3 Learnings for Founders about Building Company Culture

The Whole Truth Foods founder & CEO Shashank Mehta’s conviction in his company’s mission is one of a kind. There is rarely a founder with the twin faculties of clarity in his vision of the positive difference he wants to make in society, and the nous to inspire people around him to help make it happen. As the business at The Whole Truth scales up, Shashank and the Whole Truth team are building a distinct brand identity that keeps the founder’s purpose front and center, with a focus on fostering a strong team culture, from the boardroom to the factory floor to deliver on this.

Here are three vital learnings from an unmissable episode of Matrix Moments where Shashank talks to Matrix' very own, Vikram Vaidyanathan about how they're building a great company culture.

1. Culture is how you get from where you are, to where you want to be as a company. To build great company culture, it's not enough to simply wordsmith the company values. While these words offer a great sense of where companies want to be, Founders must begin at where they are, and bring their teams along the journey to building a great culture.  

2. For brands, pain is the proof of purpose. Committing to a brand purpose requires sacrifices on the business front. To engender true purpose, and trust from consumers, brands must endure pain. Shashank gives a great example of how they've stayed away from adding even a drop of preservatives to their protein bars, even though this results in 10X higher returns from retail for The Whole Truth vs. their nearest competitor. The pain on the business front helps build the brand better by creating trust within the team and with the consumer.

3. When hiring: Culture fitment is more important speed. Vikram & Shashank agree on a simple hiring rule - between two candidates - one who is at the 85th percentile, but a great culture fit, and one who is at the 100th percentile but iff: hire for the right culture fit. Teams compound their output over time, and having the 85th percentile candidate around for 4 years will yield better results than having the 100th percentile candidate around for 2 years.

All these nuggets of wisdom from a founder who has successfully built a solid company culture and a purpose led brand. Watch this unmissable episode of Matrix Moments and get inspired by how The Whole Truth's factory floor is managed by women, and how Shashank's team has imbibed the founder's purpose more deeply than him!