Changing our Vision, Mission, and Principles: The New Era of Nova

How we are adapting our ultimate goals and culture to fuel a new phase of growth at Nova.

Nova

Ramón Rodrigáñez

, and

Andrea Marino

Nov 29, 2024

Hey, we are Ramón Rodrigáñez and Andrea Marino, Co-Founders at Nova, the Global Top Talent Network.

Welcome to Talent First, our newsletter where those who believe that talent is the most important resource in the economy get together.

Every week we cover a new topic related to attracting, hiring, developing, and retaining talent, as well as the learnings from our journey building Nova.

Summary:

As Nova evolves, so do its ultimate goal (vision), the way to accomplish that goal (mission), and the guiding principles of our culture. In this week’s issue, we explain how and why we have updated our Vision and Mission to align with a new growth phase and the evolution of our business model. We have also taken the opportunity to improve our Principles to make sure they foster the behaviors we want to see happening in the company.

1. How we decided to change our Vision, Mission, and Principles

Change is never easy, especially when it involves the foundational ideas that have driven you forward for years. However, as we have evolved our understanding of our business and our business model, it became clear that the Vision and Mission that had once guided us so effectively were no longer serving us as well. They weren’t misaligned, but they didn’t fully reflect where we are now or where we’re headed.

And the problem wasn’t just about our Vision and Mission. We also saw cracks forming in how our Principles, the behaviors we uphold as a team and that define our culture, were influencing our daily work. Some principles didn’t seem to inspire the changes we needed to see in our culture. Others had become so broad they lost impact, and the team was in clear need of new ones to keep growing and improving as an organization.

To tackle these questions head-on, we turned to our first management retreat, an offsite designed for uninterrupted, in-depth discussions that took place in October of this year. Organized by our Head of People, Cristina Mateo, it was a chance for the leadership team to reflect, debate, and align without the usual constraints of packed schedules and immediate deliverables.

The retreat gave us clarity. It reaffirmed the essence of Nova while pointing out where we needed to adapt: let us tell you exactly how.

2. A refreshed Vision: same soul but clearer focus

The Vision is the reason why a company exists, the ultimate goal its shareholders want to accomplish. For us, this journey started with a clear first place: to empower exceptional individuals to make the world better.

This is how we decided to exactly phrase our old Vision:

To find, empower, and connect the high potentials of the world so they can lead a more meritocratic, happier and more productive society.

At its core, this Vision remains true, but we’ve refined it for clarity. This is our new Vision:

To find, empower, and connect the most talented people in the world so they can lead a better society that is based on merit.

Since we launched Nova, we envision a future where, no matter where you are born or how much money your parents have, if you are talented, hard-working, and ambitious, through Nova there will be nothing you cannot do. By selecting individuals early in their careers and connecting them with others who can inspire them, we believe we can make access to the best careers more based on merit and less based on where are you born or who you are and your parents.

Thus, the idea of empowering and connecting exceptional people and that new world more based on merit has remained untouched in our Vision.

We have though simplified the language and removed words like “happier” and “productive” that, while noble, didn’t resonate deeply enough with our team and our concrete impact on the world. Hopefully, the new world led by Novas will be more productive and happier, but our main impact will be on meritocracy.

The soul of Nova remains untouched, but our direction is sharper and our Vision, crispier.

3. A new Mission: Connections >> Talent Agents

The biggest shift has come in our Mission: the "how" of achieving our Vision.

Our old Mission was as follows:

Become the agents of the most talented people in the world, helping them connect with each other, develop personally and professionally, and accelerate their careers so they reach their full potential.

Although the concept of the Talent Agent was powerful, in practice, it wasn’t working as well as we’d hoped. The “agent” model was too labor intensive, as it required a dedicated person from the Nova team to serve a group of 500-1500 Nova members in order to get to know them and support them in their careers. Our revenue model was not able to sustain such a cost. Moreover, many members didn’t fully understand what was a “Talent Agent” and what could they expect from one vs. a coach, a mentor, or a headhunter. The effort required to deliver this model was pulling us in too many directions, so we decided to change it with our latest Operating Model change.

Our new Mission is more adapted to what Nova really does best:

To connect the most talented people in the world through a merit-based professional network.

The change reflects a critical insight: connection is Nova’s superpower. It’s the single greatest value we offer to our members, whether that’s connecting them with a friend, a mentor, a co-founder, an employer, or an investor.

At a time when the main professional social platform (LinkedIn) is feeling increasingly crowded, spammy, and focused on content creators who want to create audiences, we believe there is space for an alternative professional network more based on connections than content and with a focus on quality over quantity (both in terms of members but also interactions).

We spent countless hours debating this shift during the retreat. What makes Nova unique? What do we do better than anyone else? Ultimately, we realized our mission isn’t about managing every aspect of a member’s career—it’s about being the bridge that helps them achieve their goals. And those goals are almost always achieved through connections.

With this change of focus, we will be also soon updating our website. We are considering:

Headline: Connect with your next _____
- A carousel will appear shifting through different types of connections at Nova: mentor, co-founder, investor, mentee, employer, employee, etc.
Description: Nova is the global top talent network. Whatever your professional goals are, at Nova you will find the connections to reach them.

4. Our new Principles: changing the behaviors to improve our culture

At Nova, we take our culture very seriously. We have always believed it's a core part of our success and most likely one of the things we have done better in these 5 years as entrepreneurs.

People say that “Culture is what people do when you are not there”. We think this is totally true. But how do you shape people’s behaviors?

For us, the answer has been through a clear set of Principles. Contrary to values, which are closer to the ultimate “reasons” why people do things (and thus to the Mission of the company, which we believe is clear enough), since we launched Nova we preferred to have Principles that clearly guided how people should behave.

Principles are thus at the core of the culture of Nova because they are the behaviors that shape our daily decisions and our interactions, the ideas that should guide decision-making when we are not there.

When we looked at our old Principles, set in January 2020, we saw room for improvement. Some felt redundant or overly broad, while others didn’t address the behaviors we wanted to encourage moving forward.

The old Principles

The old Nova Principles on the wall at our old office

We used to have the following 12 Principles:

#1 Member Obsession

Members are our North Star. They are our most valuable asset and we do whatever is needed to empower them and ensure the best possible experience at every touch point. We earn their trust.

#2 Passionate and energetic

We are passionate about people and we love what we do. We are passionate and energetic, always shining bright, and willing to have fun at work. A positive attitude is a must.

#3 Excellence

We work with the highest standards and we are continually raising the bar. We deliver high-quality services and processes. Our brand and reputation depend on us being the best at everything we do.

#4 Hire and develop only Novas

We hire and develop Novas. Managers develop other leaders and take seriously their role in coaching and making them grow.

#5 Impact

The positive impact is part of our value chain. We are always willing to go one step further to help people who need us, both inside and outside the Nova community.

#6 Humbleness

We are sincerely open-minded, genuinely listen, and are willing to examine their strongest convictions with humility. We are humble enough to admit mistakes and reconsider decisions. From the CEO to our interns, everybody is expected to help, even in the most boring tasks.

#7 Innovation & bias for action

We are expected to innovate and are always willing to test new products and services. We are always curious and look for new ideas everywhere. We are fast to think, iterate, and execute.

#8 Data-driven

We measure and analyze everything. All decisions need to be based on facts and data.

#9 Big Ambition

We believe thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. We always aim for the stars. We want to create an amazing company that will be the global synonym for talent.

#10 Frugality

We try not to spend resources on things that don’t matter to members or clients. Frugality breeds resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. Frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do.

#11 Ownership & autonomy

We are owners. We think long term and we act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just our own team. We never say “That’s not my job”. We try to be autonomous, only asking for help when really needed.

#12 Challenge & critical thinking

From the CEO to the intern, we are expected to respectfully challenge decisions when disagreeing, even when doing so is uncomfortable. Once a decision is determined, we commit wholly.

Inspired by companies like Capchase and Cobee, which had trimmed their values or principles to only 3, we initially considered trimming the list to just a few core principles to make them more memorable.

But we also admire Amazon, whose detailed principles have been instrumental in its success. After much debate, we decided to stick with a longer list, one that’s detailed enough to guide behavior clearly, while remaining aspirational.

The changes in Principles

We have generally been very happy about our culture and the way our team has behaved, so we have been able to simply change the name or combine some principles together. For instance:

“Humbleness” and “Excellence” now live under one principle, as they complement each other naturally. They have become “Humble Top Performers” to better reflect the balance of humility and high standards we expect.
“Innovation and bias for action” has become Fearless Explorers, emphasizing a mindset of possibility and openness to challenges, and the text has evolved to a culture of “yes before no”.
We added “Caring and Transparent Teammates”, which was already a core part of our identity but was not clearly reflected in any principle.

However, we have utilized the revision of the Principles to address the changes our culture needed. In particular, we have introduced 3 important new principles:

“Goal Getters”: At Nova, we’ve faced challenges in consistently achieving our goals. Too often, we set overly ambitious targets, aiming to inspire greater effort, but this sometimes leads to complacency, where hitting 80% becomes acceptable instead of striving for 100%. To address this, we collaborated with our teams to establish ambitious yet realistic goals designed to instill a strong results-oriented mindset. By sharpening our focus and enabling teams to consistently beat their targets, we expect to fuel motivation and increase energy.
“Bar Baisers”: we have the feeling we have not always raised the bar in our hiring and promotion processes. We have sometimes been ok with good but not great people, partially because of our cash constraints and lack of capacity to pay higher salaries, partially because of a lack of intentionality on this matter. A- people hire B people who hire C people. Going forward, we want to raise the bar with every hire and every promotion and have a smaller but better team of only A+ people. This principle commits us to raising the bar with every hire, every promotion, and every process.
“Marathon Runners”: we are here with a very long-term mindset and we believe only the people who take this with such a mindset can have an impact. People like Elías, Dani, Cristina, Magnus, Cristian, or María have been with us for 3 or more years and have had a tremendous impact on the company.

With the intention of leaving a manageable number of principles, we also removed 2:

Data-driven: While important, this is now considered a given rather than a Principle. Our company is already built in a way where you cannot escape the data.
Impact: Intrinsic to our mission, this felt more like a goal or a value than a behavior, so we decided to remove it. Rarely did we celebrate someone on acting based on Impact, even if our teams often collaborate in volunteering and social impact activities.

Finally, we decided to rephrase all Principles to follow an “adjective + noun” format (e.g., “true owners,” “ambitious dreamers”). This consistency makes them easier to remember and brings an energy that reflects the Nova spirit.

The new Principles

With all these changes, this is how our new set of 12 Principles looks like:

#1 Members Advocates

Members are our North Star. They are our most valuable asset and we do whatever is needed to empower them and ensure the best possible experience at every touch point. We earn their trust.

#2 Humble Top Performers

We are sincerely open-minded and are willing to examine our strongest convictions with humility. We admit mistakes and reconsider decisions. We are self-aware and know our strengths. From the CEO to our interns, everybody is expected to help, even in the most boring tasks. We work with the highest standards. We deliver high-quality services and processes.

#3 Bar Raisers

We embrace the philosophy of getting 1% better every day, knowing that small, consistent gains lead to significant results over time. We raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. Managers develop other leaders and take their role in coaching and making them grow seriously.

#4 Goal Getters

We are driven by a commitment to deliver measurable, impactful outcomes. We set clear goals and hold ourselves accountable for achieving them, always focusing on the end result. Our success is defined not by effort alone, but by the tangible progress we make. We prioritize actions that lead to meaningful results for our members, clients, and the company.

#5 Ambitious Dreamers

We believe thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. We always aim for the stars. We want to create an amazing company that will be the global synonym for talent.

#6 Marathon Runners

We play the long game, recognizing that building something great takes time, perseverance, and lots of hard work. We are committed to sustained effort and continuous growth, not short-term wins.

#7 True Owners

We are true owners of our work. We think long term and we act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just our own team. We never say “That’s not my job”. We try to be autonomous, only asking for help when really needed. We make things happen.

#8 Fearless Explorers

We approach every challenge with a mindset of possibilities. Before saying no, we explore every potential path to a solution. We foster a culture of openness and problem-solving, believing that great opportunities often lie beyond the first hurdle. We have a “yes” before “no” attitude towards challenges.

#9 Critical Challengers

From the CEO to the intern, we are expected to respectfully challenge decisions when disagreeing, even when doing so is uncomfortable. Once a decision is determined, we commit wholly.

#10 Lean Achievers

We try to do more with less. We do not spend resources on things that don’t matter to members or clients. Frugality breeds resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. Frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do.

#11 Caring and Transparent Teammates

We put people first by listening deeply and understanding their needs. We care for each other and our community, treating everyone with kindness and respect. Open and honest communication is at the heart of our culture. We provide candid feedback to help each other grow, improve, and succeed while maintaining respect and positivity.

#12 Passionate People