Frequently Asked Questions

A Culture Code is a set of values that define your startup’s identity — your shared principles and beliefs. While most startups stop at putting together a short list, the Culture Code shares the story behind each value and brings them to life. It is a guide for working together to achieve ambitious visions. We also recognize that every startup is different and you are welcome to customize it to match your specific needs.

Culture is often mistaken for perks. But it’s not free lunches, grand parties, and cool digs. Culture is who you are and who you aspire to be. It is the collective personality of a team – it’s your shared beliefs, values, and practices.

If vision is where you are going, culture is what gets you there. An amazing culture attracts, develops, and retains exceptional people. It creates an environment that inspires smart people to do their best work. After all, startups are only as successful as their people and how well they work together. Whether you plan it or not, culture will happen. So why not create a culture you love?

Every startup wants to leave their mark on the world. This requires a strong culture that brings together talented people to do their best work. The challenge is that building a world-class culture is complicated and hard work that competes with many urgent priorities. It leaves many time-pressed startups choosing to rush it, delay it, or worse, skip it altogether. The Culture Code (beta) was launched to help startups build better cultures.

Easy to Trust.

• Proven. Inspired by today’s most innovative startups and leaders.
• Universal. Values shared by the most innovative cultures.

Easy to Learn.

• Inspiring. Makes complex concepts simple to understand.

• Comprehensive. Explains why each value is important and how to live it.

Easy to Live.

• Turnkey. Quick to share and customize with your team.

• Open source. Free to use, change, and share.

Easy to Improve.

• Customizable. Simple to edit, build on, and make your own.
• Evolving. Continuously improving by the startup community.

We hope you will find Culture Code useful and are excited to know what you think about the project! We’re here to listen to your comments and work hard to make the tool even better.

The culture code is for everyone and anyone that wants to create a culture they love. It’s for young professionals to experienced executives. It’s for the hottest startups to the Fortune 500. The Culture Code takes complex concepts and simplifies them into a format that is accessible to everyone. We also wrote it to be as universal as possible, stretching across countries and industries. We also recognize that every startup is different and you are welcome to make it your own. Find out how at CultureCode.io/#apply

We’ve worked in many cultures – some inspiring and others toxic. The healthy cultures created an environment that inspires smart people to do their best work. The toxic cultures were filled with unhappy employees serving unsatisfied customers.

We made it our mission to understand the secret sauce behind some of today’s most admired startup cultures. It turns out there is a code to achieving success. The most innovative startups share these nine universal values which can be easily adopted.

Rather than write a short set of vague values that others will misinterpret, we tell the story behind each value – what the value is, why it’s important, but how to live it. We wanted to contribute our findings and help the startup community build better and happier cultures.

The Culture Code can be adopted at any time by any organization, team, or person. Some startups use it from day one while others upgrade their values and culture as they mature. Most choose to adopt the entire code, but anyone is welcome to build on it. Find out how at CultureCode.io/#apply

It’s easy. Just visit CultureCode.io, get to know the values, and share it with your team. If you already have values in place, we suggest first sharing the idea with your leadership team.

It’s easy. Just share the CultureCode.io and encourage them to get to know the values.

The Culture Check is a handy tool we built to let you quickly see how you and others are living up to your Values.

Your Values aren’t meant to be hung on a wall and forgotten. They are meant to be lived. The Culture Check helps identify what you are doing well and where you can do better.

We hope you will find Culture Code useful and are excited to know what you think about the project! We’re here to listen to your comments and work hard to make the tool even better. After all, “we’re a perpetual work in progress.”  Feel free to add comments directly on the deck or get in touch by email.

A world-class culture comes down to living your shared values. If you’ve nailed the hard part and built a culture you love, throw in some Culture Hacks to amplify it. Just keep in mind that these are not substitutes for living the values.

Nathan Roth and Tiberiu Scrieciu designed the Culture Code after hundreds of hours of research.

Nathan Roth leads strategy at Gett, the #1 on-demand car service in B2C in EMEA and the #1 in B2B globally. Gett is a unicorn startup that is growing explosively across the globe, including New York, London, and Moscow. They’ve recently partnered with Volkswagen, the largest global car manufacturer. Prior to Gett, Nathan led Digital Marketing and Customer Experience Management at Koodo, Canada’s fastest growing telecom. He has launched numerous award-winning campaigns and been named ‘Top 30 Under 30’ by Marketing Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @NathanCRoth

Tiberiu Scrieciu is a Managing Partner at Uniion, a digital & strategy consultancy with a track record of helping category leaders and disruptors push boundaries. He is also a global strategy consultant for Gett, a unicorn startup taking on Uber. Named by Forbes as one of the “top 15 explosively growing companies”, Gett is already the largest on-demand car service outside of USA and is live in over 100 cities, including New York, London, and Moscow. Prior to Uniion & Gett, Tiberiu completed a leadership development program at TELUS, one of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Hall of Fame.

The Culture Code is inspired by today’s most innovative startups and leaders. It is also universal. Its values are shared by the most innovative cultures.

Evolving. Continuously improving with feedback from the startup community. We hope you will find Culture Code useful and are excited to know what you think about the project! We’re here to listen to your comments and work hard to make the tool even better.