The HubSpot Culture Code deck.  Creating a company we love.

The

CULTURE
CODE
Creating a company we love.

v33.8 2020-11-19



WHAT’S

CULTURE?

A set of shared
beliefs, values and
practices.
Our geeky side thinks of it
as the “operating system”
that powers HubSpot.



obsess over

We care about our culture
just like our product.
Because culture is a product.



We are building two products:
One for our
customers.

One for our
employees.
Culture is the product we
build for ourselves.



Culture is to recruiting as
product is to marketing.

A great product more easily
attracts customers.
By the way, we love flywheels
(aka virtuous loops) at HubSpot.
They’re everywhere!



Culture is to recruiting as
product is to marketing.

A great culture more easily
attracts amazing people.



CULTURE HAPPENS.
Whether intentional or not,
companies always have a culture.
So why not create
a culture we love?



As you have likely noticed:
The world has changed.



What people want from the
companies they work for has
dramatically changed.



THE OLD WORLD

THE NEW WORLD

Work to make a living.

Work to make a difference.

Follow explicit directions.

Chart the course.

Juggle work and life.

Harmonize work and life.

Commute into work.

Connect to work from anywhere.

Value amazing perks.

Value amazing people.



But although expectations
have dramatically changed…



Too many organizations
operate as if they’re



Not us.
We aspire to build a
lasting organization.



This document is
part manifesto and
part employee handbook.

It’s part who we are and part
who we aspire to be.
When something is still
aspirational (not yet true)
we’ll own up to it in this deck.



THE

CULTURE CODE TENETS
1. We solve for the customer.
2. We work to be remarkably transparent.
3. We favor autonomy & accountability.
4. We believe our best perk is amazing peers.
5. We lean towards long-term impact.



“Do work
that matters.”
GLORIA E. ANZALDÚA
scholar, author and feminist



HUBSPOT MISSION:

Help millions of
organizations
grow better.



To grow
better means
to grow
sustainably
over the
long term.

It means doing the
right thing for
your customers.
Even when it’s hard.
Especially
when it’s hard.



CRM

HubSpot provides a CRM
platform for scaling businesses.
It helps organizations market, sell
and service better.
We help organizations deliver a
delightful customer experience
their customers love.



Speaking of love, we’re passionate about
serving startups and scaleups.
Helping them grow better warms our heart.



We don’t just
build software.
We help
build careers.

CRM platform

Education and certifications

Connections to peers and
partners in the community



WE BELIEVE

Success is making
those who believed
in you look brilliant.
That’s why we SFTC.
What’s SFTC?
Glad you asked…



SFTC.

Solve for the Customer
We don’t want to satisfy them,
we want to help them
succeed.
Help them be superheroes.



For every important decision,
we ask ourselves:
WHAT’S IN IT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS?



We’re on the right path as long
as we sell to customers that we
EXPECT TO DELIGHT.
This is the key. Don’t sell to
customers we’re not justifiably
confident we can delight.



We are passionately
committed to our mission.
It’s why we exist.
We are also committed to our metrics.
It’s how we further our mission.



Mission

Helps us
earn the love
of many.

Metrics

Helps us earn
the resources
to make an
impact.



Mission and metrics both matter.
But to truly SFTC, we all need to be
empowered with the right information.
That’s why…



2

We work to be
remarkably
transparent.



Everyone has open access to
anyone in the company.
It’s not an open door policy.
It’s a no door policy.



WE SEEK THE
TRUTH AND FACE
THE FACTS.
No rose-colored glasses.



Power is gained by
sharing knowledge,
not hoarding it.



Want to know what’s
going on in the company?
We’re an open book.

WE SHARE (almost)
EVERYTHING
WITH EVERYONE.
That’s ~4,000 HubSpotters,
all over the globe.



We have the most active wiki
on the planet.*
Examples of things we share and discuss:
• Financials (forecasts, balance sheet, P&L, etc.)
• Our diversity goals (and shortcomings)
• Management meeting decks
• Answers from our “Ask Me Anything” sessions
*Unverified claim



WAIT. HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?
Isn’t HubSpot publicly traded?
Yes. We had our IPO in 2014 [NYSE:HUBS]
Usually, publicly traded companies can only share
detailed information with a select group of “insiders”.
This didn’t fit well with our culture. So…



We officially made
every employee at HubSpot
a designated insider.



This means everyone
has equal access to the same data.
This is important because…



Better data leads to better insights.
Better insights mean a better
understanding of customers.

WE L VE DATA.



Debates should be won
with better insights,
not bigger job titles.

(We don’t like pulling rank.)



“ One accurate
measurement is
worth a thousand
expert opinions.”
GRACE HOPPER.
Note: We have an events space in our
office named after Rear Admiral Hopper.



WE MEASURE

ALL THE
THINGS*
* Not quite all of them,
but a lot.

• Customer Happiness
• Employee Happiness
• Candidate Happiness
• General Happiness
OK, we don’t officially measure this, but
we do have a #dad-jokes channel in Slack.



Transparency ? Democracy
It’s about being open and
accepting of all input.
It's not about decisions by consensus.
We designate one person to
make a decision and sail the

.



Remarkable transparency helps us
make decisions and take ownership.
This is important because…



3

We favor
autonomy
and
accountability.



Amazing people
need autonomy to do
their best work.
AUTONOMY
REQUIRES TRUST.



Just because someone made a mistake years
ago doesn’t mean we need a policy or rule.

WE DON’T PENALIZE THE
MANY FOR THE MISTAKES
OF THE FEW.
We only protect against big stuff.



We don’t have pages
(and pages and pages)

of policies and
procedures.



Instead we have a 3-word policy on just about everything:

USE
GOOD
JUDGMENT.
Basically, do what’s best for the
company and our customers.



Social media policy.
Sick day policy.
Buy your team lunch policy.
End work early because you forgot it was your turn
to take your daughter to soccer practice… policy.
Our policy on all of these (and most other) things:

USE GOOD JUDGMENT.



Here’s the cheat sheet on good judgment:

customer > company > individual



company > individual
Don’t solve for your personal interests to the
detriment of the team.
We dislike selfishness
and are delighted by
“team-ishness”.



customer > company
When in doubt, favor solving for the
customer's interest over our own.
Solving for the customer's
interest is in our long-term
interest too.



RESULTS
MATTER
MOST
Are we having an impact?

Are we making meaningful progress towards
our mission?



Results matter
more than the
hours we work.
We think even hamsters get tired
of being on a hamster wheel.



Results matter
more than where
we produce them.

59



Results matter more than
how much vacation we take.
(HubSpot has unlimited vacation)



We believe that work
isn't a place we go,
it’s a thing we do.
Work is a verb, not a noun.
HubSpot’s hybrid approach gives us
the most flexibility. We like flexibility.



WAIT.
How do we foster our culture and preserve our
values when we’re not in the same building?



Our values live in our

not in our

HEARTS

HALLWAYS



For all this freedom and flexibility to work…



We need to make sure
our vectors are aligned.

That’s an overly geeky
way of saying we need to
all be pointed in the
same direction.



Align individual goals to team goals.
Align team goals to company goals.
Align company goals to our customer goals.

This last one
is critical.
SFTC!



Autonomy and accountability
aren't for everyone.
We need the right people.
This is also important because…



4

We believe
our best perk
is amazing
peers.



The best people don’t
just fit our culture,
they further it.



HubSpot is not a
utopian workplace.
We are not a perfect
match for everyone.
And not every amazing person
is a great match for us.



There are 5 traits
that we believe make
HubSpotters…well, HubSpotters.



Wait. Doesn’t being humble mean
lacking confidence?
No.
The very best people are
self-aware and self-critical,
not self-aggrandizing.



Humility isn’t about
thinking less of yourself.
It’s about thinking of yourself less.

h/t C.S. Lewis



When things go well,
humble people tend to
share the credit.
When things go poorly,
they tend to shoulder the
responsibility.



EMPATHETIC.
Goes beyond understanding
another person’s perspective.
Acts with compassion and respect
for customers, partners and colleagues.



ADAPTABLE.
Innately curious and constantly changing.
We like learn-it-alls, not know-it-alls.



REMARK?ABLE.
worthy of being remarked upon*

STANDS OUT BY BEING:

Remarkably different.
Remarkably resourceful.
Remarkably effective.
*h/t to Seth Godin



REMARKABLY
EFFECTIVE PEOPLE:
Are predisposed to action.
They just get stuff done.
Have a sense of ownership.
Focus on results and outcomes,
not roadblocks and obstacles.



TRANSPARENT.
Open and honest with others
and with themselves.



We admire people
with these traits.

Humble
Empathetic
Adaptable
Remarkable
Transparent



We admire people
with heart.

Humble
Empathetic
Adaptable
Remarkable

Yes, “heart” is a bit cheesy.
We’re a bit cheesy sometimes.

Transparent



We don’t just believe in these values,

WE BET ON THEM.
We recruit, reward and release
people based on these values.



EXAMPLE:

THE HEART AWARDS
Awarded to those who live these
values every day* and make us
proud to work at HubSpot.
*Well, mostly every day (we all have bad ones).



Compromising on culture
is mortgaging the future.
It’s reasonable to want to hire for skills and
experience when the need is painfully acute.
It’s reasonable. But, it’s also wrong.
The interest rate on culture debt is crushingly high.



We don’t hire
to delegate.

We hire
to elevate.

It’s tempting to bring in

It's best to bring in people

people who will take on

who challenge us to think

work we don't have

different and make

time for.

us better.



To think different we need to be different.
We cannot all be the same.



Our customers are
wonderfully different.

They live all over the world.
They speak many languages.
They have varied backgrounds.



We aspire to
build a company that
reflects the diversity
of our customers.



FOUNDERS’ CONFESSION

It’s an aspiration we
wish we had prioritized
a long time ago.
Like, when we first started the company.



The best time to
build with diversity:
time t=0

The next best time:
t=now()



Build teams
with a diverse
perspective.

Attract more
people with
diverse
perspectives.

Prioritizing diversity fuels our flywheel.
(Told you we love flywheels.)



The best people want to work on
the best teams.
The best teams are
diverse & inclusive teams.



“ Diversity is being
invited to the party;
inclusion is being
asked to dance.”
VERN? MYERS.
We work to not just be welcoming
but to ensure everyone feels included.



To do your best work,
you need to be able
to be your best self.



HOW DO WE RAISE THE AVERAGE?
One way is to attract amazing people.
Another is to uplift each other
and amplify our collective impact.
We strive to do both.



With great people comes
great responsibility.



We want to be as proud of the
people we grow as we are of
the company we grow.



We believe in
investing in
life-long learning.

