Scaling culture - How to nurture a coherent company culture amidst change and growth

A presentation at Cologne Scaleup Meetup in May 2024 in Cologne, Germany by Jutta Horstmann

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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

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Case Study

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eyeo… Who?

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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

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The startup needs to scale

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Growth vs Scaling Output Output Input Input

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Aspects of scaling 💰 💰 Business 💻📲 👪👪 🌱 Product Organization Culture

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Scaling culture

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How to scale a culture to 250+ people? 📋 🗣 🤗 🤝 Provide clarity Tell stories Embrace diversity Break down silos

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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

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Scaling culture is all about balance

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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

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“Scaling people”?

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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

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“In the past we were pirates, now we are the Royal Navy.”

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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

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Scaling yourself ● Let go ● Step out ● Empower ● Relax

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How to keep disrupting? Beware of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse: ● Complacency ● Bureaucracy ● Mistrust ● Timidity

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Takeaways

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  1. Growth comes with pain.

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  1. Build for scale, embrace change, and allow people to grow with the company.

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  1. Enjoy the ride.

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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