One jerk can ruin an entire office. That’s why our very first rule when we started our company was a strict “No Jerks” policy. But it doesn’t stop there: It is equally important to avoid hiring someone who might be a great person but simply doesn’t fit into the company culture you have established. One bad hire can ruin the mood of everyone around them.

One of the hardest parts of growing quickly is staying true to your original intent and vision. New people, changing product sets and the inability to keep your hands off every aspect of business operations can all lead to a slow, dangerous shift away from what made your business special to begin with. 

In many ways when my partner and I left the big ad agency world to start our own shop it was a typical start-up story: Five-year business plans were developed, spreadsheets were created, and it all was revised hundreds of times.