Control and what we do with it is essential to maintaining good startup culture — whether it’s trust, respect and autonomy to perform daily work well, or letting go of the company’s reins in order to let staff explore and flourish.
“Everyone wants control in their lives. I don’t think anyone grew up wanting to be an executive assistant,” explained Vancouver-based entrepreneur Jonathan Bixby of Stanley Park Ventures at Tech Vancouver.
The Founder’s Micromanagement Trap
Nobody likes to be micromanaged. Founders know this, and having the freedom to create something new and exciting is what drove most of them to create a startup in the first place. Unfortunately, it’s an easy lesson for founders to forget once they’ve laid it all on the line.
It’s easy to see how it happens. In the earliest days, the founder often does every job personally and knows every detail. As the team grows, letting go of those details feels risky, especially when the founder’s savings and reputation are tied up in the company. But a founder who reviews every decision becomes the bottleneck, and the people hired to own their areas stop taking initiative because they know their work will be redone.
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What Autonomy Looks Like
Giving staff members more freedom over the work they do, as well as where and how they do it, can pay off in spades in productivity, growth and innovation.
In practice, autonomy usually means agreeing on the goal and the deadline, then leaving the method to the person doing the work. It can mean flexible hours or location, the freedom to choose tools, or a say in which projects someone takes on. It doesn’t mean a lack of accountability; it means judging people on results rather than on how closely they follow instructions.
Startups are in a good position to offer this. Small teams have fewer layers of approval, and early employees often join precisely because they want more ownership than a large company would give them. That advantage disappears quickly if every decision still has to go through the founder.
Getting to Know Your Team
As Bixby says, taking the time to uncover what employees care about when they’re on and off the clock helps founders establish relationships of mutual understanding and respect: “Get a Google spreadsheet, write down all your employee’s names and find out something cool about them that they are passionate about.”
3 tips on corporate culture | By @jonathanbixby at @startupgrind Vancouver
cc @Launch_Academy @GetKoho pic.twitter.com/isr5mzonAh
— Ninan T 🌈💙💜 (@ninan99) April 22, 2016
Respect Over Perks
And to most employees, respect is more valuable than foosball tables, a stocked beer fridge and pizza on Fridays, says former Netflix chief talent officer Patty McCord. “All those perks might make people happy, but they don’t make people happy in the same way that being on a great team and doing great work does.”
McCord speaks from experience. McCord was Netflix’s chief talent officer from 1998 to 2012, and helped write the company’s famous culture deck, a plain set of 127 slides that, by McCord’s own account in a 2014 Harvard Business Review article, had been viewed more than 5 million times online. One of its best-known ideas was letting employees take whatever vacation time they felt was appropriate, instead of tracking days off. In 2018, McCord turned those ideas into a book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility.
Good read on startup culture. "Your perks aren’t culture. They’re just perks." http://t.co/AA9ThNtoQ1
— jonathanbixby (@jonathanbixby) November 27, 2013
Why It Still Matters
The case for trust and autonomy has only grown since 2016, partly because the alternative isn’t working well. Gallup’s long-running research on the workplace found that just 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, up from 17% in 2016 but down from a peak of 23% in 2022 and 2023. Gallup estimates that low engagement costs the world economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity.
For founders, the takeaway is simple and hard at the same time. Hire people you trust, tell them what success looks like, and then get out of their way. Perks can be a nice extra, but they won’t make up for a job where someone has no say in how they do their work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does control matter in startup culture?
The article argues that trust, respect and autonomy help employees do their daily work well and let staff explore and flourish. Jonathan Bixby of Stanley Park Ventures said at Tech Vancouver that everyone wants control in their lives.
Why do founders end up micromanaging?
Founders often start by doing every job themselves, and letting go feels risky when their savings and reputation are tied up in the company. A founder who reviews every decision can become a bottleneck and discourage staff from taking initiative.
What did Jonathan Bixby suggest founders do to get to know their teams?
Jonathan Bixby suggested founders get a Google spreadsheet, write down every employee's name and find out something cool each person is passionate about. The goal is to build relationships of mutual understanding and respect.
What did Patty McCord say about workplace perks?
Patty McCord, former chief talent officer at Netflix, said perks like foosball tables and free beer might make people happy, but not in the same way as being on a great team and doing great work. McCord was Netflix's chief talent officer from 1998 to 2012.
How engaged are employees at work today?
According to Gallup, just 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, up from 17% in 2016 but down from a peak of 23% in 2022 and 2023. Gallup estimates low engagement costs the world economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity.