I remember as a first-time CEO going through 500 Startups that one of my biggest priorities for my time in the accelerator was to refine Leapcure’s values and culture. I had a gut feeling for how an organization needed to operate to achieve our goals but really came in somewhat unsure of how I was going to pull it together. I remember huddling with other co-founders in the accelerator, spending hours with 500 Startups coaches, and working with advisors – focused largely on culture and values.

Over the years our values have morphed into a compass for navigating a lot of key decisions at Leapcure. Especially in our earlier years, when our viability depended on the reliability of numerous people to make quick judgment calls in order to build our business.

With that said, there’s still the need to continue refining our values. We need to continue being curious about how we’ll achieve our goals. Along the way, we develop a larger appreciation for concepts like honoring structure and the importance of trust.

The last thought-provoking item about our journey as a values-based organization came up in a recent conversation with a few of Leapcure’s advisors. I was asked by them “What are your values? Which of these are really principles? Which of these are actually important to you and which of these should be important to you but really might not be?” I loved these questions. It led us to think deeper about our purpose, the right tradeoffs for us, and ways we can be more intentional about how we truly want to show up as Leapcure. And as for the answer to those questions… it’s something we’ll always refine.