Food Matters: Building A Startup Office Culture One Meal At A Time

I once read a case about Tom Siebel that said that he required that every Siebel office in every city contain the same blue carpet and beige walls. Employees were required to dress formally for work every day. This was at the height of the dot-com "I wear shorts to work and play ping-pong all day" office culture. When people asked him why he was so strict while everybody else was allowed to have fun, he said something like "Employees come to work to make money. They can play on their own time." I read that and thought "this guy is fucking awesome." I think if culture is too lax, work suffers. A lot of people thought Siebel was a dick, but he and a lot of his employees came out very very rich while most of those dot-com's went bankrupt and their relaxed employees ended up looking for work.

That's why when I see people bragging about places like the Googleplex or Zynga's offices with awesome meals and pods to nap in, I think that their priorities are somewhat out of whack. All that said, everybody is different. Some people love their jobs and don't mind intertwining work and play. To each his own.

But beyond the personal appeal, the negatively-charged comments really surprise me. People make the same argument against being very close with the people they live with--they're not looking to be best buddies with their roommates. And that's their prerogative and a totally valid choice! But plenty of people do choose to be really friendly with their housemates, and it works well for them.

By the same token, how can we definitively say that Ridejoy's strong culture is bad? Maybe it wouldn't work for you, but I'm sure you can imagine people who would get a lot out of it. After all, the 9-5 with people whose relationship with you is purely professional is something of an historical aberration. So why get huffy about something individuals are choosing to do because they believe it creates a better work environment?

Instead, let a thousand flowers bloom and try to figure out if there's anything you can learn from all of them, both the successes and the failures.

Based on the comments, I was expecting the blog to describe how Ridejoy is morphing itself into a communist slow food cult. After reading the much more benign article, I want to offer a counterpoint.

The team at Ridejoy is in a unique position where the kind of shared meals Camille is describing feels like the right course for them. They're obviously all extremely impassioned and open-minded. All young. Should they do anything else besides what seems to work for them in their current circumstances? Or what seems to feel like the right direction to take things while creating their culture?

I say go for it. Take the risk. Break the mold and make the experiment. If it doesn't scale later on, worry about it then. If somebody falls in love and wants to dine with their sweetheart more often than not, BFD. Ridejoy hardly seems like a fascist bureaucracy in the making that would be unable to cope with such emergent circumstances. "Happiness Manager" would be a frightful title in a larger organization (admittedly it sounds a bit like something out of Orwell or Edward Bellamy), but in a this case it pays to remember that Camille's previous title was "Office Hero". There's a lot more playfulness in this group of folks than some commenters here may realize.

Further, there is no bloody way the straight-jacketed corporate culture described in some of the commentary here could ever make a product like Ridejoy's work. If you want to scale, sure, go ahead and codify your blue carpets and ties. Fill your branch offices with clones and drones.

But if you want to originate, especially something that is not only technologically but socially challenging, put down your copy of "Dress for Success" and let the spirit of non-conformity and play into the workplace. Conformity in environment and clothing only begets conformity in the mind. Playfulness in spirit does not equal slacking off in productivity, but it can often mean leaps in inspiration.

Fundamentally, Ridejoy is in the business of promoting sharing, trust, and community. It makes perfect sense that they make the experience of sharing a pillar of their company culture. Immersing themselves in that ethos, being able to feel-out and experience all of its facets, benefits, and pitfalls can only be an advantage to this kind of 'collaborative consumption' startup.

That said, a caveat:

I'd beware that so many shared meals might not appeal to more introverted folks. (And maybe that's partially why this article struck such a nerve.) The Ridejoy team has some powerfully extroverted personalities, but the culture needs to be founded in such a way that it appeals to all types. This is especially important as the team grows into "18% gratuity added" territory, as introverted folks are going to feel the need for more social space and shelter in proportion to the number of people. People may want to opt out of the convivium, and that needs to be understood, respected, and above all not belittled or derided. Hell, celebrate it by sharing a toast with the folks about to go home. Seriously.

Also, I would suggest that meals are served at a consistent and fairly early dinner time. This will allow people with outside evening commitments to plan. And for folks heading home, how much more enjoyable is a commute on a nourished stomach, and how much more productive one's evening??

DISCLOSURE: I don't know any of the folks at Ridejoy, I haven't yet used their service, and I'm over 30. But as someone with a frightfully high metabolism and frequent eating schedule, a healthily food-centric company culture sounds unbelievably awesome. Even if it means finally socializing that ole inner rugged individualist.

Our little story of AdMob is this:

There's this Teriyaki take out place at downtown San Mateo. We affectionately call it the "Cornerteri" since it locate at the corner of 4th and San Mateo Dr. Ask any x-AdMob about Cornerteri and they'll know about this place... That's how you build a company culture.

If your employees are a bunch of single college-aged people who are already friends with one another, by all means eat together, play together, sleep together, do whatever else you want to do together.

If your employees have their own families and social circles outside of work to care about, let them leave at 5:01.

As usual, the important thing is to adapt to the needs of your people. When some of your employees get married, have kids, etc., you'll have to adapt accordingly. Problems arise when you refuse to adapt and try to impose the same culture on everyone. As long as you remember not to do that, I don't see any issues here.

Our startup is more likely to go to the range after meetings or with customers, and hit up a steakhouse or sushi bar. Or maybe order a grass fed wagyu cow or berkshire pig and consume 10-15 pounds a week each :)

It's nice that the startup ecosystem supports diversity.

LOL no. I have a family. I don't need a second one. I also have friends. I don't need a second set of friends either. Pay your employees fairly and treat them to a weekly team lunch at a good restaurant.

Also fancy dinners when something really awesome gets accomplished.

This is what 99% of people want - people with their own lives and tastes and preferences and schedules and social obligations.

Also, the implication of a Happiness Manager is that you're working to satisfy their happiness requirements. This is so misguided it's not even funny.