 |
About the Author
Mitch (@mitchellharper) is the co-founder and CEO of BigCommerce. Way back in 2007 he built what eventually became BigCommerce as you know it. Today he runs the company alongside Eddie and along with our 100+ team members, is passionate about helping businesses succeed with e-commerce. Mitch spends time between our Sydney and Austin offices and is giving the keynote at TechConnect 2012 in Sydney on April 19th. |
One thing we’ve been working hard on as a company over the last few months is defining our mission statement and core values. I believe that as a company we have a fantastic culture, and it really sets us apart from everyone else. One thing Eddie and I wanted to do was take our culture and “bottle it” so to speak. We wanted a way to summarize how we think and act as a company into a few short sentences which everyone can use and live by.
About 2 months back we spent quite a bit of time coming up with our mission statement and core values. At least 20 hours over a 3 week period to be precise. We then shared our draft ideas with the team (both Sydney and Austin) at our quarterly company update in early August to get their feedback and to make sure we’d captured not only the way we think but also the way everyone in the company thinks.
Turns out we were spot on.
Our new mission statement and core values have also been posted on our Mission + Values page, along with semi-random photos from our offices, outings, trade shows, etc. I think the one thing too many people forget is that a company is only as strong as its weakest team member, therefore the best companies go above and beyond to make sure they win and improve as a team – not just as individuals, and I believe our managers do an exceptional job at that.
The one thing great companies have in common is that they live and breathe their mission statement and core values. Great managers also hire and fire by them, and it’s early days yet but we’re well into the process of integrating our mission statement and core values into everything we do. They will also be proudly displayed on the wall in both our Sydney and Austin offices shortly.
If you’re looking to take your career to the next level and want to work with a company that has a fantastic culture then make sure you check out our careers page. We’ve got numerous roles open in our Austin, TX office for sales samurais, support ninjas and marketing mavens.
Try BigCommerce free for 15 days and see why it's loved by over 10,000 successful businesses.
