Karen is the culture keeper and community builder of Atlanta Tech Village. Over the past 5 years, Karen has shaped ATV into America’s 4th largest tech hub. During that time, she’s supported companies like Rigor, IO Education, SalesLoft, Terminus, Calendly, and hundreds more to achieve greater success by connecting them to community, talent, and capital. On March 22, 2018 at the Simply SaaS Forum, powered by Atlanta Ventures, Karen shared her experience of building and creating community and culture at Atlanta Tech Village. She presented some of the key reasons why culture is important, and how to ensure that you embody your core values in everything you do. She also touched on finding the right founders that are potential members, and how to achieve culture buy-in from your entire team.

1. CULTUREYOUR STARTUP’S SECRET SAUCE

2. KAREN HOUGHTON
VICE PRESIDENT,
ATLANTA TECH VILLAGE

3. 4TH LARGEST TECH HUB
300 TECH STARTUPS
1000+ PEOPLE
RAISED $500 M+
CREATED 3,600+ JOBS
4TH LARGEST TECH HUB
300 TECH STARTUPS
1000+ PEOPLE
RAISED $500 M+
CREATED 3,600+ JOBS
THE NUMBERSTHE NUMBERS

4. OUR MISSION AND GOALSOUR MISSION AND GOALS

5. COMMUNITY + CULTURECOMMUNITY + CULTURE

6. of employees feel they don’t
have a strong work culture.
64%

7. vs companies with a
great culture is just
14%
48%
Turnover at companies
with a poor culture is

8. Peers and camaraderie are the
#1reason employees go the extra
mile, not money.

9. Companies with engaged employees
outperform those without them by
202%

10. THE NPS PROOF

11. THE CYCLE

12. THE NOT SO SECRET
SECRET
SAUCE

13. BE NICE. DREAM BIG.
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD.
PAY IT FORWARD.

14. CULTURE IS A SET OF
SHARED BELIEFS,
VALUES AND PRACTICES.

15. “THE ONLY SUSTAINABLE
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
THAT IS COMPLETELY IN
CONTROL OF THE
LEADERSHIP TEAM IS
CORPORATE CULTURE.”

16. NOT ABOUT THE
SPACE.

17. HOW DO YOU
CREATE CULTURE?

18. ONE
SPELL
IT
OUT

20. WRITE IT DOWN, LIVE IT OUT,
COMMUNICATE IT TO
YOUR TEAM.

21. TEAM VALUESTEAM VALUES

22. ASSUME THE BEST.
TREAT EACH OTHER LIKE FAMILY.
SWEEP THE FLOORS.

23. WHILE STAYING TRUE TO OUR CORE VALUES, WE
HAD A MORE DEFINED PURPOSE THAT WE
COLLECTIVELY CREATED TOGETHER.

24. TWO
HIRE FOR
CULTURE
FIT

25. “CULTURE IS TO RECRUITING AS
PRODUCT IS TO MARKETING.”
-HUBSPOT CULTURE DECK

27. YOU HAVE AN ALIGNED, MOTIVATED CULTURE AND
A POWERFUL WAY TO BUILD A GREAT COMPANY.

29. INTENTIONAL HIRING:
SKILL/CAPABILITY
EXPERIENCE
LIVING OUT VALUES
= CULTURE FIT

30. VILLAGE CULTURE FIT
IS THE RESULT OF A CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED
APPLICATION PROCESS THAT ATTRACTS THE RIGHT
KIND OF FOUNDERS.

31. THE
APPLICATION
PROCESS

33. IN IT TOGETHERIN IT TOGETHER

34. OUR BUSINESS MODEL IS SELLING
MEMBERSHIPS. A LOT OF THEM.

35. PROFITABILITY VS. COMMUNITY

36. 1. SPELLED OUR VALUES
2. RECRUITING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP.

37. THREEREPEAT,
REPEAT!

38. YOU HAVE
TO ACTUALLY
DO STUFF.

39. BE CONSISTENT.

40. RULE OF THUMB?
IF YOU AREN’T TIRED OF HEARING YOURSELF
SAY IT, YOU HAVEN’T SAID IT ENOUGH.

42. RELATIONSHIP BUILDERSRELATIONSHIP BUILDERS

43. WE WANT TO KNOW - WHAT IS LIFE LIKE AND HOW
CAN WE BETTER SUPPORT THEM?

44. RHYTHM OF CULTURE
MONDAY MEETING & LUNCH
QUARTERLY OUTINGS
VILLAGE-VERSARIES
CHEAT SHEETS

45. THE CHALLENGE

46. THE VILLAGE CULTURE IS A
NATURAL DERIVATIVE OF OUR
CORE VALUES.

47. CULTURE IS A LIVING,
BREATHING THING.

48. CONNECTION AS A GROUP,
AS A STARTUP FAMILY,
IS A POWERFUL THING.

49. TAKE THE TIME TO
1. CLARIFY WHAT YOU VALUE
2. GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE BOAT
3. CONFIDENTLY AND CONSISTENTLY STEER THEM IN
THE SAME DIRECTION

50. THE ENTREPRENEURS.
THE COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY THEY CREATE.
THE SUCCESSES OUR CULTURE CAN INSPIRE.