The culture at Valve is pretty much crowdsourced. The handbook is a wiki. One of the first things we say to new hires is, 'You have to change something in the handbook.'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
About half the people at Valve have run their own companies, so they always have the option not just to take a job at another game company, but to go start their own company. The question you always have to answer is, 'How are we making these people more valuable than they would be elsewhere?'
Startups need to focus on building a foundation for their company culture early, and then they need to revisit it often. Every time a hire is made, a feature is launched, a Facebook status is updated, a press interview is given, a round of financing is raised, or a meeting is held, culture should be part of the decision-making process.
If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.
Part of company culture is path-dependent - it's the lessons you learn along the way.
Writing a book is usually a full-time job that takes years. I didn't have years. So I decided to crowdsource content for the book.
Unfortunately, as you hire more people, the casual, informal 'do what it takes' culture, which worked so well at less than 40 people, becomes chaotic and less effective.
I'd been at Valve since I got out of college. I felt like I kind of grew up there, and I wanted to see what else was out in the world. One of the owners of Airtight Games is a friend of mine, and he asked if I would run a team there. It just sounded like a great opportunity.
We have to hire, retain, and develop the best staff.
Whether that's in communications or marketing or strategy, you need people to come in with a fresh perspective.
We create a standard for how we want to do things, and everybody's got to buy into that standard or you really can't have any team chemistry.