{"id":6816,"date":"2017-04-17T19:54:39","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T19:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itnigblog.live-website.com\/?p=6816"},"modified":"2020-06-11T13:10:47","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T13:10:47","slug":"how-typeform-is-scaling-their-culture-in-hyper-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/how-typeform-is-scaling-their-culture-in-hyper-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"How Typeform is scaling their culture in hyper-growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"c610\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--figure\">When your startup consists of you and your co-founder, it&#8217;s not that hard to shape the culture. Even though\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"http:\/\/typeform.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"http:\/\/Typeform.com\">Typeform<\/a>\u00a0started with two co-founders\u00a0, it has grown and in the last 18 months from 30 to 150 employees, and they have no intention to stop growing.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ca1a\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">So how are they keeping a healthy culture?\u00a0<em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">It&#8217;s not a poster on a wall, we live it<\/em>, says co-CEO and co-founder Robert Munoz:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"fb30\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>Our company culture is a product of what kind of workplace I, David (co-founder) and the first employees wanted to create when we started Typeform. We didn\u2019t have a master plan to define our culture but we knew that a total focus on product, people and creating a collaborative place to work made sense.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"7465\" class=\"graf graf--h3 graf-after--blockquote\"><strong class=\"markup--strong markup--h3-strong\">Product &amp; People\u00a0first<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p id=\"5eb1\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h3\">Traditionally SaaS companies are all about product in the beginning. Robert and David have always been searching for the balance where product meets people:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"f14f\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>We know that if we invest in both our talent and in our product at the same level, revenues will come along with it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"4969\" class=\"graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetLeft graf-after--blockquote\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked\">\n<div class=\"progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded\" data-image-id=\"1*Y6EpLTDW_kMacVfh7W4hWA.png\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"683\" data-action=\"zoom\" data-action-value=\"1*Y6EpLTDW_kMacVfh7W4hWA.png\" data-scroll=\"native\"><canvas class=\"progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas\" width=\"75\" height=\"50\"><\/canvas><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*Y6EpLTDW_kMacVfh7W4hWA.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*Y6EpLTDW_kMacVfh7W4hWA.png\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"imageCaption\">Typeform\u2019s co-founders and co-CEO&#8217;s David Okuniev and Robert\u00a0Mu\u00f1oz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"102d\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--figure\">That\u2019s why they have created three pillars to put people and product as top priorities:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"postList\">\n<li id=\"5a22\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--p\"><strong class=\"markup--strong markup--li-strong\">Business<\/strong>\u00a0to take the market<\/li>\n<li id=\"6685\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--li\"><strong class=\"markup--strong markup--li-strong\">Innovation<\/strong>\u00a0to be ahead of the curve<\/li>\n<li id=\"6885\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--li\"><strong class=\"markup--strong markup--li-strong\">Culture<\/strong>\u00a0to create a great work environment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"d8fd\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--li\">He explains that scaling culture has become more and more important with growth, as the company has been going through three different stages most startups face.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"f314\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>We started at (1)\u00a0<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong\">product phase<\/strong>, where it&#8217;s all about building the best fucking product. Then moved into a (2)\u00a0<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong\">service phase<\/strong>\u00a0where it was all about giving our acquired users the best service possible. Now we&#8217;re at the (3)<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--blockquote-strong\">organizational stage<\/strong>, where building a well functioning business with different teams and functions. Here&#8217;s the focus on scaling culture maybe the most important key.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"dfa0\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote\">At a time when good work culture is uber important, the founders acknowledges that they\u2019re facing challenging times as they grew from 50 to 150 employees in one year.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"b45e\" class=\"graf graf--h3 graf-after--p\">The magic number\u200a\u2014\u200a150<\/h3>\n<p id=\"9306\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h3\">Oxford evolutionary psychology professor\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robin_Dunbar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robin_Dunbar\">Robin Dunbar<\/a>\u00a0created a theory that humans only can maintain\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/846530\/something-weird-happens-to-companies-when-they-hit-150-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/846530\/something-weird-happens-to-companies-when-they-hit-150-people\/\">personalized relationships with 150 people<\/a>, so it\u2019s not without reason Robert says they\u2019ve been struggling a bit with communication lately:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"c739\" class=\"graf graf--pullquote graf-after--p\"><p>We are very aware that we\u2019re crossing this magic line. Decision making based on consensus is not as effective as before and spreading information across the organization is a new challenge, so we need to add more structure in\u00a0place.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"336d\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--pullquote\">The main challenge with adding structure, according to Robert, is to be efficient as an organization without killing creativity and the startup feeling.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"555e\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>The last year we&#8217;ve been focusing on redefining our vision, product mission and values, as this is a big part of creating alignment and improving communication and decision making.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"aea5\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote\">Creating values is hard, especially if it needs to resonate with a lot people. So a while back the Typeform people sat down to draw out their company values.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"aa89\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>First, me and my co-founder David met with the creative\/content team and some other people to write a list of values that we thought made sense for our day to day. Then we published and announced the values to the company and we realized that some of the values didn\u2019t resonate and that some others were confusing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"6592\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote\">They needed\u00a0<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--p-strong\"><em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">a value revolution<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"eed9\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>We decided to scrutinize the values with every team of the company and we realized that if you want people living the values, it\u2019s better to make them participate so they feel more engaged and you don\u2019t end up just hanging your values on a wall.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"8e7a\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote\">At the end, they threw away their first values and came together with the whole company up with a list of seven values that randomly formed the acronym:\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/brand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/brand\/\">CHEF PIE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"e9de\" class=\"graf graf--h3 graf-after--p\">Lunch roulette<\/h3>\n<p id=\"00cb\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h3\">Another key element when growing fast is making sure everyone get to know each other, no matter how big the team gets, says Robert:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"4644\" class=\"graf graf--pullquote graf-after--p\"><p>Something we really focus on when growing fast is keeping founders and managers approachable, this is super important, and we are experimenting with several ways of making this happen\u00a0easier.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"8407\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--pullquote\">One of the experiments is a Slack bot that matches random people for coffee breaks and lunches, so everyone gets to know each other better, also all the managers.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"b7ff\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>It\u2019s actually been a real success. I love having coffee with people from the office I don\u2019t know that well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"d731\" class=\"graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetLeft graf-after--blockquote\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded\" data-image-id=\"1*55tRZgNkGxuqTFWfBtrvOg.png\" data-width=\"697\" data-height=\"497\" data-action=\"zoom\" data-action-value=\"1*55tRZgNkGxuqTFWfBtrvOg.png\" data-scroll=\"native\"><canvas class=\"progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas\" width=\"75\" height=\"52\"><\/canvas><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*55tRZgNkGxuqTFWfBtrvOg.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*55tRZgNkGxuqTFWfBtrvOg.png\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"imageCaption\">The Typeform\u00a0<em class=\"markup--em markup--figure-em\">barception<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"4116\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--figure\">When you walk into the Typeform office in Barcelona, the first thing meeting you is the barception (bar + reception) with free drinks and coffee served by the barceptionist. There&#8217;s also free healthy lunches, more benefits than your average day can handle, and a big lofty office.<\/p>\n<p id=\"8142\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">You would think that even for a company that have raised $15 million in venture capital, this kind of spending would be over the top. Robert thinks the opposite:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"35d9\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p><span class=\"markup--quote markup--blockquote-quote is-other\" data-creator-ids=\"edb2f3e669ff anon\">Somebody told me that you&#8217;ll never over-invest in people. I don\u2019t think investing heavily in culture is expensive at all, at least in our industry. Luckily we have investors that believe in that mentality as well.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"0b18\" class=\"graf graf--h3 graf-after--blockquote\">Inclusion<\/h3>\n<p id=\"26cf\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h3\">The co-founders Robert and David along with the management team is learning as they go in terms of growing a huge, fast-moving organization. To succeed in their mission to make their product a little more human, there&#8217;s one element they need to do perfectly.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"f14c\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p\"><p>We need to include our teams as much as we can in the shaping of our culture, and continue to spend a lot of time, effort and resources on making people challenged, happy and at home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"ad30\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote\">As they\u2019re planning on growing the team substantially the next two years, and with an additional office opening in the US soon, the ultimate test for Typeform lies ahead of them:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"2543\" class=\"graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p graf--trailing\"><p>As we scale the culture of the company can change a little bit, but we don\u2019t need to freak out about that, it\u2019s like any person\u2019s personality, it changes. However, we want to keep building an awesome place to work. A place where people can be themselves, be heard, innovate, and do big things together.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When your startup consists of you and your co-founder, it&#8217;s not that hard to shape the culture. Even though\u00a0Typeform\u00a0started with two co-founders\u00a0, it has grown and in the last 18 months from 30 to 150 employees, and they have no intention to stop growing. So how are they keeping a healthy culture?\u00a0It&#8217;s not a poster [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-startups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9623,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6816\/revisions\/9623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}