Cultural-Fit-ology: The Final Four Contenders for Best Company Culture in Tech

We’ve reached the Final Four in OpenView’s Cultural-Fit-ology March Madness tournament. Who will be crowned the organization with the best company culture in tech? You decide by casting your vote!

And then there were four. Google, HubSpot, Dropbox, and SEOmoz. One of these companies will be the champion of OpenView’s first ever Cultural-Fit-ology March Madness Tournament. But first they have to make it through another tough head-to-head matchup in the semi-finals.
There were no easy roads to the Final Four. These contenders had to get through two highly competitive rounds to separate themselves from a field of a dozen rival top tech companies, each known for their amazing company cultures and considered some of the most highly sought-after places to work in the country.
Here is a look at the complete tournament bracket:

Let’s take a closer look at the four semi-finalists and their paths to get to this point:
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The only thing left is to decide who goes to the championship on Friday. We asked HR leadership pros and Fistful of Talent alums Kathy Rapp and William Tincup to sound off on their own predictions for the two semi-final matchups, and we encourage you to add your own to the comments. Make your calls and place your votes below!

Update: The final results are in. Find out who was crowned this year’s Cultural-Fit-ology Champion.

(2) Google vs. (1) HubSpot

Google fought its way through arguably the tournament’s toughest region (Silicon Valley) to arrive in the Final Four, but the search giant runs into a company on a roll. HubSpot sailed through the Northeast region, dominating both Wayfair and Fab. Can it make it three big wins in a row or will Google assert its dominance and pronounce the search for our first finalist over?
It’s East Coast vs. West Coast. Established giant vs. hot up-and-comer. Decide who moves on by casting your vote!
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Calls from the Booth
@KatRapp’s prediction: Google
As much as I’d love to go with the underdog here, HubSpot lost me when I opened the beer fridge and found no Shiner! You cannot have a serious beer fridge with Budweiser, either (the redeeming quality was I think I saw some Lone Star and Red Stripe). Plus, I’ve been to “Googleland” and have to say there is something special about the place. Perhaps it was the guys playing sand volleyball at 10am?
@williamtincup’s prediction: HubSpot
HubSpot is the new Salesforce.com. Google is closer to Microsoft than not. If you want a rocket-ship HubSpot is where I would focus. Google will occasionally come out with cool things but they are a mature firm — hard to think about it that way but true. My pick is HubSpot.

(2) Dropbox vs. (3) SEOmoz

Dropbox secured its spot in the semis by edging out cross-town rival Twitter, creator of one of the most talked-about recruiting videos of all time. Here, it faces off against what might be the hottest company in the tournament, SEOmoz. After coming from behind to stun Amazon at the buzzer in the “Battle for Seattle” in Round 1, SEOmoz torched fellow giant-killer Rackspace (who had pulled off a huge upset of Zappos) to advance past Round 2.
Can SEOmoz keep its momentum going? Or will Dropbox prevail? One thing is for certain — there’s not enough space in the final for the two of them. Vote to determine who moves on!
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Calls from the Booth
@KatRapp’s prediction: Dropbox
Come on. They beat out Twitter! Love that the CEO’s last name is Houston and their motto of “you’re smart, figure it out.” Done. SEOmoz almost had me with the TAGFEE code and gut checks, but the crepes (umm… “cream puffs”) and Roger the robot mascot doesn’t do it for me. He needs to hang with Clutch, the Houston Rocket’s mascot who can do a flying 360, behind-the-back dunk! We are talking B-Ball after all!
@williamtincup’s prediction: Dropbox
This is an easy pick. Dropbox is a true innovator — they allow us to share data in a way that fits our needs. It’s easy to use, easy to consume, easy to make fit around our needs. Dropbox equals innovation, and that is woven through the culture of the organization. My pick is Dropbox.
 
The results of the two polls will be counted on Friday, when we’ll host the championship match to determine who has the best company culture in tech. Who do you think will make the final? Leave your predictions below!
Download a PDF copy of the tournament bracket here.
The Championship Round is live! Cast your vote to determine the winner here.