Scaling Culture: How I Overcame My Fear of Growing Headcount

July 18, 2017 By Mike McDerment

Scaling Culture: How I Overcame My Fear of Growing Headcount

As Mike McDerment says, “If we don’t have mojo, it doesn’t matter if we’re making money.” But is it possible to scale your great company culture without losing the mojo that makes it special? This was the very question that made the FreshBooks CEO fear the company’s growing headcount. Mike takes the stage at the 2017 Small Giants Community Summit to share how FreshBooks, a 2017 Forbes Best Small Giant, grew from the basement of his parents’ house to a team of 250 people and an anticipated $50 million in revenue this year. In this transparent and actionable talk, Mike shares what makes him fear growth (yes, even today!) and the steps he takes to protect Freshbooks’ mojo through game-changing culture hacks.

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About Author

Mike McDerment

Mike is the co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks, the world’s #1 cloud accounting software for self-employed professionals. Built in 2003 after he accidentally saved over an invoice, Mike spent 3.5 years growing FreshBooks from his parents’ basement. Since then, over 10 million people have used FreshBooks to save time billing, and collect billions of dollars. A lover of the outdoors, Mike has been bitten so many times it’s rumoured he’s the first human to have developed immunity to mosquitoes.