A mission statement should encapsulate the core purpose of the company, while long-term goals provide a framework for its future direction. Stripe's mission is to enhance the experience of developers integrating their payment solutions, as they are the core users of Stripe's tools and documentation.

Having a clear vision is essential for creating a strong one-sentence pitch that succinctly explains what your company does.

We realized that the most important step in starting a company is defining your mission, which serves as a compass for your direction, rather than just focusing on technology or funding.

It's important to communicate your company's mission and core values clearly, as everyone should know them by heart to ensure alignment in decision-making.

Founding documents, including a clear mission statement and long-term goals, are essential for guiding a startup's direction and purpose.

Writing down the company's mission, operating principles, and long-term goals helps crystallize them for everyone in the organization.

Draft a one-sentence pitch that clearly states what you're building and who it's for, using jargon-free language.

After much brainstorming, we decided that Ginkgo's mission would be to make biology easier to engineer, which defines us as a company beyond just our business model or products. The only reason to start a company is if there's a problem you're passionate about solving and you have a mission to accomplish.

The culture at GitHub was shaped by the people we hired, and it's important to codify that culture for effective communication.