Honored as always to be invited to speak again at the awesome Forward conference, this time ’round I went with the allegedly elusive and ephemeral yet very important and real topic of Geek Culture.

Peter Drucker, famously misattributed to the famous “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” adage, knew some things aren’t so simple. When it comes to culture, things are rarely simple, easy or measureable. But they are ultimately important and influenceable. And just as the Lean Movement has established a process and framework to cultivate product & market growth (ok, it borrows from Newton a little), we’re keen to apply similar principles that make sense for culture.

Even small scrappy companies with few resources and infinite external challenges (you know, the survival things like building product, finding funding and getting customers) are increasingly aware that focusing on culture is a baseline and not a luxury. The entrepreneurs at Hackers / Founders get it enough that they asked me to share about this yesterday too.

As with any business initiative, you must know your audience. This one is targeted to those we know and love: the geeks.

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