John-Miguel Mitchell
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jmitchell38.bsky.social
John-Miguel Mitchell
@jmitchell38.bsky.social
Workplace Culture Leader For Startups & VC Community
Capital is an amplifier.
It scales trust… or speeds up the corrosion that was already happening.

If you want durable growth, invest in culture design before you invest the money.
November 19, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Wild stat from Stripe: AI startups hit $1M ARR in 11.5 months.
What they don’t hit that fast?
Leadership alignment, trust systems, and culture maturity.
Hypergrowth isn’t the victory—surviving it is.
November 18, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Retention bonuses are 🚩 for bad management.
If you have to pay people to stay, you’re not fixing culture — you’re delaying churn.

Culture risk = financial risk. 💸
November 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
If your team can only be “vulnerable” from 2:15–2:30 next Thursday, that’s not culture — that’s theater.
Trust isn’t a scheduled event.
It’s a leadership habit.
November 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Culture risk is financial risk — it just hits later.
Most investors measure what’s easy. Few measure what matters.
Founders who ignore culture aren’t saving time; they’re compounding risk.
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
💀 Just 51.6% of U.S. startups make it to year five (BLS 2024).
The real risk isn’t market conditions — it’s misaligned leadership.

No region outperforms bad culture.
Culture-market fit > product-market fit.

Investors, stop underwriting chaos.
Founders, build infrastructure that lasts.
November 11, 2025 at 7:26 PM
𝗜𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 — 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.
Disagreement is a feature of strong teams, not a flaw.💣
November 6, 2025 at 6:19 PM
🔥 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗸𝘀 — 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽.

The water cooler’s dead. Replace it with purpose, not policy.
💥 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 — 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.
November 5, 2025 at 7:26 PM
AI money didn’t dry up — it consolidated.
Welcome to the era of fewer bets, bigger egos.
November 4, 2025 at 6:54 PM
💥 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 isn’t in your all-hands slides — it’s in your term sheet. It reveals what you 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚: control, trust, or fear.
🤝 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗩𝗖𝘀 — if capital drives behavior, then your deal terms shape the culture long before your first hire.
November 3, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Every founder scales something — product, hype, chaos. The rare ones scale trust.
Culture isn’t a perk. It’s the infrastructure of endurance. ⚙️
October 30, 2025 at 5:45 PM
𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗽. 🛵

𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣, 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙.
October 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲. 📉
𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼.
𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 is the only 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 when markets stall.🌱
October 28, 2025 at 6:32 PM
𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 💰
Oversized checks magnify cultural dysfunction — fast growth without alignment breaks trust
October 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
𝗧𝘄𝗼-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀.
𝗧𝘄𝗼-𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗲.
𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. ⏳
October 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
𝘽𝙖𝙮 𝘼𝙧𝙚𝙖 💸 funds ambition.
𝘽𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣 🧠 funds endurance.
𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙧𝙠 🗽 funds grit.
𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚 🤝 funds 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵?
October 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
🧠 If your AI strategy makes your people feel replaceable, you’re not innovating — you’re eroding trust.

AI won’t kill culture. ⚙️
Leaders who use it wrong will.
October 27, 2025 at 5:56 PM
𝗩𝗖 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 — 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁.
Founder churn and burnout aren’t random — they mirror the investor’s operating culture.
If your portcos keep imploding, maybe it’s not them.
Maybe it’s you.

💭 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.
October 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
In a world chasing growth, execution dies cultureless.

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 hides cracks. Execution exposes them.
𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 like infrastructure — not like a marketing line.
October 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
64% of VC dollars now chase AI.
But the next scarcity isn’t GPUs — it’s human focus.
Efficiency ≠ clarity. Productivity ≠ purpose.
October 21, 2025 at 8:31 PM
$𝟱𝗕+ valuations keep climbing — but exits aren’t.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻e calls it “discipline.” It’s really delayed accountability.
The 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 isn’t founder ego — it’s investor denial.
At Ekipo, we map cultural risk 🚨 before it becomes valuation risk.
October 20, 2025 at 5:41 PM
🚀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Product–market fit is 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. The real test is founder–market fit.
💼 𝗩𝗖𝘀: Stop chasing the next hot market. Start backing founders who can outgrow it.
October 20, 2025 at 5:28 PM
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲’𝘀 racing to ‘start their company.’
𝗙𝗲𝘄 are building one worth finishing.
𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 isn’t your fuel — it’s your engine.⚡
October 16, 2025 at 8:47 PM
𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝙫𝙞𝙗𝙚.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 compounds returns.
𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 discounts them — every time.
October 16, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Startups fear missed revenue — but turnover kills valuation faster. 💀

Revenue recovers. Culture erosion doesn’t.
October 13, 2025 at 5:14 PM