it's CULTURE, innit...
About 11 years ago, my son came to visit me in my startup's funky Old Street office. Now he’s 15 and still vividly remembers the remote control cars, the nerf guns, and the astro-turfed meeting room. Seriously. He thought it was amazing. But he was four.
Startups love to talk about “culture.” Ping pong. Beer pong. Offsites. Team pizza, and some ironic in-joke Slack emojis. Having scaled tech companies from seed to $MM+, let me be blunt:
Culture isn’t about nerf wars. It’s how your team holds together when they’re in a real battle.
I used to be skeptical about this. In that same nerf-gun-armed business, I remember a younger, more cynical me, rolling my eyes in frustration at another 3h leadership session scoping our values statement and culture; and thinking how much executive time and money we were wasting talking about it when we just needed to CRACK ON. And how telling employees what their culture should be was completely counter to creating an actual genuine, productive team spirit.
But these days, I’ve changed my opinion.
In early-stage businesses, everything is under pressure: time, funding, talent, morale. Personally, I love the buzz of this, but it’s not for everyone, and definitely not for the faint-hearted. If you don’t intentionally build a culture that supports accountability, inclusion, and belief in the mission, you will lose the trust of your team, and ultimately the race - no matter how strong your product is.
So, what actually IS culture?
Culture is clarity
Every person - from engineer to office manager - should know why the company exists and how their role connects to that vision. At Time Out, we articulated this customer value prop as “inspiring you to lead a richer life”. At YPlan it was “be spontaneous”. Everyone understood how their work unlocked that promise. Most of the time, that clarity created velocity.
Culture is how you handle adversity
When I ran SeatGeek’s EMEA entertainment business, COVID-19 wiped out live events overnight. We had to make hard calls - restructuring, reprioritising clients, sunsetting markets - amid huge uncertainty. Very tough decisions had to be made, but because we had built mutual respect, transparency, and trust before the crisis, our teams pulled together - not apart.
Culture is hiring people better than you - and letting them lead
Early in my career I probably made the mistake of over-owning. This isn’t just about learning to delegate, it’s about giving ownership. Hiring curious, capable people who stretch leadership, can fast-track success. I read a lot of military history, and interestingly, the British Army teaches officers (and gives them the space) to lead with their own initiative - with success measured by outcomes. Famously in WW2 - perhaps other forces being afforded less flexibility contributed to the outcome.
My favourite of TodayTix’s values is “Find a way (or make one)” which neatly articulates the need for innovation and ownership throughout the organisation. It’s empowering and is the difference between progress and excuses.
Culture is communication. Constant, human, honest communication
As a leader, you have to say the same thing 10 different ways for it to land. People feel culture when they hear and see it every day. If you can communicate well, you will build TRUST.
Trust is the invisible engine of high-performing teams. It’s built through consistency, clarity, and showing up - especially when things get tough. When uncertainty is constant, trust enables speed, honesty, and resilience. Without it, you get politics, paralysis, and ducks at the watercooler. With it, you get alignment, momentum, and people who go the extra mile.
Culture is growth.
If your startup doesn’t support personal growth - mentorship, autonomy, challenge - you’ll lose talent. Some of the proudest moments in my career are seeing former hires go on to lead businesses, start their own ventures, or thrive in roles I once hired them for. That’s legacy.
So yes, have fun. Celebrate wins. Create emojis. Shoot each other with nerf guns. Paint your values statement on the wall. But never confuse that with the real work of building culture.
Because in the end, that’s what separates the rocketships from the wreckage.
