When scaling a business, culture often becomes collateral damage to rapid growth. But Draven McConville, a startup founder and investor who recently sold his software company Klipboard, demonstrates how transparency and trust can actually accelerate sustainable growth rather than hinder it.
"Culture isn't just about having values on the wall," Draven says. "It's about making decisions that reflect those values, especially when under pressure to scale quickly." This philosophy helped shape Klipboard's growth from startup to successful exit, proving that maintaining culture through growth isn't just possible, but crucial for sustainable success.
Transparency in Practice
Most companies talk about transparency, but few practice it meaningfully during rapid growth.
At Klipboard, transparency meant the CEO regularly joined sales calls without revealing his position. This practice wasn't about monitoring performance; it was about maintaining direct connection with customers and understanding front-line challenges.
"I don't care if you make mistakes," he told his team. "I care if you don't tell me about them and what you've learned." This approach created an environment where problems were surfaced early and solved collectively, rather than hidden until they became crises.
The Trust Paradox
One of the biggest challenges in scaling is maintaining trust while growing the team. McConville's approach was a challenge to conventional business wisdom.
Instead of creating more processes and layers as the company grew, Klipboard focused on increasing direct access to decision-makers. This seemingly counterintuitive approach actually reduced the overhead of management and accelerated decision-making.
Cultural Integration in Hiring
The pressure to grow quickly often leads companies to compromise on cultural fit during hiring. Klipboard took a different approach.
Rather than treating culture as a secondary consideration, it was a central component of their hiring process. This meant sometimes leaving positions open longer than comfortable, but it paid dividends in team cohesion and reduced turnover.
Draven had a unique take on maintaining the quality of hires during rapid growth. "When you're scaling fast, there's pressure to fill seats quickly. But compromising on cultural fit creates bigger problems down the line. One wrong hire can undo months of culture building."
Scaling Communication Effectively
As Klipboard grew, maintaining clear communication became more challenging. Rather than relying on traditional hierarchical communication channels, they developed a hybrid approach. Regular all-hands meetings were combined with direct access to leadership, ensuring important information didn't get lost in translation.
The company also maintained what McConville calls "open feedback loops" — regular opportunities for team members at all levels to provide input on company direction and operations. This wasn't just about having an open-door policy; it was about actively seeking out and acting on feedback from throughout the organization.
The Business Case for Culture
While many see culture as a “soft” element of business, Klipboard's experience showed how culture was directly correlated with business performance. Strong culture translated into higher customer retention rates, more effective problem-solving, and faster innovation cycles.
"We found that transparency and trust weren't just nice-to-haves. They were crucial drivers of our growth. When team members trust each other and feel trusted, they make better decisions faster."
Navigating Cultural Evolution
As businesses scale, some evolution of culture is inevitable. The key is distinguishing between necessary evolution and unwanted dilution.
In the case of Klipboard, this meant regularly revisiting and reinforcing core values while allowing implementation to evolve with the company's growth.
The company maintained what McConville refers to as "cultural anchors" — a set of fundamental principles that remained constant even as the organisation grew. These anchors provided stability during periods of rapid change and helped new team members understand what the company truly valued.
"The best way to scale culture," he says, "is to make it part of your growth strategy, not an afterthought. Every decision about growth should include consideration of its cultural impact. When you get this right, culture becomes a growth accelerator rather than a growth constraint."
