EP43 - Poaching talent
My competitors love to talk about their "grind culture."
They boast about their golden handcuffs and 90-hour work weeks.
They think squeezing their talent is a sign of strength.
They see their employees as costs to be managed. I see them as assets that can walk away.
They trap a 20-year veteran with a complex equity plan he can't liquidate.
They save a few million on his comp and think they're geniuses.
Then one day, the one who actually originates the deals, gets a call. He realizes his cage is made of paper.
He walks.
And that "cost-saving" just created a nine-figure hole in their next fund.
They try to buy him back. They offer him 100x what it would have cost to just treat him right. He still says no.
My strategy is different.
I find my true superstars, and I pay them obscene amounts of money.
I give them liquidity. I give them respect. I give them a platform.
It looks expensive to my rivals.
But my firm has become a sanctuary. A landing pad for the best talent my competitors burn out.
They do the hard work of training them. They foster the resentment. Then I poach the finished product.
My single greatest source of talent is my competitors' stupidity.
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Context
Business is not always evil. There are so many asymmetrical ways to profit in business and many people just rather be an asshole to people.
Why wasn't it done more often? Because it make too much sense.
This post references the history of Mark Zuckerberg trying to pay a researcher $100M+ to get him back.
The irony is that this researcher used to work for Facebook and was paid fractions of the most recent offer.
Lesson? It is expensive not taking care of good people.
If we can't avoid evil in this world, at least try to punish people by making it an expensive decision.