Scaling culture - How to nurture a coherent company culture amidst change and growth
A presentation at Cologne Scaleup Meetup in in Cologne, Germany by Jutta Horstmann
Scaling culture How to nurture a coherent company culture amidst change and growth Scaleup Meetup Köln, 16.05.2024 | Jutta Horstmann | CEO, Mailvelope / ex-COO, eyeo
Case Study
eyeo… Who?
FROM: 2 to 14 products 16m to 250m users 6 to 300 people 3 to 35 nationalities 0 to 10 lawsuits 1 to 700 partners
The startup needs to scale
Growth vs Scaling Output Output Input Input
Aspects of scaling 💰 💰 Business 💻📲 👪👪 🌱 Product Organization Culture
Scaling culture
How to scale a culture to 250+ people? 📋 🗣 🤗 🤝 Provide clarity Tell stories Embrace diversity Break down silos
Evolution of culture - from implicit to explicit Implicit ▪ Developer-first ▪ Remote first ▪ Open Source ▪ Libertarian ▪ Full transparency ▪ Work family A bit explicit ▪ Core Values Very explicit ▪ ▪ Communication guidelines Leadership principles Evolving ▪ Culture Council ▪ Core Values update ▪ Mission & Vision statements
Scaling culture is all about balance
Balance Optimizing for publisher revenue Short-term success Optimizing for user experience Long-term sustainability Remote Co-located Professionalization & standardization Creativity & innovation High Performance Sustainable pace Control Empowerment Rapid change Iterative and participatory approach
“Scaling people”?
Helping people to grow with the company 🛠 👏 🌿 The Old Guard Resilience 10% of staff hired 2011-15 Finding and keeping talent Change is here to stay 33% of staff hired 2016-18 World-wide hiring Anti-fragility 57% of staff hired 2019-21 Flat hierarchy Trust Talent development Empowerment & Enablement Appreciation
“In the past we were pirates, now we are the Royal Navy.”
Addressing identity crisis 👂 🔦 👉 Empathy Clarity Leadership Explain. Listen. Repeat. Vision & Mission Commitment “What’s in it for me?” Strategy Multiplicators Values Leading by example Behavior
Scaling yourself ● Let go ● Step out ● Empower ● Relax
How to keep disrupting? Beware of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse: ● Complacency ● Bureaucracy ● Mistrust ● Timidity
Takeaways
- Growth comes with pain.
- Build for scale, embrace change, and allow people to grow with the company.
- Enjoy the ride.
Thank you! Jutta Horstmann Mailvelope GmbH CEO, Mailvelope GmbH https://www.mailvelope.com jutta@mailvelope.com @mailvelope (X, Mastodon) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhorstmann/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/mailvelope/ @smphr (Mastodon) PGP: 89D1 69A3 ECAD CA3D A4E6 F3A7 DFA4 EE0F 9113 4859
