insights
On belonging, culture, social impact and more.
Building an Integrated Impact Model
By aligning impact with business value, designing intentional systems, and navigating challenges with clarity, you can build a model where mission and margin reinforce each other—driving extraordinary results.
The Impact Premium: Why Mission-Driven Companies Win Top Talent in 2025
Top talent seeks more than perks—they seek purpose. Mission-driven companies can thrive by embedding authentic impact into their culture, aligning leadership with values, and creating growth pathways that inspire and retain exceptional people.
The Hidden Costs of Cultural Debt: Why Impact-Focused Founders Can't Afford to Wait
Impact-driven startups often prioritize external results over internal culture, unintentionally accumulating cultural debt—a hidden challenge that can undermine their mission. Early-stage founders must remember to treat culture as essential infrastructure too.
Supporting Your Team Through political upheaval
As impact-focused leaders, we have a responsibility to create workplace cultures that stand firm in our values and support our teams through challenging times. With the prospect of a hostile political climate ahead, it's more important than ever to prioritize psychological safety, inclusivity, and wellbeing. We must recognize the disproportionate toll on marginalized communities and lead with empathy, courage, and unwavering commitment to building a better world, starting within our own organizations.
When Culture Becomes Capital
In the absence of intentional culture, toxic culture will emerge. Smart VCs know this, which is why they're making cultural due diligence as critical as product-market fit when evaluating investments at every stage.
The Ethics of Innovation: How Climate Tech Startups Can Appeal to Values-Driven Talent
An increasing number of climate tech startups face a unique challenge: attracting top talent while transforming controversial industries. This isn't just about recruitment—it's about reframing the narrative of environmental progress during this transitional era. Discover how embracing complex ethical questions can become a powerful tool for driving real-world change and attracting mission-driven employees to the climate tech sector.
Cultivating Culture: Our Culture Catalyst Program for Founders
Next Big Thing guided underrepresented founders through our Culture Catalyst program, reinforcing the power of intentional culture-building in early-stage startups. Here are our takeaways from the 2024 program!
Architecting Your Startup's Cultural Foundations
Next Big Thing’s Culture Catalyst workshop series takes early-stage startup founders through the essential elements of purposefully designing and nurturing a competitive, healthy workplace culture from the ground up.