Hello from a car driving to Connecticut!
I’m out here for the weekend with family and hope everyone had an excellent and productive week.
I started officially building with a new, early-stage team on Monday in NYC, and it’s been awesome for many reasons. The product and vision are sick, the office space is fun, and the energy of the team is the best part.
I went from being the youngest executive at Citizen to the oldest executive at Grand Charter (tied w/ our Head of Ops). If you’ve ever wondered how smaller, scrappier teams can outperform bigger orgs, read a breakdown of the ideal marketing team model in 2025.
The vibe and the way the team meshes at this new company are special. We’re small at ~15ish people, so it’s critical that we work well together. Early on, company vibe sets the foundation.
And let’s be real, we all want to be on a team that has it.
The vibe.
It’s the undercurrent you feel the second you walk into the room… a combination of the energy, rhythm, and trust that make a group unstoppable together.
You know when it’s there… and you definitely know when it’s missing.
The right vibe makes work feel lighter, ideas sharper, and goals higher and attainable. The wrong vibe is deadly for teams and can turn even the best product and the smartest people into a slow, frustrating grind.
Today, I’ll walk you through exactly how to find THE vibe I’m seeing across winning teams, build it, and hire people who 10x it.
What is The Ideal Team Vibe?
People should enjoy work.
80% of the time is the sweet spot of enjoyment (the not-so-happy 20% builds character, pushes you, makes you sharper, and, I know this is controversial, but work shouldn’t always be fun).
You all meet in person regularly (min 3x a week), sit next to each other, riff about what you’re building, blurt out wild ideas, and exchange energy.
You also respect the non-verbal cues when your teammates show you they are working solo: headphones on, locked-in, maybe shuffling a rubix cube or dice in their hands.
You guys have fun together. You’re excited about your futures individually and also at work. You know you’re talented, and even more impressed with the talent of others you're surrounded by.
Knowing that this is the team you get to interact with daily feels like your first big win.
Here’s 4 ways to catch the vibe of a team, match it, and uplevel it:
Show respect for the product.
No product is perfect. And no one understands that better than the existing team currently working on it. It’s not your job to shit on the product or workflow. It’s your job to show you’re excited to make it better.
If you don’t respect the product, you shouldn’t be working at that company.
Understand that coworkers will have opinions about your area of work, even if it's not their own.
This is either a positive thing or a negative thing. Positive when someone is trying to uplift your work. Negative when someone is trying to make you look bad (lame).
Understand the level of comfort people have when sharing personal info
Some people keep to themselves more than others. Don’t push people who don’t want to be pushed; they will open up on their own, at their comfort level.
Here are things people will usually never get offended by that can create strong interpersonal relationships: Concerts, music, movies, books, art, news related to your industry. Level 2 would be things like: travel, shopping, etc. Be aware that these are fun but point to different lifestyle bands.
Example: At Citizen, I’d help our Head of Eng, Yakun, pick handbags for his wife when his crypto did well — she got great gifts, he was happy (“happy wife, happy life”), and it for sure brought us closer as teammates.
Be aware of the way your team interacts with culture
Culture: Industry culture, pop culture, tech culture, investor culture, etc.
How are different views about culture expressed right now by team members and received by others?
What types of jokes are well received?
Know your audience. Know what’s off limits and outdated.
Must-Haves to Create the Ideal Team Vibe
A significant amount of in person time
Shared love of what you’re building
Shared love of the vibe of how you’re building (e.g. grind, or low maintenance)
Fair comp, equity, incentives
Momentum and early wins
Overlap in personal energy
Humor
Compromises
Not everyone has to work the same way you do, the same hours you do. People just need to get their job done, in whatever way works for them that’s low friction for others.
Thinking isn’t identical…in fact, everyone should be experts in their own domain.
Pace adjustments. Maybe you grind for a certain period of time, then switch to more creative thinking, then incubating, etc. I flow through cycles like this and every phase requires different energy.
Team size and resources. Some people will never have “enough” resources. Set expectations, align on realistic growth, and don’t be the one whining for unlimited budgets.
Where to Find & Hire People Who Bring the Vibe
This starts with the network you grow and where you put yourself. If you want a good vibe, you need to ensure you’re exposing yourself to a network that matches the energy of the environment you want to create.
As a leader, immerse yourself into diverse networking spaces.
99% of the hires I’ve personally made have been digging through my different network (both in person and online). This includes full-time employees, agencies, freelancers, etc.
I’m always referring people to great roles, too, to spread opportunity and nurture an ecosystem.
When people ask how to build their marketing team, I recommend THIS STRATEGY.
Embed yourself into the networks you want to attract when building your team. When you source from here, this tremendously reduces the odds of hiring someone who just isn’t the right vibe.
Be bold when it comes to growing your network so you’re in control of curating the vibe you want to exist in.
You need to simplify the connection process for yourself.
I always encourage the students I lecture at UW Madison Business School to ask for what they want because if they don’t, they won’t get it.
In one class, I offered intros: name an industry, and if I knew someone, I’d try to connect them. The first time I tried this, it only took a 10s of hesitation before one junior raised his hand and asked about sports.
Turns out, my college friend Justin was an early hire at WME Sports. I connected them in a group chat on the spot, before class ended.
I did this five more times. Because asking clearly and respectfully builds confidence, expands your network, and teaches you to speak up.
It’s a simple formula.
BTW – I’ve also made countless intros from people who want to get connected to someone they see mentioned here in my newsletter, so definitely reach out if that ever is the case for you.
Well, How’d I Do?
Some weeks I get super tactical: scraping micro-creator communities, building automated email strategies with 40M sends/mo, and on and on.
Whenever I’m starting to build something new, I’m immediately reminded that the vibe of the team, company and product is everything.
I want to live a happy life (I know you do too). That means we need to be happy at work and find the right vibes. I hope this was helpful as you think about giving the right energy to what you’re building and to who you’re building with.
When you vibe with what you do, it brings a golden glow to your life, and everything is just a little bit more magical.
I’m excited to enter this week on high vibes with you. Have a great week; see you next Sunday!
Julia
