When Stef and I started discussing what we would do after leaving our previous jobs at Google and Uber, we didn't just talk about the type of product we wanted to build, but also the type of company we wanted to create. We discussed the potential culture of our new venture and the kind of people we wanted to work with.

We had both seen the significant impact a (lack of consciously set) culture can have on a company. Not just on how people experience working at a company, but also how a company's culture significantly influences speed of execution and rate of innovation, how people interact with their colleagues and the outside world, how it impacts the company's brand, and how it affects its competitive advantage.

At its core, a company's cultural values dictate how decisions are made and what risks are taken. They shape who we hire and define what we consider to be exceptional work.

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast" - Peter Drucker

Our initial conversations were shaped by our experiences at Google and Uber, and we were soon joined by our other co-founders with experiences in different industries, coming from companies like Zymergen, DSM, and Perfect Day. We discussed what we liked and disliked, the effect we wanted the cultural values to have, and which ones we deemed effective based on our experiences. We started reading books centered around company culture, such as "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh (Zappos), "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek, "No Rules Rules" by Reed Hastings (Netflix), "Let My People Go Surfing" by Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia), "Creativity, Inc." by Ed Catmull (Pixar), the various books by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried (37signals), and many others. The result was a mix of 10 cultural values, many borrowed from or inspired by these books, others dreamed up during our first company offsites.

Over time, we iterated on this set together with the growing team. We evaluated which cultural values we were already living versus which were still aspirational. We thought about how they could guide us in day-to-day decision making, and we cut what we found to be more at home in a company manual. For each cultural value, we wrote additional guidance to bring home their message. A key insight came from Thijs (previously at Stripe) who noted that the guidance should 'hurt' a little bit. They should not be obvious truisms, but clear choices that provide real guidance.

Because our team had grown rapidly over the last year, we wanted to make sure that everyone has had an opportunity to give input, and to make sure that everyone had a similar interpretation of each value. We did multiple sessions in smaller groups, and used the feedback for further iteration.

In this post we share our company's purpose and mission, the 3 cultural values that were left after merging or cutting the original 10, and a set of team traits that describe the people you will find at Cradle. While we are happy with the current state, we will continue to iterate on these values as the company grows, and we would encourage anyone with (the ambition to start) a company to think deeply about the culture they want to build.

Why are we here

Cradle empowers pioneers to build a healthy, sustainable future through programmable biology. This is why we exist. This is what drives us.

Our first mission is to make protein engineering easier. We focus on proteins because of their immense potential to cure a wide range of diseases, sustainably manufacture diverse products, and break down environmental pollutants.

We believe technology can make protein engineering more affordable, efficient, and successful. We will enable a million pioneers to combat disease and tackle sustainability challenges through better protein designs and ultimately by allowing them to program biology.

Empower Pioneers and Ensure Their Success

We are on this mission to help solve some of the most important challenges of our time, but we can’t do it on our own. By building Cradle, we enable a million pioneers to tackle these challenges from unique angles. The collective impact of this ecosystem will be far greater than what any single company, including ourselves, could achieve independently. Our success will be measured by the impact of the ecosystem we create.

Build Long-Term Trust Through Transparency. We will be transparent and honest with our customers, also if it means potentially losing a sale. We believe that long-term trust is more important than short-term revenue.

Turn Lessons into Public Resources. We publicly share both our lessons learned and successes to help drive progress. 

Make Every User Interaction a Learning Opportunity. We recognize that our users are pioneers with diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. We don’t always intuitively know what’s best for them. By actively listening to and learning from them, we can better understand how to support their unique goals.

Innovate with Curiosity and Optimism 

Starting a company is an endless journey, and when pioneering new technologies, the path is inherently uncertain. Curiosity helped us identify our current path, optimism gave us the courage to walk it. These traits that sparked Cradle's creation will be crucial in identifying future breakthroughs, even when they appear as risky detours. Just know when to backtrack.

Dream Big, Start Small, Iterate All. Embrace your inner innovator with unbridled optimism. A playbook can provide a foundation, but true progress often requires bold experimentation and rapid iteration.

Make Big Bold Bets. If we don't sow the seeds for 5-10 years out, we won't have a company in 10 years. Pursue concepts that take us into uncharted territories and make us uncomfortable, even if 9 out of 10 lead us nowhere – that's the price we must pay to find our path.

Pivot and Persevere. We will sometimes reach dead ends. In these moments, we must be intellectually honest and pivot to explore alternative paths. Our speed in adapting will determine how quickly we find the right route and maintain momentum.

Be a curious student and a generous teacher. Ask questions fearlessly, and share your knowledge openly. Recognize that we all had to start somewhere, and that we all have something to learn from one another, regardless of our roles or expertise. Encourage open communication and take the time to explain complex concepts, ensuring that no one is left behind due to differences in technical language or background.

Make Failure a Team Learning Experience. Embrace failures as learning opportunities and share them openly to help others grow. Trust that everyone does their best, and maintain a blameless culture focused on continuous improvement.

Foster Freedom and Fast Execution

We only hire passionate people, and give them the autonomy and environment to do their very best work. We trust everyone's judgment, but with increased freedom also comes increased accountability to make decisions, act with urgency and do what's best for the team and the company.

Seize the Reins. Take initiative and figure out what needs to be done. You are the expert in your role, and we trust you to make informed decisions quickly.

Let the best idea win. Make decisions based on merit, not personal gain or seniority. Use data, intuition, and sound reasoning to make decisions, fast. 

Ruthlessly Prioritize. Prioritize high-impact initiatives that drive progress. Have the courage to say "no" when necessary, and empower each other to make tough calls. Everytime you say “Yes”, you are implicitly saying you will do many other things poorly or not at all.  

Cross-pollinate. Actively seek collaboration across disciplines. Recognize that breakthroughs often emerge where fields converge.

Have fun, together. Find joy in the work you do and the people you work with. Bring your unique passions and quirks to the table, and let your creativity run wild. We believe that the best results come from teams that enjoy working together, and inject humor and playfulness into their day-to-day collaborations.

Our Team Traits

While crafting our cultural values, we often felt the urge to describe our 'ideal Cradler'. However, we recognize that we don’t want to mold people into a specific character, as we value authenticity. Instead of making these character traits and behaviors part of our core values, we have chosen to list them here as common characteristics that many Cradlers share. While no one embodies all of them perfectly, they represent the qualities we collectively appreciate in each other.

At Cradle, you'll often find people who are:

1. Humble: They take pride in their work but let their accomplishments speak for themselves.

2. Curious: They have an insatiable desire to learn, exploring both their own field and a wide range of other topics.

3. Nerdy: They enjoy diving deep into specific subjects and enthusiastically share their knowledge with others.

4. Self-starting: They understand that they have the power to make things happen, regardless of their role or position.

5. Compassionate: They genuinely care about the well-being and success of their teammates.

6. Kind: They treat others with the same respect, consideration, and empathy they'd want for themselves.

7. Growth-oriented: They believe that anything can be learned with sufficient time and effort. They have a history of teaching themselves new skills and concepts, and they actively seek and provide constructive feedback to learn.

8. Pioneers: They are driven by a passion for tackling grand challenges, prioritizing impact over personal gain.

9. Optimistic: They stay positive when facing difficulties, helping the team find solutions and learn from setbacks.

10. Idealistic: They work at Cradle because they believe the technology we build can have a significant positive impact on human and planetary health.