Culture is one of those buzzwords that startups love to talk about, praise themselves for, and use to recruit new hires. In my opinion it’s all (or mostly) hype, because true company culture can’t be forced. It’s not a ping-pong table, Thirsty Thursdays, or a vision board with beautiful printouts of inspirational statements that your employees stare at all day long. I’ve done that; trust me, it doesn’t work.

Real culture is the outcome of the team you put together. It’s the result of the core values that drive your company and business decisions. Culture is built from the top down and bottom up. Here’s how you can foster its natural growth.

1. Start with your goals.

What’s the problem your business is trying to solve? That answer is what should drive your company’s core values. At my company, we’re trying to connect people to help them build authentic relationships. The outcome is business development in person (imagine that). I am passionate about that and believe in what we are doing. This energy trickles down to the whole team. And, as CEO and cofounder, it’s vital that I have personal relationships and real connections with everyone on my team.

For an interviewee trying to gain insight into a company’s culture, I think the most important thing to ask is, What problem are you trying to solve and why is it important to you? The way a candidate answers that question will tell you more info about a company than vacation policies and office space.

2. Listen to your employees.

Welcome honest feedback–people need to be unafraid to say what’s necessary and feel that you heard them. Yes, a leader needs to be a decision maker, but true leadership is letting your team dictate what is most important for company morale. Maybe the staff doesn’t want to take an hour off their busy week for a group yoga class. Maybe having a company happy hour to meet a new hire is higher on their list. Ask questions to get insight into what’s important to them. Feeling heard is what makes people feel happy and satisfied at work. By the way, don’t think of the team as your “employees” or “resources”. They’re truly your “team”.

3. Hire the right people.

Hire people who truly care about your company’s mission and align with your personal values. The secret to building culture is flipping the script–it’s when your employees are constantly thinking, How can I make this place better on my own? When you hire people with a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, who are intelligent and want to be a part of something that they will impact, they begin to think outside the box of their job description and work harder to make your company a best place to work. My favorite interview question to suss this out: What would you like to do here that I haven’t thought about? Remember, people will work long and hard to solve problems. But they will kill themselves to solve problems they care about.

4. Embrace the uniqueness of your team.

Not all startups are alike. Culture isn’t something that you can force down people’s throats and there shouldn’t be an unspoken requirement to wear flip flops and Snapchat glasses just because you read it’s what the cool kids are doing in Silicon Valley. For example, when I see a gigantic white shoed massive professional service organization all of a sudden forcing jeans on “casual Fridays,” because their firm wants to be perceived as a hip place to work, it comes across as contrived. Embrace the geekiness, the seriousness, or the innovativeness of your different employees. A homogenous culture is how people get stuck in the wrong organization for them.

5. Remember having fun is important, but it’s not everything.

At the end of the day, this is still work. You’re running a business, not a social club (unless your business IS running a social club). Some companies are so focused on creating culture that they prioritize that over making tough business decisions (i.e. summer Fridays are great, but can really drain resources for a startup). Don’t overthink it–don’t put pressure on yourself and your employees to be the “cool” company. Drive a performance based organization and always set goals for the team and yourself. If you have great people that are the right fit for the problem being solved, great things and a wonderful culture will happen naturally.