Topic
Culture
Every resource in the archive tagged with culture.
24 resources
EssayDon't Fuck Up the Culture
Brian Chesky
Apr 2014 · 3 min read
Why culture matters more than anything else — the letter Chesky sent the entire Airbnb team in 2013.
EssayGuide to Big Companies: Retaining great people
Marc Andreessen
Jul 2007 · 12 min read
How big companies lose their best people, and what it takes to keep them.
EssayCEOs Should Tell It Like It Is
Ben Horowitz
Jul 2010 · 11 min read
CEOs who hide bad news destroy trust and prevent their best people from solving hard problems.
EssayMaking Yourself a CEO
Ben Horowitz
Oct 2012 · 12 min read
Being a CEO requires mastering unnatural skills, especially the foundational practice of giving honest, authentic feedback.
EssayEmployee Retention
Sam Altman
5 min read
Why keeping early employees matters more than hiring them, and three strategies that actually work.
EssayHow to Hire
Sam Altman
12 min read
Hiring is the most important thing a founder does; spend a third to half your time doing it well.
VideoJony Ive recounts the time Steve Jobs called him vain
Jony Ive
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
Caring what people think of you masks vanity; the work matters more than your reputation.
VideoMark Zuckerberg: “You can’t 80/20 everything”
Mark Zuckerberg
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
Why some problems demand 100% of the work — you can't 80/20 everything.
VideoJeff Bezos’s two pieces of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
Jeff Bezos
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
Why entrepreneurs shouldn't chase the hot thing — position for the wave, then wait.
EssayWhy Startups Should Train Their People
Ben Horowitz
May 2010 · 10 min read
Training your employees is one of the highest-leverage activities you can perform as a manager.
EssayHow to Minimize Politics in Your Company
Ben Horowitz
Aug 2010 · 15 min read
Even self-proclaimed apolitical CEOs encourage political behavior in their companies.
EssayA Good Place to Work
Ben Horowitz
Aug 2012 · 12 min read
Good companies survive crises because employees stay when they like their work, making culture an end in itself.
EssayPeacetime CEO / Wartime CEO
Ben Horowitz
Apr 2011 · 11 min read
In peacetime, it’s all about growth.
Letter2020 Letter to Shareholders — Farewell
Jeff Bezos
Apr 2021 · 25 min read
Real value creation is measured by wealth generated for all stakeholders—not just shareholders—and innovation is the root of it all.
Letter2018 Letter to Shareholders
Jeff Bezos
Apr 2019 · 18 min read
Bezos arguing that risk-taking, not just revenue, must scale with company size.
Letter2016 Letter to Shareholders — Day 1
Jeff Bezos
Apr 2017 · 8 min read
Four practices to prevent organizational stagnation: customer obsession, rejecting proxies, embracing trends, and fast decision-making.
EssayHow to Hire the Best People You've Ever Worked With
Marc Andreessen
Jun 2007 · 12 min read
Drive, curiosity, and ethics matter more than raw intelligence when hiring the best people for a startup.
EssayGuide to Startups, Part 6: How much funding is too little? Too much?
Marc Andreessen
Jul 2007 · 9 min read
How much funding a startup should raise: enough to reach product/market fit or full exploitation, with a buffer for setbacks.
EssayHow You Know
Paul Graham
May 2003 · 25 min read
Why startups beat incumbents in design wars: design-by-committee deliberately trades away upside to avoid downside.
EssayWhy It's Safe for Founders to Be Nice
Paul Graham
Apr 2004 · 9 min read
Hackers' disobedience and rule-breaking are essential to their brilliance, not flaws to suppress.
EssayMean People Fail
Paul Graham
Nov 2014 · 5 min read
Meanness correlates with startup failure because it costs you talent and prevents the transcendent thinking startups require.
EssayCities and Ambition
Paul Graham
May 2008 · 16 min read
Where you live shapes your ambition more than you'd expect—each city broadcasts what to want.
EssayHow to Start a Startup
Paul Graham
Mar 2005 · 43 min read
Three things determine whether a startup succeeds: good people, a product customers want, and spending little money.
EssayGuide to Startups, Part 1: Why not to do a startup
Marc Andreessen
Jun 2007 · 10 min read
The emotional, logistical, and interpersonal reasons why starting a company is much harder than most people realize.