Running a Football Startup Pt 3. Culture

The chapter that surprised me most in Sir Alex Ferguson’s Leading is called ‘Drinking to Failure’. If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll have noticed that I keep referring to this book — it’s because I’m a huge Man Utd fan. But I didn’t know that before Sir Alex joined, there was a huge drinking culture at Utd. When he got to Manchester, his first task was to get the players out of this bad habit. He eventually had to sell the players who wouldn’t change because he knew even one bad apple would spoil the bunch. The same is true in startups — in the early days, it is so key to make sure that the culture is right, because culture scales and a bad culture is very difficult to reverse.

Culture is all about shared beliefs and behaviours, so we felt that picking our company values would be a good first step to building a company culture. I listened to an interview with Mark Zuckerberg this week and he mentioned how ‘values are only worth what you’re willing to give up for them’. When we defined our six company values, we knew that creating a company culture that actually lived up to those values would need a great deal of sacrifice. We ended up choosing six: be mission-driven, be transparent, be healthy, be a continuous learner, be empathetic and be yourself. But I’m just going to talk about one value, as I feel it’s going to be the most important one for our success.

Be Mission-Driven — Our company’s mission is to make every young football player feel like a star. Some may think this is counter-intuitive — isn’t the whole point of a star that they are rare and placed on a pedestal? Well, there are over 1 billion trillion (21 0’s) stars in our universe, each of them unique in their own way. Why can’t we make every young player feel special in their own right? This mission is the cornerstone of our culture — we are building a culture where every employee is united by a goal to make every player feel special.

Of our six values, this is often the hardest one to stick to. That’s because naturally people are drawn to things like talent and popularity. For us, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of favouring the best or most influential players. We have to be very conscious of this — we never want to give off the impression that our app is only for the best players, as we are trying to build something that is inclusive for all players, no matter their ability level.

Other social networks like Instagram have taken the opposing view. They are willing to elevate a very small percentage of people above everyone else. (e.g. the Kim Kardashians, Ronaldos and Ariana Grandes of this world). This makes sense for them, as, in reality, Instagram is a media platform, not a social network. Their unique value proposition doesn’t centre around making everybody feel special, but rather on entertainment, drawing people’s attention to a curated list of content creators.

We’re trying to build a product that taps into the dreams of so many millions of kids — to become professional football players. However, the reality is that only 180 of the 1.5 million players who are playing organised youth football in England at any one time will make it as a Premier League pro — a success rate of 0.012%. We’re building a culture where our brand image, product decisions and business decisions always bear in mind this eerie statistic. We’re definitely not against the scouting system, nor do we think that the best players shouldn’t take up opportunities to go on to play for professional academies. What we are wary of, however, is building a perception that becoming a pro is the sole dream that young players should aspire to. Instead, we believe that there’s a lot to be gained from football, no matter the level you’re playing at — whether that’s at school, for a Sunday League club or at an academy.

We want every young player to realise that they should treat each match they play in as part of their football career. So, we are going to create a business that makes them feel that way when they step off the pitch — whether that’s by offering them the tools to analyse and share their performance, giving them the rewards they deserve for an amazing display, or simply allowing them to reach the audience they currently struggle to reach.

Sustaining our culture, as we grow, will be one of our biggest challenges. But, building a lasting business will depend on it. I’m confident that, if we can stick to our six company values, we’ll create a business where happy, fulfillled employees create a meaningful impact on millions of young people around the world.

Next week I’ll be talking about the most exciting part of football — transfer season — where new members join the team.