Let me tell you about a founder who actually stuck to his values.
You’ve probably been to a Costco (or at least heard of their $1.50 hotdog combo). What you might not know is that this ridiculously cheap meal deal hasn’t budged a penny since 1985.
Why? Because Costco’s founder, Jim Sinegal, apparently takes promises very seriously.
In 2018, when CEO Craig Jelinek suggested raising the price of the famous hot dog deal because they were losing money on it, Sinegal reportedly said, “If you raise (the price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.”
Was he kidding? Maybe. Was the hotdog price going up? Absolutely not.
“Do the right thing” is one of Costco’s core values. For Sinegal, that meant keeping a promise to customers, even when it didn’t make much financial sense. But today, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the U.S. Coincidence? Or does sticking to your values actually play a part in your company’s success?
And, here’s the real question: Are values essential for scaling your business, or are they just a fluffy marketing thing you slap on your website once you’ve “made it”?
What are Core Values and Why Do You Need Them?
Your core values are what you (supposedly) value most as a group or company—the non-negotiables, the hill you’d die on.
But to be honest, in my first couple of startups, I thought core values were total fluff. I had more important, more tactical things to do as a founder!
Turns out, I was wrong. Defining your core values early is one of the most tactical things you can do to scale your business operations as your company grows.
I’ve learned core values aren’t just business buzzwords—they are actually the operating system for your entire organization.
Core values help you:
- Attract the right people
- Align everyone in one direction
- Provide clarity for making tough decisions
- Create momentum
Long story short: core values aren’t fluff. They’re crucial for building a company that runs smoothly and scales smartly.
When everyone’s rowing in the same direction, you can actually go somewhere.
How to Define Core Values and Shape Your Culture
Defining core values can feel abstract, but it shouldn’t be. Here are some tips for defining core values that shape your culture and evolve with your business.
Be Truthful
In business and in life, it’s hard to take an honest look at yourself and your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, and so on. Creating core values for your business is no different.
A good value has to express the truth. It needs to express something that you can easily point to as evidence in day-to-day decision-making. If you state a value and it's hard for people to find examples of how you live up to it, it's probably a wish. It's something you'd love to be like, but you really are not living up to yet.
If you value protecting the environment, then say that. It’ll help guide the decisions your business makes, from where to source your materials to what kind of transportation your company uses—and most importantly, you’ll attract employees and customers who share your values.
If the thing you care about is generating revenue by any means necessary, then that’s your value. State it and live it fully.
Being honest about who you are (even if it’s uncomfortable) is far better than pretending to be something you’re not. This way, you’ll attract people who value the same things as you and you’ll be swimming in the same direction, wherever that may be.
Express Your Values in a Memorable Way
One of Close’s core values is “Build a house you want to live in.” It’s also the one most people on the team can quote without skipping a beat.
Why? Because it’s memorable, it’s relatable, and, most importantly, it’s packed with meaning. This one little phrase captures who we are as a business and how we make decisions. It’s not just a value; it’s a north star reminding us to prioritize long-term thinking before committing to a course of action.
That’s the magic of great core values: they’re not just corporate jargon. When done right, they’re almost like a mantra. Something people remember, repeat, and actually use. Because if no one can recall your values, are they really guiding anything?
Example: Close's Core Values
Core Values Should Be Second Nature
A value only matters if people actually live it. You know it’s working when decisions are based on it, and you hear those words popping up in meetings, emails, and casual conversations. It’s part of how things get done.
The best core values become your company’s shared language, the compass everyone uses to make decisions. Compare that to what most companies do: they hold a brainstorming session, slap words like “innovation,” “speed,” and “quality” on a slide deck, and then... crickets. Those “values” end up buried on the website, never to be mentioned again.
That’s why so many people think core values are frivolous—they don’t see them in action. But look at the highest-impact companies—they don’t just have values; they use them. Every day. And that’s what builds strong cultures and unstoppable momentum.
Common Mistakes Founders Make When Creating Core Values
Trying to Value Too Many Things
Let’s be real: founders have huge dreams for their startups! You want to do it all!
It’s tempting to list everything as a core value because, hey, your company should be fast and high-quality and innovative and customer-obsessed, right? But here’s the problem, when you try to prioritize everything, you end up prioritizing nothing.
Take “speed” and “quality,” for example. Sure, they’re both nice to have, but what happens when they collide? Which one wins? If your values contradict each other, your team ends up confused, not aligned.
Less is more. I’d rather you have one, two, maybe three killer values that everyone remembers than 15 nobody can recite. Be ruthless. Pick your winners, move on, and accept that your core values are not set in stone and you can always adjust as you grow.
Spending Too Much Time on Version One
Defining your core values doesn’t have to be a one-time exercise. Just like with your product, you're going to build a version one, and then you're going to iterate—hopefully forever. We had values in our early days that we had to abandon over time because we outgrew them.
We borrowed a value from Facebook: “Done is better than perfect.” It worked well for us in the beginning when we were small and scrappy and needed to move fast. As we grew, we realized we needed to value long-term thinking more than speed, so “build a house you want to live in” made more sense. As your company grows, be prepared to evolve your values too.
On day one, you can write your values to the best of your knowledge and understanding in the current moment. Some founders struggle with this first step because they think they’re writing something sacred and must get it done perfectly or not at all.
Trust me: it’s not that deep. You’re not writing the bible. Just write something imperfect. It’ll probably change in a year or two anyway.
Failing to Provide Clarity to Those Who Matter Most: Your Team
It can be challenging to come up with core values that are both clear and specific. But keep in mind, it’s not a math formula.
To go back to our Costco example from earlier, “Do the right thing” can be interpreted in a lot of ways. You could make the same argument for “Build a house you want to live in.” People outside the company might not fully understand it—and that’s ok.
What matters is that your core values are crystal clear to you and your team. The people in your company are the ones who need to find meaning in the values and determine what living them looks like.
The more ambiguous it is for you, the more confusing it will get for your team. The further away from it you are, the harder it is to truly live this value. You have to be able to embody your values. It’s the only thing that really matters.
Put Your Values in Action
Forget the laundry list of buzzwords—focus on a few values that truly matter and guide decisions every day. To make your core values work, they need to be simple, memorable, and actually used.
When your team knows them, speaks them, and lives them, those values become the compass that aligns everyone and drives momentum. And sure, they’ll evolve over time, but that’s the point—they’re a living, breathing part of your company’s DNA. So start small, be truthful, and build the kind of culture that doesn’t just say it values things, but shows it.
