What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture

by Ben Horowitz

You must start from first principles. Every ecosystem has a default culture. (In Silicon Valley, our baked-in cultural elements range from casual dress to employee owners to long hours.) Don’t just blindly adopt it. You may be adopting an organizing principle you don’t understand. For example, Intel created a casual-dress standard to promote meritocracy. Its leaders believed the best idea should win, not the idea from the highest-ranking person in the fanciest suit. Many current Silicon Valley companies don’t know that history, and adopt the casual dress without adopting the meritocracy that underpinned it. And the predominant culture may not fit your business. Intel ran that way because the top engineers were as important in the decision-making process as the top executives. If you’re in fast food, Intel’s culture probably won’t work for you.