT BY BEING:
Remarkably helpful.
Remarkably resourceful.
Remarkably effective.
*h/t to Seth Godin
worthy of being remarked upon*
REMARK∙ABLE.
75. EFFECTIVE PEOPLE:
Are predisposed to action.
They just do things.
Have a sense of ownership.
Are resourceful and always
looking for leverage.
76. Open and honest with others
and with themselves.
TRANSPARENT.
77. WAIT. Aren’t some people just private?
This is not about sharing personal
information. (What happened in Vegas should stay in Vegas)
This is about sharing knowledge
generously.
79. Yes, “heart” is a bit cheesy.
We’re a bit cheesy sometimes.
HUMBLE
EMPATHETIC
ADAPTABLE
REMARKABLE
TRANSPARENT
We like people
with heart.
80. We don’t just
believe in these values,
WE BET ON THEM.
We recruit, reward and release
people based on these values.
81. EXAMPLE:
THE J.E.D.I. AWARD
Awarded to those that just quietly
and selflessly do the right thing and
move us forward.
(J.E.D.I. stands for “Just Effing Does It”)
82. Compromising on culture fit
is mortgaging the future.
It’s reasonable to want to hire for skills and
experience when the need is painfully acute.
It’s reasonable. But, it’s also wrong.
The interest rate on culture debt is crushingly high.
83. We’re a team, not a family.
We hire, develop and cut smartly
so we have stars in every position.
+1 We couldn’t have said it
better ourselves, so we didn’t.
84. WE HAVE A NO
ASSES RULE.
(Truth: We try hard not to hire
them. But, they temporarily
sneak in sometimes.)
85. Don’t just hire to delegate.
It’s tempting to bring people in that you can
push off work you don’t have time for.
Hire to elevate.
Bring people in that can teach us something.
Continually seek to raise our average.
92. THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO
PROGRESS AT HUBSPOT.
1. Gain mastery as an individual
contributor and make magic.
2. Provide spectacular support to
those who are doing #1.
Confession: We have a lot of first-time managers at
HubSpot. We’re working hard to develop them.
96. HubTalks: Learning From Leaders
Clay Christensen
“Innovator’s
Dilemma”
Eric Ries
“The Lean
Startup”
Patty McCord
Former Chief People
Officer, Netflix
Deval Patrick
Former Governor,
Massachusetts
These are private talks given at HubSpot.
97. Unlimited Free Books Program.
Request a book – it magically shows up
in your Amazon Kindle account.
No muss, no fuss.
No expense sheets.
98. Unlimited Free Meals Program.
Take someone smart out for a meal.
Learn something.
Expense it.
No approval needed.
Use good judgment.
99. But the most important thing
is to provide big challenges.
101. 6
We dare to be
different and
question the
status quo.
102. Why do we care so much
about being different?
103. Many companies start
out being exceptional.
As they grow, there is a
dark, powerful force that
pulls them towards the
average.If we regress to the mean, we
fail. It’s that simple.
108. To think different we
need to be different.
We cannot all be the same.
We want a diversity of
backgrounds and beliefs.
Confession: We want diversity,
but do not yet have it. Still work to
do.
109. One of the most important
ways we try to be different:
THINK SIMPLE.
113. WHY DOES COMPLEXITY CREEP IN?
It is often the quick, seductive answer
to short-term issues.
Fighting for simplicity
and looking to the long-term
takes courage and commitment.
114. You cannot add simplicity in.
You must take complexity out.
115. 1
Like software…
Organizations should be
Refactoring means to improve
internal structure without
changing external behavior.
frequently
refactored.
120. So it should be fulfilling and fun.
Work is a big part of life.
So work should also be
fulfilling and fun.
LIFE IS SHORT.
121. It’s important to take care of yourself.
Healthy @ HubSpot initiative:
• standing desks
• healthy snacks
• fitness room
• spontaneous laughter
LIFE IS SHORT.
122. Always be kind
and compassionate.
LIFE IS SHORT.
We encourage candor and
criticism. It helps us grow.
But remember,
123. And full of tough choices.
Always take the high road.
LIFE IS SHORT.
The view is better and
it’s much less crowded.
125. THE HUBSPOT CULTURE CODE
1. Mission and metrics.
2. Solve For The Customer.
3. Be transparent.
4. Take ownership.
5. People > Perks.
6. Dare to be different.
7. Life is short, make it matter.
127. Whether you were delighted
or displeased, all feedback
is appreciated:
@dharmesh (one of our founders)
reads every email.
128. THANK YOU.
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