Stop Asking for “Culture Fit” — Start Hiring for “Culture Add”

Stop Asking for “Culture Fit” — Start Hiring for “Culture Add”

Date: 26 May 2025

You know what we hear all the time?

“We want someone who fits our culture.”

Sounds great on the surface. But 9 times out of 10, what that really means is:

“We want someone who thinks like us, acts like us, and won’t challenge how we do things.”

Here’s the problem:
You’re in Web3. The whole industry is built on challenging the status quo. So why are you hiring like it’s 2015 corporate HR?

Let’s be blunt:

If everyone on your team looks the same, talks the same, and has the same background — you’re not building a culture.
You’re building an echo chamber.
If your candidate pipeline is full of “safe” bets from big-name logos but you pass on the hungry self-taught dev from Nigeria or the ex-gamer with DAO experience — you’re not hiring for innovation.
You’re just playing it safe.

Real Example?

One of our clients passed on a product manager because “they didn’t seem like a culture fit.”
Translation: “They asked tough questions in the interview.”

The startup later hired someone more “aligned.”
Guess what? That hire lasted 3 months and never shipped anything.

The one they passed on?
Got scooped by another protocol. That protocol just raised $40M and credited their PM as one of the drivers of their launch success.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Culture fit is outdated.
Culture add is what moves the needle.

Want someone who will agree with you? Hire a mirror.
Want someone who will push your team to be better?
Hire someone who brings a different lens — and give them room to build.

A better question to ask:

“What can this person bring that we don’t already have?”

New networks?
Different community insights?
A chip on their shoulder that makes them relentless?

That’s culture add.

Final thought:

Crypto is still early. The worst thing we can do is recreate the same hiring mistakes Web2 made — just with better memes and worse attention spans.

Hire brave.
Hire different.
Hire forward.

Still struggling to stand out?

Neil offers one-on-one career consultations to help you get clear, get seen, and get hired. HERE

Need help finding culture add talent?

We’ve got a global bench full of it.

Let’s talk. Reach out to us HERE
(Unless you still want a clone of your last hire — then best of luck.)

Looking for a job? Reach out to us HERE

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Stop Asking for “Culture Fit” — Start Hiring for “Culture Add”