HubSpot Management

Halligan believes his role as CEO is to have frequent communication with customers and wants HubSpot to be completely transparent. It is the CEOs job to be one with their brand and always available to listen to customers. Halligan advised the head of every startup to utilize multiple social media networks to communicate with the public, especially LinkedIn and Twitter.

Creating the HubSpot Culture

Good ideas usually come to Halligan when he is going into or coming out of a nap. He considers the in-between state of sleeping and waking up to be crucial for generating strong ideas. According to Halligan, entrepreneurs should think more and work less. HubSpot even has a room that employees can sleep in to encourage naps during work!

During HubSpots early stages of development, Halligan didnt think culture was worthwhile to discuss. Before Halligan realized that HubSpot even had a culture, numerous employees mentioned the culture in an employee survey. Around the same time Halligan joined a group of CEOs and their first meeting focused on culture. He decided to view the role of culture in the workplace more seriously, so HubSpot built a culture deck that they treat as the companys constitution. The HubSpot culture is a combination between Halligan and Shah; Halligan contributes a hardcore attitude and sales approach, while Shah balances him out with a nicer approach and technology skills.

Maintaining Culture

HubSpot maintains their culture through a strict hiring process that is differentiated based on each department. The interview process looks for certain qualities in applicants that will reflect the culture of HubSpot. Once hired, everyone has a thorough, month long onboarding process to get each employee acclimated to the environment.

The company employee survey is used to monitor the culture and ensure department managers are doing their job. Halligan views culture as a magnet to pull in employees and customers. Rather than having an employee handbook, HubSpot encourages employees to use good judgment. By raising the bar with every person they hire and remaining transparent, HubSpot attracts a culture for Generation Y.