The Mitochondria in Startups

I believe all employees in a startup are on a spectrum between two poles:

The biggest mistake I’ve seen startups make is using the same comp scale for these two classes of employees. Comp levels are a rational structure to overlay on an irrational commitment and impact. Companies that don’t break bands will undervalue the energy-giving impact the mitochondrial employees have, which will ultimately challenge their ability... See more

On one side, there are employees who think of the company like a job. They come in, they work hard, and they do their job. They are rational actors, and the value they add to the company, while valuable, scales linearly.

The values of a company should be a blueprint for how to be successful in that company; the canon for how the team behaves and makes decisions. As I mentioned earlier, mitochondria aren’t just good at what they do — they best embody a company’s values. That's why you can’t just interview for competence. You need to interview for values.

Who are the mitochondria in your company? Make that list. Invest in your relationships with these people, and in the people themselves.

That said, this is a mindset you want to encourage in all employees. One way to do this is emphasize values or impact outside of your job description as part of the performance review process. The importance is emphasizing something bigger than the individual, particularly in the most critical stages as a company scales from a few dozen people, to ... See more

Then there is the other side of the spectrum. This group has a different DNA – they act more like founders than employees. They pour their passion into the company because they believe in its mission, and it is how they operate. They add value to the company beyond their job description and responsibilities. They ask and do what is best for the com... See more

Interviewing for values doesn’t guarantee you’ll hire mitochondria. But if you don’t interview for values nor communicate the importance of your values during the interview process, your hiring process is suboptimal at best. Just like actual mitochondria, mitochondria employees won’t scale directly to total employees if you don’t make efforts to re... See more