On Culture

Say "Yes" First

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Richard Branson said "say yes – then learn how to do it later!"

This idea of venturing into the unknown and exploring how an idea can work, not why it won't work is one of our core values at Within Health.

The biggest rewards tend to emerge when you take a risk and do hard work, not when your initial reaction is to reject.

(Also, life is a lot more fun when you say yes!)

Company values are just words on a wall (or in Notion) unless founders and senior leaders practice what they preach.

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Defining a set of values and displaying them in the workplace is not enough. To truly live by those values, founders and senior leaders must practice what they preach.

When leaders embody their values, it fosters a culture of integrity and trust, resulting in happier and engaged employees, and a positive impact on the bottom line. Conversely, when leaders fail to live up to their values, it can have disastrous consequences for the organization.

It's easy to talk the talk, but much harder to walk the walk.

Work from home can kill a startup if the right balance is not found.

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Those who know me know I am a fan of a hybrid work environment. Extended work from home can hurt your startup in 2 critical areas:

1) Creativity / innovation: When team members work remotely, it can be more challenging to collaborate and exchange ideas in real-time. This can hurt team creativity, and slow down the innovation process.

2) Company culture: Startups often have a unique company culture that helps to motivate and unite employees around a shared vision. When team members work remotely, it can be more challenging to create and maintain this culture, which can lead to lower employee engagement and higher turnover.

It's ok to set boundaries. They key is to over-communicate.

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As a startup founder, there is no 9-5 workday.

Your startup will consume you and boundaries can get hazy.

It's ok to set boundaries.

There will likely be some pushback initially when you start practicing boundaries, but make sure you over-communicate.

Not communicating transparently breaks down co-founder relationships and precipitates to the rest of the team.