[Editor's note: This is an op-ed piece by Bernard Moon, vice president of holding company The Lunsford Group.]

Last week I was having lunch with a senior person involved with Facebook and asked him about the recent departure of some of their key people. His response: “Facebook just doesn’t have the right culture. They’re not a Google or Microsoft.”

This statement kicked off an interesting conversation. My lunch companion argued that a company’s culture and founding values are significant factors in a startup’s march towards long-term success. We also touched on the importance of leadership in a startup, and whether Facebook has the right team running it to become the next Google.

Later that week, my colleague, Dan Wooldridge, who provides leadership consulting to established enterprises when he’s not busy with the operations of our various entities, brought up the founding of Sony. Dan told the story of how in 1946, as Japan was rebuilding itself after World War II, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita started Sony with just a mission, before an actual product was made. Ibuka wrote:

The first and primary motive for setting up this company was to create a stable work environment where engineers who had a deep and profound appreciation for technology could realize their societal mission and work to their heart’s content.

They also stated that they wanted to:

• Establish an idea factory that stresses a spirit of freedom and open-mindedness, and where engineers with sincere motivation can exercise their technological skills to the highest level.
• Reconstruct Japan and elevate the nation’s culture through dynamic technological and manufacturing activities.

It is amazing that Ibuka and Morita had the fortitude and long-term perspective to accomplish these founding goals. Although it took decades, Sony did eventually elevate Japan’s national reputation in the world as a leader in technology and consumer products. This was a reflection of Ibuka and Morita’s strength in leadership, of their values, and of how they created a corporate culture where stated values led to tangible behavior and results.

These two discussions made me think about various companies I’ve encountered over the years, and how their core values, leadership, and related factors drove them to become the titans of their industry.

Cultivate your core values. What enduring core values do you want your startup to live by? How do you plan to execute on them? One of Google’s core values was having the smartest, most competent people working there. Google executed on this by requiring job applicants to submit their college transcripts and standardized test scores (i.e., SAT, GRE, GMAT), and having minimum standards for GPAs. Google even requires this for senior hires, when most companies stop asking for transcripts above the middle manager level.

I always thought this was impractical—since some talented and successful executives do not have the best GPAs—but Google sticks with this measurement as a method to execute on its core value. I admire that, even though I don’t completely agree with Google’s implementation. (Yes, Google makes some exceptions to this guideline, but generally stands by these requirements.)

Another value is being “Googley.” When Googlers interview a candidate, they have to ask themselves, “Is this person Googley? Are they nice? Is this someone I want to work with?” It’s rare for companies to ask such questions, but this is something the founders wanted to be a part of Google’s culture. Of course the company has experienced tremendous growth over the years—from approximately 3,000 in 2004 to over 19,000 in 2008—so it is more difficult to execute on this value (I’ve met a fair amount of Googlers who aren’t so Googley), but it’s still commendable to stick to this philosophy.

Being Googley might not have helped Oracle grow into one of the largest software companies, since its market probably