The document discusses scaling company culture. It begins by introducing Jeff Lawson from Twilio and noting dates from January 2010 to February 2012. It then discusses how Twilio defined its values in 2010 as Continuous Improvement, Detail Oriented, Learners, Humble, Hungry. Culture is described as living values, which are observed through rituals, heroes, and symbols. Several examples of Twilio rituals are provided, like new employees building an app and getting "knighted". The document outlines Twilio's 9 core values and describes how they are represented through symbols like track jackets. It concludes by quoting that a company's value is driven by its values.

1. Scaling
Company
Culture
Jeff Lawson
@jeffiel
twilio.com

2. January 10
August 11
February 12

3. Jan ’10 “Values”
Continuous Improvement
Detail Oriented
Learners
Humble
Hungry
Spirit of Challenge

4. What is culture?
What are values?
What’s the difference?

5. People
Product
Process

6. Culture is
living values.

7. Values are observed in three tangible ways:
Rituals
Heroes
Symbols

8. Rituals
New Employees Build a Twilio App in their first 2 weeks
Answer 20 support tickets
Attend 7 “Twilio 101” Sessions
Present their app and get “knighted”
Get a “Buddy” to show them the ropes
New Engineers Deploy code their first day
(Add their name to the website)

9. Rituals
Monday, 10:30 AM All Hands (w/ Bagels)
Read some recent tweets
Introduce new Employees
Learn their Names
All Hands Appreciation
All Hands Q&A
Monday, Noon Company Lunch, Meet new People
Wednesday, 6PM Company Dinner
New Employee Demo their Twilio App
Track Jackets & Kindle “Knighting”
Spin the Birthday Wheel of Fate
Thursday, Noon Lunch w/ Tech Talk for continued
learning
Friday, Noon End of Sprint Demos
Photoshop Friday

10. Heroes

11. Symbols
Our 9 Things

12. Live The Spirit of Challenge
✤
Tackle hard problems. If our ambitions aren’t
terrifying, we aren’t pushing ourselves
enough.

13. Empower Others
✤
We’re here to unleash the greatness of
others, inside and outside the company.

14. Start with Why
✤
Start by understanding why customers will
care. Use data to challenge assumptions.

15. Create Experiences
✤
Every interaction with Twilio should inspire
confidence and admiration.

16. No Shenanigans
✤
Be thoughtful. Always deal in an honest,
direct and transparent way.

17. Be Humble
✤
Everybody has something to learn, so seek
first to understand, then be understood.

18. Think at Scale
✤
Anticipate where we’re going and invest in
systems that provide a consistent customer
experience as we grow.

19. Draw the Owl
✤
There’s no instruction book, it’s ours to draw.
Figure it out, ship it and iterate.

20. Draw the Owl
✤
There’s no instruction book, it’s ours to draw.
Figure it out, ship it and iterate.

21. Be Frugal
✤
Profit is the engine that lets us achieve our
goals. If we do more with less, we can do
more.

22. Live The Spirit of Challenge
Our 9 Things Empower Others
Start with Why
Create Experiences
No Shenanigans
Be Humble
Think at Scale
Draw the Owl
Be Frugal

24. “How did we get here? The firm
changed the way it thought about
leadership. Leadership used to be
about ideas, setting an example and
doing the right thing. Today, if you
make enough money for the firm,
you will be promoted into a position
of influence.”

25. "The value of your
company is driven
by your company’s
values."
Howard Schultz, Starbucks

26. Scaling
Company
Culture
Jeff Lawson
@jeffiel
twilio.com