Is “culture fit” the secret sauce of team cohesion… or just startup speak for hiring people who look, think, and act exactly like you?

In Episode 6 of UnicornPrn, Melissa and Lloyed torch the startup world’s favorite excuse for bias, groupthink, and hiring your drinking buddies. They unpack how “culture fit” became a Trojan horse for toxic execs, lazy recruiting, and leadership that folds like a lawn chair under pressure.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ Why “culture fit” is often just code for bias
✅ How the “beer test” broke your hiring
✅ Startup horror stories of culture gone wrong
✅ How to hire for culture add, not fit
✅ A playbook for building an intentional culture at scale

Hot Takes:

✅ “What’s good for the leader should be good for everyone. Lead by example, no favoritism, one rule for all.”
✅ “Culture is not what you write on the wall, it’s how people behave when the leaders aren’t in the room.”

So grab your kombucha, cancel your ping-pong table budget, and maybe double-check that Slack gossip channel… because this episode goes full HR-horror story mode.

Tune in. Wake up. Think hard. Build smart.

Contact UnicornPrn

• Find show notes of each episode on UnicornPrn.com - hit subscribe like it owes you money

About our hosts

• Melissa Kwan is Cofounder and CEO of eWebinar, and a 3X bootstrapper who has spent the last 14 years building companies without ever raising a cent of venture capital.
• Lloyed Lobo is a WSJ bestselling author, Cofounder of Boast.AI and Traction founder community, startup advisor, angel investor, board member, and LP in multiple VC funds — he’s seen startup chaos from both sides of the term sheet.
• LinkedIn: Melissa Kwan and Lloyed Lobo
• Instagram: @themelissakwan and @lloyedlobo⁠⁠
• YouTube: @themlissakwan and @StartupTraction
• Subscribe to 'your founder next door' at melissakwan.com, Melissa's bi-monthly newsletter on how to build a company without an abundance of resources and friends in high places.
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