Good morning. Varun Krishna is running one of the boldest culture experiments in corporate America—and every CEO managing a legacy workforce should be watching. The Silicon Valley veteran has spent three years as CEO of Rocket Companies deliberately fusing West Coast talent density with Detroit grit, a bet he’s now scaling across $16 billion in acquisitions and a 500,000-listing alliance with Compass.
“Silicon Valley places a premium on intellect and intellect alone with the idea that, if you get a group of smart people together, you’re likely to win,” he told me. “Detroit’s success is a function of that, but it is also a function of tenacity, grit, perseverance, and belief.”
Krishna’s goal has been to blend the best of both. He’s come to appreciate the loyalty and commitment that characterizes Rocket’s culture. In Silicon Valley, he says, “you start to realize a lot of the talent is job hunting every 18 months.” But given that he estimates it can take five years to build something that’s truly transformative, loyalty is the virtue he’s trying to cultivate. “People work here because they like the culture. Mortgages are more the how, whereas the what is around home ownership.”
At Rocket, “data and evidence win all arguments,” Krishna says, pointing to Rocket’s acquisitions of Redfin and Mr. Cooper for $16 billion last year as examples of big bets. The company’s recent alliance with Compass to bring more than 500,000 new listings to the Redfin platform and transform the seller experience is another example.
