Professional Documents
Culture Documents
As I was once told in grammar school, the following exercise will test “your ability to
follow directions.” I, like many entrepreneurs, never followed directions that well.
But sometimes there’s a great deal of value in Beginning with the End in Mind.
Vision / Strategy
1. See opportunity where others see issues (watch: You’ll See it When You Believe It)
2. Have a discipline for making decisions among various opportunity costs (watch:
How to Make the Right Business Decisions)
3. Rapidly double down on something when it starts to work and blow it out to its
full potential (via Matt Coffin)
6. Stay attached to the problem they are trying to solve, but be flexible in the
solutions to solve it (watch: The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma)
8. Protect their downside and prevent the organization from being put at risk
Leadership / Management
11. Put others in positions to make critical decisions and drive key initiatives forward
(watch: Find the Leader in Every Employee)
14. Remain organized and disciplined in any work habits that affect others
15. Seek out and follow the council of advisors in and outside of the business
(watch: court mentors)
16. Balance “Coaching and Cheerleading” vs. “Doing and Directing” (via Bob
Walters)
18. Regularly thank and appreciate others for a job well done (thanks to my co-
founder Alon Shwartz for reminding me)
Recruiting / Culture
21. At least 20% of their time goes towards recruiting top talent (tip: some say 50%
via Vinod Khosla)
23. Define the most important qualities for hiring (watch: my 3 rules)
26. Define what the culture should be (the master Tony Hseih on culture via
KissMetrics)
27. Create an ingrained culture, not one of platitudes (tip: read “The Four
Obsessions of Extraordinary Executives)
28. Make the culture about something bigger than business (watch: 10 Lessons
Startups Can Learn From Superheroes)
29. Build ownership and accountability across the entire organization (watch: How
to Address Problems in the Workplace)
Fundraising / Capital
30. Put in their own capital before they ask others to put in theirs
34. Understand “People, Product, Progress, Passion, Persistence” (watch: The 5 P’s
to Fundraising)
35. Always ensure the business is properly capitalized (read: How Much Should You
Raise)
36. Treat investor’s capital like a borrowed treasure to be protected and returned
39. Have a vision for the product that gets translated across the organization
40. Make their product different and better than the competition
41. Build lean products iteratively and ship expeditiously (tip: read “The Lean
Startup” by Eric Ries)
42. Genuinely care about the interests of the customer more than their personal
financial gain (watch: The Value of a 100% Money Back Guarantee)
Sales / BD
44. Participate in key sales functions and deals (watch: The 5 Step Sales Process)
45. Spend enough time courting key relationships that move the business forward
46. Great at generating PR and buzz for the company (ppt: Marketing and Publicity
for Startups)
47. Listen more than they talk (watch: 10 Tips for Better BD)
Intangibles
48. Stay scrappy as they grow (watch: The 9 Ways to Stay Scrappy)
49. Have a strong sense of demand and how to extract it (watch: put your big rocks
in first)
53. Have a big WHY (tip: watch this great Ted Talk by Simon Sinek)
55.) Do they get results with integrity? That is the only standard by which
entrepreneurs are eventually judged. Everything else is just a test; grades don’t
matter, but results do.