Culture and Growth for B2B SaaS Companies

Marketing Strategy

We are often part of the post-transaction frenzy that is inevitable at newly-funded companies.  Leaders, striving to realize the synergies and efficiencies highlighted in the investment decks, focus on things like finalizing budgets, briefing the board, filling open executive positions, etc. The focus on progress and action often comes at the expense of addressing one of the most critical factors of post-transaction success – culture.  With M&A activity at record levels, we wanted to take a minute to share our thoughts on culture and growth.

 You’ve likely heard the saying “culture will eat strategy for breakfast” but another perspective is that the right culture can empower an organization to be agile, supporting many different paths forward.

Despite knowing this, many leaders will never address culture successfully.  Why?  It’s hard to do and takes significant time and resources (which could be directed at higher priority initiatives).

But here’s the interesting thing about culture – it will develop with or without leadership involvement.  As Ben Horowitz, founder and leader of LoudCloud, a pioneer in SaaS, put it, “If you don’t methodically set your culture, then two-thirds of it will end up being accidental, and the rest will be a mistake.”  And trying to change ingrained culture once it becomes an impediment to growth is much, much harder to do, and in some cases, impossible.

Bottom line – investing the time upfront to intentionally build and shape a growth-oriented culture is critical to an organization’s success post-transaction.  While there are no “hacks” or shortcuts when it comes to culture, there are 3 simple things you can do to maximize success: 

  1. Start at the top:  It is essential for CEOs to convey a sense of urgency, interest,  and passion around culture while also gaining buy-in to prioritize it from all the other leaders. 
  2. Position it right:  It must be clear to employees at all levels that building the right culture is essential to growth goals.  It is a need-to-have – bad culture will eat strategy for breakfast; but a strong culture opens up limitless opportunities and possibilities for the organization’s path forward. 
  3. Ask for help:  Addressing culture from the inside often requires experts and insights from the outside.  Don’t hesitate to engage an external agency or consultant that specializes in this stuff to help you manage the process.   

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