As you’re getting started with your new company, possibly the last thing on your mind will be defining the principles you want to run your company by.  You don’t even know if your product will work or if customers will pay money for it.  So why waste time on company principles?  The answer is because the moment you start hiring your first few employees, the culture of your company will start to get defined.  Many people think a culture is something that just naturally develops from the collection of personalities and actions taken by the employees.  And for sure there is a lot of truth to that.  But what can you do as a founder to set a foundation upon which the culture develops?  The answer lies in founding company principles.  These are things you declare and are almost never willing to deviate from.  They serve as the litmus test for critical decisions.  And they serve as the mantras employees will voice later and the bar they will try to always reach for personal recognition.

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