Culture that scales: how to grow globally!

SaaS growth leader David Leach shares a practical, culture-first playbook for taking a Kiwi SaaS global. He covers the headwinds (talent, trust from NZ, time zones, complexity) and the tailwinds (values, rally cries, global design, hero metrics) that help you compete with incumbents and execute faster.

Key theme include;

1. Culture first, execution always
   “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Strategy matters, but only a culture that stretches, ships, and holds standards will deliver it at scale. Make values meaningful and visible then hire, coach, reward, and part ways based on them. “The standards you walk past are the standards you set.”

2. Solve the headwinds deliberately
   Competing with giants: be faster and different; don’t go head-to-head, solve the core problem in a simpler, SaaS-born way.

3. Create tailwinds: a simple growth system
   Set an ambitious 5–10 year goal that everyone can see; back it with capital and expertise. Design a global customer experience from day one; be easy to buy, implement, support; beat your promises. Be world-class on four fronts: people culture, products & services, customer experience and metrics.

4. Raise the bar, compress time
   From Frank Slootman’s “Amp It Up” leading for hypergrowth: raise expectations, increase urgency and elevate intensity. Focus the team on fewer, higher-impact priorities.

5. Ways of working that scale
   Treat your Employee Value Proposition like a product (roadmap, perks, wellness days). Build diverse teams that debate and decide fast. Invest most in people leaders because they scale everything else.

Key takeaways:

• Create a 6–12 month Rally Cry; measure progress and repeat.

• Hire for where you’re going: leaders who’ve done it before, values-fit, and hands-on. Upgrade and coach the leaders you have.

• Design a consistent global journey: operate in-market hours and use partners to extend reach.

• Fight complexity: standardise sales/onboarding/support and remove low‑value work. Implement hero metrics.

• Live your values: interview for them, role-model them, and set visible standards. Culture is how you execute.

Don’t stop at the summary, watch the full video to dive deeper.