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From Friends to Founders: Building Professional Structures in Startups

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What happens when a group of university friends builds a successful games studio, and when the company grows they need to transform friendship dynamics into professional practices?

and how do you introduce HR processes, performance reviews, and organizational hierarchy without losing the magic that made the business work in the first place?

In this episode, Keith Arrowsmith and Tacita Small speak to David White, People and Culture Manager at Junkfish, about the challenges of joining an established startup built by friends. Junkfish is an independent games development studio based in the UK and Singapore. Arriving at the ten-year mark, David faced the task of bringing definition, structure, and professional maturity to a business that had thrived on informal relationships.

From conducting individual interviews with every team member to define a company-wide vision, to creating behavioral charts across seven categories, David shares how he helped translate what existed organically into a universal language suitable for sustained growth. He explores managing bias when line managers are best friends with their reports, the importance of active listening, and why value-based interviewing helps protect cherished startup culture while welcoming outsiders.

With honest insights about managing bias and creating clear boundaries, this conversation provides a roadmap for creative businesses navigating the transition from informal to professional without losing their soul.

The WorkWise for Screen podcast is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery Funding.

This episode covers:

  • Defining mission, vision, values, and organisational identity for the first time
  • Managing bias when managers are friends with their team members
  • Translating informal practices into formal policies and processes
  • Active listening and meeting people where they're at during times of change
  • The problem of people wearing multiple hats and creating clear boundaries

Episode Topics

Introduction to Workwise for Screen Podcast with Keith and Tacita, the importance of building an organisational identity and defining roles and responsibilities in a startup. (00:00 - 07:14)

How to build a professional culture and implement behavioral standards when they weren’t there before. (07:14 - 11:57)

How to manage change and communication whilst implementing professional standards, conclusions with Keith and Tacita, resources available on the WorkWise for Screen website.  (11:57 - end)

Episode Highlights

" It's almost like translating English to English a little bit, where we take kind of what's been told of us of the original vision of the company. Modernise it because it has scaled up because the ambitions have grown. Because the reality is the company did grow and by the time I joined, it was bigger than just the original people that started it. And I think the original people that started it did recognise that there was value that was getting brought with every new person that joined." - David White (08:00)

“ How do you manage things like bias? How do you manage things like proper processes for performance, proper pro processes for attendance, proper processes for all these different types of things that suddenly, oh, I have these things to report. I have to do an annual review for somebody. I have to have this meeting about performance, or I have to be discussed with regard that there's maybe a disciplinary that I need to be involved in that. Those are types of things that. Perhaps wasn't necessarily on the radar before and now they're all coming in. So that's those areas where you have to kind of essentially build the company up to be able to operate at a more professional level in factoring those things in.” - David White (10:00) 

"I always say ask why five times. It's guidance I give to managers... Probe, find out where those original insecurities are coming from and meet people where they're at. Listen, listen to what worries they have." - David White (16:00)

"It's a really, really scary thing to welcome new people into something that you've potentially cherished... There is an element of risk where you bring in new people and it creates problems that sometimes might be irreparable, especially if it's a really small business." - David White (20:00)

"You basically need to prepare for potentially a lot of problems. Not to say that necessarily you're going to face every one of them, but if you prepare for them all, you've got more likelihood of being able to enjoy and reap the rewards of the growing team." - David White (21:00)

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