Great post & it's totally true that company culture mirrors that of founders. I think this works through 3 mechanisms:
(1) Employees tend to ape founders, so whatever founders care about & value (in their actions) tends to filter down.
(2) Getting aspects of culture to stick (e.g. transparency) is hard, and requires real commitment from founders. So whatever sticks will tend to be whatever founders care enough to really push through.
(3) Founders tend to hire people who are 'like them', so a critical mass of employees end up being very similar to the founders.
(1) Employees tend to ape founders, so whatever founders care about & value (in their actions) tends to filter down.
(2) Getting aspects of culture to stick (e.g. transparency) is hard, and requires real commitment from founders. So whatever sticks will tend to be whatever founders care enough to really push through.
(3) Founders tend to hire people who are 'like them', so a critical mass of employees end up being very similar to the founders.