Recently I came across the following quote from Jeff Bezos:
“Cultures aren’t so much planned as they evolve from that early set of people.”
I couldn’t agree more. Culture is a living organism. It’s something you embody, not something you write down, put on a poster and hope will permeate through osmosis. Every person you hire will look towards those who are with the company for longer to get cues on the corporate culture — and in the beginning this will be you: The founders (and later your first hires).
If you want to be deliberate about culture (and you should!) I encourage you to keep this in mind. Every action, every interaction, everything you do (and don’t) will influence how your people will interpret the company culture. And every hire will shape your culture — so better be deliberate about that as well.