The backers get 100% return after 2 months if employee stays on? That doesn’t sound bad to me, if I was convinced of the company’s trustworthiness there are a number of former coworkers I would definitely “bet on” to last more than 2 months.
I would not, nor would I want coworkers asking me for money. Imagine if someone asks you and for whatever reason you don't want to bet on them - how will that conversation go? How will that affect your professional relationship with that person?
This is more or less a proposal for nepotism-based gambling.
I like being concise; maybe better not ask concise people for recommendation letters
You want to find those people who the boss/co-workers thought were so good and amazing that they would put down $50 for.
I have had colleagues refer people they privately referred to as a "codebase wrecking monkey" to avoid telling that person no. But they would be willing to put down $50 for far fewer people.
Is it uncomfortable for the people asked? Probably. But that seemed to be the point, as those uncomfortable people would give a positive reference for free otherwise.
But even then, how often does that happen? Maybe one job in 5? You are still ahead if you are referring great candidates consistently.
I would feel embarrassed for both of us if a coworker reached out asking for me to put down $50 so they can get a job.
Not to mention I would never do it (as either party) because it feels very slimy.
This is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever seen on this site. Reminds me that even 'elites' like YCombinator (or at least as I've built them in my mind) are just humans who do stupid things sometimes too though, so that's cool.
Recently a friend of mine dealt with a dev who was hired without their input who didn't know anything meaningful, couldn't communicate well, and was hired without a tech interview when the department was in transition between managers. They were extremely painful to work with, and didn't seem to absorb any information or do anything helpful, but other devs tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking it might be a communication issue.
The guy's resume, though, showed job after job of only 3 to 4 month stints, and glowing recommendations from coworkers at each of those jobs. My bet is that each one didn't have the heart to say he wasn't a good developer, so they passed him on from place to place like the Christmas fruitcake no one wants and just mails to the next sucker. I'm guessing a lot of devs would've happily paid 50 bucks if it meant he went and worked somewhere else without anyone having to get him laid off.
It only expands income inequality and is frankly disgusting.
In fact, for anyone I would really recommend, and for a company like Google who I don’t think would be capricious, I’d do $100k. I want the money to be 3x though since this money will count as income and I can’t deduct the first bit, it’s just not worth it if I have to put in 1x and then get back 2x which is taxed at 48% meaning I start with x and end with 1.04x. That’s a 4% return? Not enough.
The problem is that the employer can’t afford my recommendation.
At $100k in, $300k out (which is $150k out, 50% gains) sure, I’ll play this game easy. But no less than that.
It’s still probably worth it though.