outline of Kapost culture values

1. KAPOST CULTURE
JULY 2013

2. THIS DOCUMENT OUTLINES THE
PRINCIPLES BY WHICH KAPOST
OPERATES AND BY WHICH ALL OF
US INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER

3. IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS: WE ARE
ALWAYS REFINING
IT IS ALSO ASPIRATIONAL: WE
STRIVE FOR IT, BUT RECOGNIZE WE
DON’T ALWAYS ACHIEVE IT

4. BUT WHILE IT’S ASPIRATIONAL,
EVERY ONE OF US CAN HOLD EVERY
ONE OF US ACCOUNTABLE TO THESE
PRINCIPLES

5. KAPOST CULTURAL VALUES
1. WE TAKE OUR JOBS VERY SERIOUSLY
2. . . . BUT WE DON’T TAKE OURSELVES SO SERIOUSLY
3. NO JERKS
4. WE ALL KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON
5. WE ARE ALL RUNNING BACKS
6. . . . IN FACT, WE’RE ALL-STAR RUNNING BACKS
7. WE EVALUATE BY RESULTS
8. WE SUCCEED AS OUR CUSTOMERS SUCCEED
9. WE’RE MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

6. WE TAKE OUR
JOBS VERY
SERIOUSLY

7. WE ARE DEAD COMMITTED TO OUR
OBJECTIVES:
MAKING OUR CUSTOMERS
SUCCESSFUL
GROWING THE BUSINESS AND
DRIVING RETURNS FOR OUR
SHAREHOLDERS

8. OUR DETERMINATION AND
ENTHUSIASM ARE WHAT MAKE US
WIN
OUR DEDICATION IS OUR MAJOR
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

9. . . . BUT WE
DON’T TAKE
OURSELVES
SO SERIOUSLY

10. THOUGH WE’RE VERY
DETERMINED, WE DON’T WALK
AROUND WITH A SCOWL ON OUR
FACE ALL DAY

11. IN FACT, WE THINK IT’S IMPORTANT
TO PASS OUR WORK DAYS WITH A
SMILE ON OUR FACE
SO WHILE WE GO ABOUT KICKING
ASS, WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF FUN

12. ENJOYING OURSELVES AT WORK IS
HOW WE WANT TO LIVE OUR LIVES
ENJOYING OURSELVES AND
TREATING EACH OTHER WELL (SEE
“NO JERKS”) ALSO MAKES US A
MORE EFFECTIVE COMPANY:
IF WE CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER,
WE CARE ABOUT THE COMPANY
AND THUS ARE MORE DEDICATED

13. MUCH OF THAT FUN COMES FROM
ENJOYING EACH OTHER
WE VALUE COLLEAGUES WHO
BRING FUN AND LAUGHTER TO THE
TEAM

14. NO JERKS

15. EVERYONE AT KAPOST IS NOT
GOING TO BE BEST BUDS WITH
EVERYONE ELSE

16. BUT EVERYONE NEEDS TO TREAT
EVERYONE WITH RESPECT,
KINDNESS AND INTEGRITY

17. JERKS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED

18. WE ALL KNOW
WHAT’S
GOING ON

19. EVERYONE AT KAPOST IS
DEDICATED TO ITS SUCCESS (SEE
EARLIER SECTIONS)

20. BUT YOU CAN’T REALLY BE
DEDICATED, YOU CAN’T REALLY
CARE, IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND
WHAT’S GOING ON

21. FURTHERMORE, YOU CAN’T DO
YOUR JOB TO THE BEST OF YOUR
ABILITY WITHOUT KNOWING
WHAT’S GOING ON
(ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE DON’T
WANT COMMAND & CONTROL, WE
WANT “RUNNING BACKS”; SEE
LATER SECTION)

22. THEREFORE, WE ARE VERY
TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT’S
GOING ON IN THE COMPANY:
GOALS, FINANCIALS, STRATEGY,
FUNDRAISING, ETC.

23. IF THERE’S SOMETHING YOU WANT
TO KNOW THAT ISN’T CONVEYED,
THEN ASK
THERE ARE NO TABOO QUESTIONS

24. . . . BUT NOT EVERY QUESTION WILL
BE ANSWERED
THERE ARE LIMITS: E.G., LEGALLY
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION,
PRIVATE COMPENSATION DATA

25. WE ARE
RUNNING
BACKS

26. WE ARE RUNNING BACKS
WE ARE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE
BALL AND RUN WITH IT

27. WE THINK WORK IS MOST
REWARDING WHEN YOU FIGURE
THINGS OUT YOURSELF
WHEN YOU OVERCOME
CHALLENGES WITHOUT
INSTRUCTIONS
WHEN YOU TAKE OWNERSHIP OF
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND GET
THE JOB DONE

28. WHEN YOU ARE—IN A WORD—
CREATIVE

29. WE ALSO THINK THAT COMPANIES’
SUCCESS IS A FUNCTION OF THEIR
RUNNING BACKS
IN OTHER WORDS, A COMPANY
WINS IF ITS EMPLOYEES ARE
TAKING OWNERSHIP AND MAKING
THINGS HAPPEN

30. THEREFORE, WE WANT EVERYONE
IN OUR COMPANY TO BE A RUNNING
BACK

31. AND WE WANT TO CLEAR THE WAY
SO THAT EVERYONE CAN BE A
RUNNING BACK:
MINIMIZE BUREAUCRACY, MINIMIZE
MEETINGS, MAXIMIZE AUTONOMY

32. . . . IN FACT
WE’RE ALL –
STAR RUNNING
BACKS

33. WE WANT EVERYONE AT KAPOST TO
BE SUPERBLY QUALIFIED FOR THEIR
ROLE, AN ALL-STAR AT THEIR JOB
ALL-STARS DO EXTRAORDINARY
THINGS, AND START-UPS WIN BY
CONSISTENTLY BEING
EXTRAORDINARY

34. FURTHERMORE, THERE’S AN
ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMIC BEHIND
OUR FOCUS ON ALL-STARS . . .

35. AS ORGANIZATIONS GROW,
COMPLEXITY GROWS
EXPONENTIALLY
COMPLEXITY LEADS TO PROCESS
PROCESS STIFLES INNOVATION,
TURNS OFF ALL-STARS, SLOWS
GROWTH, CAN RUIN A COMPANY

36. FOCUSING ON ALL-STARS CREATES
TALENT DENSITY
TALENT DENSITY CONTAINS ORG
GROWTH & THUS COMPLEXITY
TALENT DENSITY CONTAINS
PROCESS (ALLOWS FOR MORE
AUTONOMY) AND ITS NEGATIVE
EFFECTS

37. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: YOU CAN BE
AN ALL-STAR FOR YOUR ROLE AT
MANY POINTS IN YOUR CAREER
PATH

38. WE EVALUATE
BY RESULTS

39. ALL-STARS WANT TO SUCCEED
THE COMPANY WANTS TO SUCCEED
IT IS THE OBLIGATION OF EVERY
MANAGER TO DEFINE WHAT
SUCCESS IS FOR EVERY ONE OF
THEIR REPORTS

40. SUCCESS IS NOT DEFINED BY FACE
TIME
SUCCESS IS DEFINED BY AN
OUTCOME, WHICH IS HOPEFULLY
CLEARLY MEASURED BY A NUMBER

41. THUS WHAT THE COMPANY CARES
ABOUT IS THAT YOU ACHIEVE YOUR
OBJECTIVES
THE COMPANY DOESN’T CARE
WHERE OR WHEN YOU DO THAT

42. AS A RESULT:
IF YOU NEED TO WORK FROM
HOME, TO GO TO CHILD’S EVENT IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY, ETC.
. . . THE COMPANY IS COOL WITH
THAT, AS LONG AS YOU MEET YOUR
OBJECTIVES

43. ALSO AS A RESULT:
IF YOU ARE MEETING YOUR
OBJECTIVES AND WANT TO TAKE >3
WEEKS OF VACATION, THE
COMPANY IS ALSO COOL WITH THAT

44. SOME KEY POINTS HERE
#1 - TALK WITH YOUR MANAGER:
MAKE SURE YOUR MANAGER
APPROVES EXTRA VACATION TIME,
ETC. AND THAT BOTH OF YOU ARE
ON THE SAME PAGE ON WHERE YOU
ARE RELATIVE TO YOUR
OBJECTIVES

45. #2 – MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN
HUMANS INTERACT IN PERSON:
WHILE WORKING FROM HOME,
REMOTELY, ETC. WHEN NEEDED IS
COOL, COLLABORATION IS
ENHANCED BY FACE-TO-FACE
AGAIN, TALK TO YOUR MANAGER
ABOUT THE RIGHT BALANCE

46. WE SUCCEED
AS OUR
CUSTOMERS
SUCCEED

47. A GROWING BUSINESS CAN GET TO
BE REALLY COMPLEX
BUT HERE’S A SIMPLE THOUGHT TO
STEER OUR WAY:
WE SUCCEED AS OUR CUSTOMERS
SUCCEED

48. IF THROUGH ALL OF OUR EFFORTS—
IN ALL DEPARTMENTS—WE STAY
FOCUSED ON MAKING OUR
CUSTOMERS SUCCESSFUL, THEN
WE’LL BE SUCCESSFUL
USE THIS PRINCIPLE AS A GUIDE IN
DECISION-MAKING

49. FURTHERMORE, LET’S NEVER
HESITATE TO GO OVERBOARD IN
SERVING OUR CUSTOMERS
LET’S CONSISTENTLY GO THE EXTRA
MILE SO THAT WE DELIGHT THEM

50. WE’RE
MAKING THE
WORLD A
BETTER PLACE

51. KAPOST MISSION:
TO EMPOWER MARKETERS TO
TRANSFORM MARKETING FROM
INTERRUPTING AND ANNOYING
THEIR BUYERS TO INFORMING AND
ENTERTAINING THEM

52. CONTENT MARKETING IS MAKING
THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
KAPOST IS A MAJOR DRIVER OF THE
CONTENT MARKETING REVOLUTION
WE FEEL FORTUNATE TO WORK AT A
COMPANY MAKING A POSITIVE
IMPACT

53. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

54. THIS DOCUMENT UTILIZES THE
THINKING OF MANY OTHERS, IN
PARTICULAR:
NETFLIX CULTURE DOCUMENT:
HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/REED2001/
CULTURE-1798664
HUBSPOT CULTURE CODE:
HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/HUBSPOT/THE-HUBSPOT-
CULTURE-CODE-CREATING-A-COMPANY-WE-LOVE