How to Build a Culture That Scales: Org Design > Company Values

How to Build a Culture That Scales: Org Design > Company Values

‍

The uncomfortable truth every tech founder and leader has to accept is that culture doesn’t scale just because you say it will using a series of descriptive words. 

‍

I’ll happily admit that values can be extremely beneficial to start-up and scale-up culture. Though, I dread to think how many hours leadership teams have spent deliberating and debating their company values. 

‍

Values can guide employees (especially new hires) in the ways of working within the company and influence a team’s culture… But, they’re not powerful or foundational enough to save the business from going under or structure exponential growth. 

‍

Most culture growing pains we see come down to something far more practical: Misalignment around roles, responsibilities and communication. 

‍

The culture illusion: When values mask dysfunction

‍

Values are often used as a shield. We see leadership teams lean on shared values as a shortcut to alignment, hoping they’ll somehow smooth over deeper structural issues. But when you're scaling, especially across international markets, your talent strategy for scale-ups needs more than words and good vibes.

‍

A few signs your culture isn’t scaling with you:

‍

• There’s constant confusion around decision ownership.
• Internal comms are reactive, not proactive.
• Different execs are selling different visions of the business.
• People are being hired for jobs that don’t really exist yet.
• You’re expanding into new regions without clear local leadership models.

‍

In short: your team’s ability to operate, communicate, and deliver at speed is breaking down and your values aren’t going to fix that.

‍

Values ≠ Capability

‍

One founder recently told us: “We’ve got amazing people but the wheels are coming off.” They’d hired fast, expanded internationally, and were now seeing misfires between teams, duplicated efforts, and missed deadlines.

‍

The issue wasn’t bad intent. It just had a poor structure and lack of clarity. They’d skipped the hard part: matching people’s actual skills to the company’s real growth goals.

‍

That’s where our Capability Review comes in: a structured way to assess whether your team has the right leadership, communication loops, and operational design to scale. We provide clear visibility and an outsider’s perspective on what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to change.

‍

Culture is built in your systems, not just your slogans

‍

As you grow, team structure for international expansion becomes one of your most important cultural levers. Do you know who owns the customer experience in new markets? Who sets the tone for local teams? What processes exist for feedback, collaboration, and accountability?

‍

Great culture doesn’t emerge from the values slide in your Series B deck. It lives in how decisions get made, how people work together, and whether your structure supports or stifles execution.

‍

3 ways to build a culture that scales (starting today)

‍‍

1. Audit your org design for scale

‍
Look at your current team structure and ask: does this setup support our next stage of growth? Where are the overlaps, gaps, or unclear responsibilities?

2. Check for capability–role mismatch

‍
Be brutally honest: are the right people in the right roles? Growth exposes skill gaps fast. Map your leadership team’s strengths against your strategic objectives, not just their titles.

3. Clarify decision rights and communication flows

‍
Who owns what? How does information move through the business? If your team doesn’t know, neither do you. Define clear roles, expectations, and escalation paths and write them down.

Culture is more than just nice words on a page and inside a deck. It’s how you operate as a company and a team. And if you're serious about scaling, it’s time to go beyond values and get real about capability, structure, and alignment.

‍

Because growth doesn't break your culture, your structure does.

‍

Ready to pressure test your team’s ability to scale?

Explore our Capability Review — a signature workshop providing insights of where your team stands and what you need to fix before it slows you down.

‍