From Founding Team To Company Culture — How To Scale Successfully: Highlights From Sie Ventures & Marriott Harrison Event🚀
Marriott Harrison and Sie Ventures teamed up yesterday to host a panel on how to scale a business successfully — “From Founding Team to Company Culture.” During discussions moderated by Fran Spooner (VC partner at Marriott Harrison) and Triin Linamagi (Founding Partner at Sie Ventures), panellists Andrew Richardson (Managing Partner at Foundation Partners), Morgane Zerath (Early-stage Investor at Crane Ventures), Deirdre O’Neill (Co-founder of Hertility Health), and Ed Belam (Employment Lawyer at Marriott Harrison) shared their experiences of curating and embedding culture in a business and their stories of when it has gone well (or not!).
With founders, investors, and people-focused professionals in attendance, the panellists provided expert insights on why company culture is so important and how to develop it throughout a start-up’s growth journey.
✨ Here Are Some Key Takeaways From The Discussions:
1. Strategic Hiring
🌱 Early Stages
- Hire individuals who possess the necessary skills and align with the startup’s culture and values. These early hires should be versatile and capable of wearing multiple hats. The panel emphasised the importance of hiring people who can handle multiple facets, especially when resources are limited.
💼 C-Suite Hiring:
- Delay hiring C-suite executives until the company faces significant operational complexities. Hiring from prestigious companies is not a guarantee of success because such hires might not have the hands-on and fast-paced approach needed in a startup. These candidates are often used to large teams and established processes, which might not align with a startup’s dynamic environment.
2. Cultural Fit
☀️ Importance of Culture
- Establish a strong company culture early on by setting behavioural KPIs that align with the company’s goals and values. This foundation will guide the team’s behaviours on a day-to-day basis, and decisions as the company grows. Management needs to embed culture into the company — if this is not done correctly, it can cause issues which ripple across the company as it scales.
🌎 Adapting Culture
- Recognise that company culture will evolve as the start-up grows. The panel highlighted the importance of understanding that a culture that works for a team of three will inevitably change and evolve as the company scales to 50 or more employees.
3. Performance Management
🎯 Setting Clear Expectations
- Regular performance reviews and clear communication are crucial. Employees should understand their roles, the expectations, and how they fit into the company’s objectives. Founders might feel as though they need to be best friends with their team, when in fact, their team really value clear direction, communication and expectations.
📊 Addressing Underperformance
- Deal with performance issues swiftly and decisively. Offering support and training is essential, but consistent underperformance should be managed promptly. Panellists shared the regret of not dismissing underperforming employees sooner, which can drain company resources and morale; ultimately it benefits all parties involved as that employee might then be free to find a role that better suits them.
4. Role of Founders and Leaders
📚 Continuous Development
- Founders and leaders should continually develop their management and leadership skills. Engaging coaches or mentors can provide founders with the guidance needed to navigate the complexities of scaling and managing a growing team. There is no upper ceiling apart from yourself as a founder!
🛠️ External Support
- Founders should not shy away from seeking external support when needed, whether through coaches, mentors, or advisors, to enhance their leadership capabilities.
5. Investor Involvement
🚀 Leveraging Experience
- Investors can provide valuable insights into hiring strategies and operational scaling. They can help define roles, set up hiring processes, and ensure new hires align with the company’s long-term goals.
🤩 ‘Culture Is Potent’
- Investors care about company culture because it significantly impacts performance. It can block or catalyse strategy. Investors with experience can assist in instilling a culture that fosters performance and excellence.
6. Legal and Contractual Considerations
📑 ‘Decent employment contracts, decent employment contracts, decent employment contracts!’
- Ensure employment contracts are clear and comprehensive, especially regarding performance, and ensure that equity is dealt with separately (in a different agreement, with its own terms). The importance of avoiding vague promises about equity in contracts, and advocating for formal share incentive schemes instead, cannot be underestimated. Don’t blur the lines!
➡️ Planning for Exits
- Have clear strategies and policies in place for managing exits, whether founders or other key team members. Planning in advance helps ensure continuity and stability. It is crucial to have clear documentation and to set expectations early on.
7. Insights on Compensation and Incentives
💷 Compensation Packages
- Offer compensation packages that align with candidate needs, potentially providing options with more cash or more equity depending on individual preferences and the company’s requirements.
👩🏽💻 Equity Management
- Equity is precious and should be managed carefully. Founders should understand the implications of equity distribution and seek advice to avoid over-dilution.
8. Board Members and Advisors
🤝 Board Dynamics
- Bringing on board members and advisors with the right experience is crucial. However, it’s essential to ensure they add real value rather than just prestige. Having high-profile board members who do not contribute meaningfully can be more of a burden than a benefit.
📆 Vesting & Performance Requirements
- When offering equity to advisors or board members, tie it to performance requirements and ensure vesting schedules are in place to align their incentives with the company’s success.
This event underscored that scaling successfully is not just about growing in numbers but about nurturing the right culture, making strategic hires, and continuously developing leadership capabilities. A big thank you to all the speakers and attendees for their valuable insights and contributions!
Stay tuned for more events and updates from Sie Ventures! 💼🌟
#ScalingSuccess #StartupGrowth #CompanyCulture #Leadership #VentureCapital #SieVentures #MarriottHarrison
