Why Culture is More Important Than Capital

# Why Culture is More Important Than Capital

Attitude is the most valuable currency in today's business environment and it is a key indicator of future success. Never before in history has innovation been so celebrated, encouraged, and ubiquitous. Leaders are everywhere.

A business is the orchestration of people serving a common goal. No surprise there. Establishing the success ecosystem – those who will advise, direct, recommend, and implement your ideas – means carefully choosing people who have experience, integrity, loyalty, and honesty. The first role of a chief executive officer or founder is to establish a corporate culture and communicate core values. More importantly, live by them and practice them. The practice is challenging and we jump on and off the horse depending on family, friends and finances.

In my perspective, too much cash is actually detrimental to the business when it comes to funding vs. revenues. There are enough examples of venture-backed dreams and acquisitions gone wrong. Why? Because capital destroys culture.

Angel funding and venture capital may be the motivation of my fellow entrepreneurs, but many of my well-funded colleagues struggle with the ideation of a product, the development of culture, and the financial integrity of the daily business. Plus an additional layer of mania to satisfy investors. No thank you.

I have two primary passions: operations and recruiting. I don't have a perfect track record of either, product ideas or people. However, one of my hard-won secrets is that I protect my people, my business, and my values. I try to live with transparency and unfiltered honesty, mixed with humor, metaphors, and associations to ease any sting.

I typically interview potential employees before introducing them to anyone within my company. This is an uncommon approach for many CEOs and may not seem scalable. However, this behavior allows me to carefully select the type of personalities that will amplify the business and enhance our ability to execute as a team. Chemistry creates culture.

Proudly, I've made six pivots in as many years. I've retained almost the entire original founding team. We have never missed payroll, we have no debt and loyal customers. It has not been perfect and we have struggled, but we stand together and find ways to make things work. People are what make me get up earlier and stay later.