Core Values Drive A Startup’s Success

http://www.brandonpaton.com/2009/12/asana-core-values/

by Paton • 17 years ago

13 10 17 years ago

brandonpaton.com

edw519• 17 years ago

There's a fundamental difference between living your core values and telling them to the world.

Living them demonstrates unmistakenly and predictably who are really are.

Telling them is no different from all those bullshit mission statements on bulletin boards ignored by millions.

Wikipedia defines "mensch" as "a person of integrity and honor" and "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character". By its very definition, you cannot call yourself (or your company) a mensch.

Once you start living your core values, you won't need to advertise them. Plenty of others will do that for you.

aristus• 17 years ago

I think telling and living are held in tension. Say you are male, riding on a crowded bus with a small child in your care. A woman boards and you give her your seat. That's living a value.

The child then does a "why chain" on you. Why did you stand up? To give the lady a seat. Why did you give the lady your seat? Because it's polite. Why is it polite? Etc. Explaining your values to someone else can help you reexamine and refine them. Perhaps you didn't expect to exhibit them in public, but another core value (being honest and respectful to children) causes you to. Making them known also holds you to them.

I have worked for companies with very strong and sensible values that don't advertise them. That's a fine choice, but not necessarily better or more pure than articulating them to the world.

coffeemug• 17 years ago

As far as I can tell, even the best in the biz haven't the slightest idea of what drives the startup's success. Plenty of startups with superb core values fail, and plenty of startups with no discernible core values succeed. The truth is, nobody knows. Just because it sounds nice, doesn't make it so.

brandon272• 17 years ago

I don't agree. I think that we understand what drives success. It's not always the exact same recipe, but it's always a combination of:

- Good idea(s) - Good execution - Hard work

It always seems that a startup that is lacking or is unsuccessful (what is "success", anyway?) is always missing or lacking in one of the above three areas.

tdoggette• 17 years ago

That's a tautology: the way you know what startups had good ideas and execution is by seeing which ones succeeded.

idlewords• 17 years ago

Another entry in the growing 'startups as self-help' file.

These values statements are a form of self-expression similar to putting bumper stickers on one's car, and have about as much to do with the success of the business as bumper stickers have with the correct operation of the vehicle.

zackattack2• 17 years ago

Yet another article on success written by someone who has yet to be successful. Nice. Can we please put a moratorium on this rubbish?

skmurphy• 17 years ago

The values referenced are for http://www.asana.com/ which was founded by Dustin Moskovitz the original CTO of Facebook. See also http://kara.allthingsd.com/20091124/asana-gets-9-million-no-... for more background.

zackattack2• 17 years ago

asana is also not a successful company

manbearpig• 17 years ago

I guess I shouldn't bother applying. I am unreasonable, freeze in the face of fear, lie pathologically, hate leverage (seriously though, when did corporatespeak become a value?), and favor hotness over chillness.

Core Values Drive A Startup’s Success

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