The Culture Playbook: A Founder’s Guide to Designing and Scaling an Enduring Organisation

Insights from The Product Space conversations with Vishwanath Surendiran (Steam-A) & Abhishek Paul (Kissflow)

Photo by Kit (formerly ConvertKit) on Unsplash

Introduction: The Two Halves of Culture

Building a great company culture is a two-act play. Act I is about laying the foundation — the intentional, often gut-driven process of defining who you are and how you will operate. Act II is about building the engine to scale that culture, ensuring the “soul” of the company doesn’t become a casualty of its own success.

By combining the lessons from Vishwanath Surendiran, who masterfully architected Act I at Steam-A, and Abhishek Paul, who serves as the “Shepherd” for Act II at Kissflow, we can create a holistic playbook for leaders at any stage of their journey.

Part 1: The Foundation — Designing Your Culture from Day Zero

(Based on “Design is the Strategy” with Vishwanath Surendiran)

The core principle of this phase is that culture is not a byproduct of success; it is a prerequisite for it. It must be designed with the same rigour as a product, ideally before the first line of code is written or the first customer is signed.

Step 1: Create Intentional “Thinking Time”

Before diving into the “what” of the business, dedicate significant, uninterrupted time to defining the “how.”

Be Intentional: Vishwanath took several months to travel and disconnect from daily pressures, using that time to debate and document their core principles. This foundational “downtime” was their most critical work, allowing them to make conscious, mindful choices.
Key Output: The goal is to produce a Culture Handbook or Canvas that defines your purpose, values, decision-making processes, and rituals before the pressures of execution begin.

Step 2: Define and Hire Your “Ideal Professional”

Your brand promise is your people. Define the specific qualities you value above all else and tailor your hiring process to reflect them.

The STEAM-A Principle: Vishwanath identified that his best colleagues were “technologist-artists” — skilled professionals who also had a passion for the arts. This led to the STEAM-A (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, and A-Team) philosophy, which became the cornerstone of their hiring process.
Culture First, Technical Second: The first round of interviews at Steam-A is always cultural. Candidates must submit a “showcase” of their creative or athletic pursuits to prove they have a “life outside of work” before their technical skills are assessed.

Step 3: Operationalise Culture Through Rituals and Environment

A culture document is useless if it isn’t lived. Embed your values into the daily fabric of the organisation.

Onboarding: New hires at Steam-A are given “The Design of Everyday Things” and participate in a treasure hunt to learn about the company, its people, and its values engagingly.
Stimulating Workspace: The physical environment should reflect the culture. Music, collaborative spaces, and visual reminders of the company’s mission make the culture tangible.
Rituals of Connection and Creativity: Activities such as salsa dancing, karaoke nights, and shared creative forums are not just perks; they are rituals that reinforce the “technologist-artist” ideal and foster strong interpersonal bonds.

The Foundational Litmus Test:

The success of this phase is measured in retention and client outcomes. Steam-A’s dramatically low attrition rate (losing only three desired employees versus an expected 18) and soaring customer satisfaction scores are direct results of this intentional foundation.

Part 2: The Scaling Engine — Shepherding Your Culture Through Growth

(Based on “The Soul of Scale” with Abhishek Paul)

As a company grows, its organic, founder-led culture will inevitably face “Organisational Entropy” — a natural drift towards mediocrity and disorder. To counteract this, you must shift from being a “culture founder” to a “Culture Shepherd,” building robust systems to protect the soul of the organisation.

Step 1: Identify and Focus on High-Leverage Points

Don’t try to fix everything. Focus your energy on the areas that have the most significant impact on scaling culture.

The Three Leverage Points: Abhishek identifies Hiring, Performance Management, and Over-Communication as the most critical levers for any leader to pull. Mastering these three functions provides the highest return on cultural effort.

Step 2: Systematise Your Hiring for Cultural Alignment

The founder’s “gut feel” for hiring doesn’t scale. You must build a repeatable system that others can execute with consistency.

The Value Alignment Discussion (VAD): Kissflow employs a structured, non-technical interview round designed to assess a candidate’s alignment with core values.
Process is Key: The VAD is a documented process with defined questions, a behavioural interviewing methodology (BEI), and a clear scoring framework. This allows it to be taught and delegated, ensuring consistency as hiring volume increases.
A Leader’s Job: Hiring Cannot Be Fully Outsourced. Leaders must remain involved in the process, as it’s their most important responsibility in building the organisation.

Step 3: Reinforce Culture Through Scalable Rituals

As the company grows, rituals must evolve from being purely in-person and spontaneous to being more structured and systemic.

Systematic Onboarding (LSD Program): Kissflow’s “Leadership and Self-Deception” program is a mandatory, leader-led book discussion for all new hires. It creates a shared language and reinforces core principles in a scalable, batch-based format.
Maintaining Leadership Connection: Rituals like “Lunch with the CEO” and “Ask Me Anything” sessions ensure that personal access to leadership and transparency are maintained even in a larger organisation.

Step 4: Use Data to Shepherd, Not Just Survey

Annual surveys are lagging indicators. To be proactive, you need a continuous pulse on the health of your culture.

The Culture Super App (“Kalpana”): Kissflow built an internal tool that sends periodic, single-question surveys to employees via chat. This provides real-time data on key cultural metrics like happiness, meaningful work, and growth.
Empower Managers: The data is fed back to managers, giving them insights into their team’s specific challenges and enabling them to act as proactive “Culture Shepherds” for their own teams.

The Unified Playbook: Connecting Foundation to Scale

The two talks create a cohesive journey. The intentional Foundation built in Part 1 is what gives the Scaling Engine of Part 2 its power and direction.

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| Stage | The Foundation (Act I) | The Scaling Engine (Act II) |
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| Philosophy | Design the Soul: Intentionally define your values, principles, and ideal team member profile before you scale. | Protect the Soul: Build systems and rituals that counteract entropy and reinforce the foundational culture as you grow. |
| Hiring | Founder-Led & Intuitive: Focus on finding the "technologist-artists" who embody your core DNA. | System-Led & Consistent: Scale that intuition through structured processes like the Value Alignment Discussion (VAD). |
| Leadership | Architect & Visionary: The leader's primary role is to create and embody the culture. | Shepherd & Steward: The leader's role is to tend to the culture, empower others, and ensure the systems are working. |
| Core Belief | A great culture is built on having the Right People. | A great culture is scaled by ensuring the Right People are in the Right Seats, doing the Right Things. |
+-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

By following this playbook, leaders can move beyond simply having a “good culture” and begin to build a true strategic asset — an organisation with an enduring soul that gets stronger, not weaker, with scale.

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