Drift's Culture: What We Celebrate and What We Don't Tolerate

Hi all-

It's been almost six years since we founded Drift, and during that time we've experienced the highs and lows of hypergrowth. We’ve grown to 400 people and counting. And we’ve gone digital first. But through all of this growth and change, there have been five pillars guiding our culture. And that’s what I’m going to talk about today. 

When we founded Drift, we set out to build an enduring company – one that could be a role model for a new type of corporate environment.

Achieving this goal requires having the best team in place, and that means we need to be explicit about what we celebrate and what we don't tolerate. 

Put simply, Drift is not for everyone. People don't want to hear that. They want to hear about how we make it for everybody. But the truth is, no organization can be for everyone. No societal group can be for everyone. And that’s okay. They're going to be for a certain type of individual who may find themselves attracted to that team, that approach, that organization, that group.

We shouldn’t hide from this fact. But we do need to be explicit about it. So here, I’m sharing the five pillars that shape Drift’s culture. 

1. Drift’s Leadership Principles

Our Leadership Principles were defined very early in our history – before we reached 50 employees. And we've used them in our hiring and training ever since. They help us guide promotions and how we talk about performance. And they’re central to everything we do. These Principles are:

1. Put the customer at the center of everything you do
2. Create a culture of respect and trust
3. Practice extreme ownership
4. Have a bias for action and deliver daily results
5. Seek feedback, not consensus
6. Push for high standards
7. Stay scrappy
8. Be a curious learning machine

Our Leadership Principles are the guardrails that help keep us on the road and lay the foundation for every aspect of our culture. 

You can read more about each of these Leadership Principles here.

2. High Performance

At Drift, we believe the way to become the best is by hiring the best – not just because you're hiring better people, but because you're leveling yourself and your team up each time you do. 

Which is why we gave every Drift employee Reed Hasting’s and Erin Meyer’s new book on Netflix’s culture: No Rules Rules. In it, Reed says:

"The best office perk is working with people you respect and can learn from every day. We are a team, not a family. We're like a pro sports team, and it's not a kids' recreational team. If we're going to be a championship team, then we want the best performer possible in every position. Team members are playing a stay on the team with every game. For people who value job security over winning championships, Netflix is not the right choice, and we try to be clear and nonjudgmental about that. But for those who value being on winning teams, our culture provides a great opportunity. Like any team successfully competing at the highest level, we'll form deep relationships and care about each other."

And this mentality is equally important for individuals to be successful at Drift. You’ve got to earn your spot every month, every quarter, every year, and that means you've got to invest in yourself. You have to learn as much as possible and challenge yourself to do things you might not have done in a prior role.

3. Owning Your Career 

At Drift we believe in hiring adults. We define being a responsible adult this way: 

• You're self-motivated. 
• You act like a leader.
• You don't wait to be told what to do. 
• You dive right in and are willing to roll up your sleeves. 
• You carry the water and never think, “it's not my job.”

We emphasize owning your career. And this means that a career isn't always linear. It can move across departments and across teams. As an individual, you have to drive your own career – don't expect your manager to do it for you.

4. Rituals

We have three main rituals at Drift. They help us kick off and bookend the week together and help us come together as a team even when we can’t all be together. And these rituals have become increasingly important as we’ve made the move to digital first.

Every Monday we kickstart the week with Monday Metrics, and then we finish the week with Friday Show & Tell. 

Monday Metrics is 20 minutes. It's led by our VP of Operations, Will Collins. He's the metrics guru. And a leader from each part of the organization tells the team what’s on their radar for the week ahead. Because of Monday Metrics, there's no excuse for anyone across the organization, regardless of position, to not have a high-level understanding of the metrics of our company.

Friday Show & Tell is my favorite Drift ritual. One person from each department talks about something they shipped that week, a problem they worked on, something they were challenged with, or how they offered a solution – all in service to our customers. And then there's a CTA for the entire company. The Zoom chat goes crazy. We vote on a winner and they take home the Golden Mic for that week.

And lastly, we have all-company meetings. In the past, we’ve flown every Drift employee out to Boston to meet in person. This is no longer possible. But the meetings are no less important so we’ve done everything we can to bring the same production value and energy to these virtual events. If anything, they’ve become more valuable. 

These three rituals are incredibly important, and we've doubled down on them moving to digital first. I think they've actually become better as a result. In general, we’ve had to invest more in internal communications because we don’t see each other in the office. You have to work harder to create a culture and build energy remotely, but the work over the last year-plus has been well worth it. 

5. Equity 

Finally, the last pillar of the Drift culture is equity. Drift is part of the just 2% of the VC-backed companies led by LatinX founders and we take that responsibility seriously. This idea really pushed us towards becoming a digital-first company. We wanted everyone to be on a level playing field, and for no one to feel like a second class citizen because they didn’t live in a certain city or couldn’t come into the office every day. 

So, if you liked what you read here and you’re curious, you're determined, you're a creator and a problem solver, then Drift is for you. We’re hiring. You can see open positions and learn more at drift.com/careers. 

-DC

P.S. I talk more about Drift’s culture with our Chief People Officer, Dena Upton, in the latest episode of Seeking Wisdom. You can tune in here.