Core Values

Core values are the foundational principles that guide a company's behavior, decision-making, and cultural norms, ideally specific enough to inform actual decisions. The best ones look like "we deploy on Fridays" rather than "we value excellence," and they get used as criteria in hiring, performance reviews, conflict resolution, and strategic choices. Most companies state generic values (integrity, excellence, customer-focus, teamwork) that sound good but mean nothing in practice because every company claims them. The rare companies with useful core values state specific, sometimes uncomfortable, controversial principles that genuinely differentiate how they operate. It is one of the most-discussed and least-useful elements of company building when done poorly, and one of the highest-leverage elements when done well.

The difference between useless and useful core values:

Useless core values (generic, theatrical):

• "Integrity": every company claims this; no decision is changed by stating it.
• "Excellence": same.
• "Innovation": same.
• "Teamwork": same.
• "Customer focus": same.

These values are theater. They sound good in onboarding presentations and on the careers page but they don't guide any actual decision. When you'd fire someone for violating them, you'd fire them anyway (because they violated something more specific like "deceived a customer"). When you'd hire someone partly because they exemplify them, you'd hire them anyway (because they exemplify something more specific like "extraordinary engineering output"). The values are descriptive of universal good behavior, not differentiating.

Useful core values (specific, sometimes uncomfortable):

• "Memo culture" (Amazon): meetings start with 30 minutes of silent reading of a 6-page document. Specific, differentiating, observable.
• "Disagree and commit" (Amazon, also Netflix variant): once a decision is made, everyone executes even if they disagreed. Specific, conflict-shaping.
• "Strong opinions, loosely held" (various tech companies): express conviction but update when evidence changes. Specific, decision-shaping.
• "Customers don't care about your org chart" (Stripe-ish): solve customer problems regardless of internal coordination cost. Specific, behavior-shaping.
• "Move fast and break things" (early Facebook): explicitly prefer speed over safety. Specific, controversial, behavior-shaping.

The pattern of useful core values: specific to the company's situation, articulating a non-obvious choice (not "we value excellence" but "we prefer speed over consensus" or "we value customer outcomes over internal harmony"), and observable in actual behavior (you can tell if the company actually lives by them).

How to actually use core values:

• Hiring decisions: ask interview questions that test for the specific values. If "ownership" is a core value, ask candidates about times they took responsibility for outcomes beyond their formal role.
• Performance reviews: evaluate against the values explicitly. If "data-informed decisions" is a value, evaluate whether the person actually uses data.
• Conflict resolution: invoke the values to resolve disputes. "We said we'd prioritize customer outcomes, so the right answer here is the customer-facing one."
• Strategic choices: filter strategic options through the values. If "focus" is a value, the strategic choice that requires fewer simultaneous bets wins.

The honest test of core values: would you (a) reject a great candidate because they don't fit the values, (b) fire a high-performer because they violate the values, (c) turn down a strategic opportunity because it conflicts with the values? If the answer is no to all three, the values aren't actually values; they're aspirations or theater.

What founders get wrong: Picking generic core values that sound good but don't differentiate the company's behavior. The exercise feels meaningful at the time but the resulting values change no actual decisions and become wallpaper. The right discipline: pick 3-5 specific principles that actually differentiate how your company operates, articulate them in language distinct from generic startup-speak, and use them in hiring, firing, and strategic decisions. Test the values regularly: when was the last time they changed an actual decision? If never, they're not values.

Related: Company Culture · Mission Statement · Vision Statement · Founder · Hiring Plan

FAQ

What are core values?
The foundational principles that guide a company's behavior, decision-making, and cultural norms. Ideally specific enough to inform actual decisions (e.g., "we deploy on Fridays" rather than "we value excellence"). Used as criteria in hiring, performance reviews, conflict resolution, and strategic choices.

Why are most company core values useless?
Because they're generic (integrity, excellence, customer focus, teamwork) and don't differentiate behavior. Every company claims them; no decision is actually changed by stating them. Useful core values are specific to the company's situation, articulate a non-obvious choice, and are observable in actual behavior.

How do I write useful core values?
Pick 3-5 specific principles that genuinely differentiate how your company operates. Articulate them in language distinct from generic startup-speak ("memo culture" rather than "communication"). Use them in hiring, firing, and strategic decisions. Test regularly: when was the last time they changed an actual decision? If never, they're not values; they're theater.