The Key to Unlocking Employee Loyalty & Building a Strong Culture

Successful companies tend to show up on those kind of happy employees list because they have the resources. They can kind of do the things that are necessary. How do you do that when resources are limited, when going through dark times, possible layoffs? And my answer to this is like real culture is not about ping pong tables and beer Fridays and things like that. It's about these kind of core kind of first principles kind of stuff. HubSpot's my third startup, and I've lived through layoffs. I've lived through company shutdowns, a lot of different things. And one thing I've realized when you have the right people on board and you're transparent with them, they will cut you a lot of slack. Like I've had people volunteer to take pay cuts because like Dharmesh, I know we're not going to be able to meet pay. I love this company. I love what we're doing. I'll go to 50% salary. And that happens. Like, people are willing to live through the pain as long as you're honest with them.