2026
 speaker
2026

Founder & CEO of Athyna

Bill Kerr

DecorativeDecorative

Bill Kerr

Founder & CEO

Athyna

Hey there! I’m the founder and CEO of Athyna, a global talent company helping startups build great teams, and the founder of Open Source CEO, a media company for founders, investors and leaders in tech.

I’ve spent the last decade building companies, working with founders and obsessing over what makes great businesses tick. Along the way, I’ve become a top-ranked mentor at Startmate and worked with startups around the world. I’m particularly interested in leadership, culture and brand, and how founders can use all three to attract incredible people, build companies people genuinely want to work for, and hopefully have a bit of fun doing it.

Catch
Bill Kerr
live.
Online.
3 September.
One pass. Every session. 12 months of replay access.
Get Your Pass

Session Details

Building & Maintaining World-Class Culture in 2026

TRACK
2. Talent Systems
12:00 pm
12:45 pm

Everyone says culture matters. Almost nobody can tell you how to build it when your team is fully remote and spread across a dozen time zones. At Athyna, we've done it the hard way, and the highest-leverage move wasn't ping pong tables or offsites. It was giving our people real ownership through equity.

In this session, I'll break down what actually builds and holds world-class culture in 2026: ownership, high standards, and rewarding the people who go hard.

What you'll leave with:

  1. Why real ownership through equity is the highest-leverage culture lever most companies ignore, and how to actually structure it so that it's not a burden on your team.
  2. How to build and hold a high-standards, high-trust culture across a fully remote, global team.
  3. The practical stuff: who to hire, how to reward your best people, and the quiet mistakes that kill culture before you notice.

Tickets

One pass. A whole year of SPS.

Get yours before the next price increase!

00
Days
00
Hours
00
Minutes
00
Seconds

Your pass gets you more than just one day. You get the full live experience, 12 months of on-demand replay, your event workbook, and guided networking designed to help you build a peer community that lasts well beyond the day.

Choose Your Pass

Bringing your whole team? A company pass covers everyone in your startup for one flat fee, with 12 months replay included. The smartest People team investment of the year at a fraction of individual ticket cost. 

Can't join live due to a full schedule or a different timezone? A replay pass gets you the full session library after the event which means every session and every speaker is yours to watch at a time that suits you. It's not the same as being in the room, but it means you won't miss a thing.

Tickets are dropping in stages, and the price steps up as each release sells out, so the earlier you get in, the less you pay for the same day.

Need a little flexibility? BNPL options are available at checkout.

Most attendee's choose to use their L&D budget for their ticket, and Startup People Summit is easily expensed. Here's a template to help you make the case to your boss.

Stay in the know

Sign up and we'll keep you posted on important event updates, speaker announcements, agenda drops, ticket releases, and more.

🙌  You're on the list. Keep an eye on your inbox.
Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again.