Creating an Entrepreneurial Startup Culture
mikekarnj.com
mikekarnj.com
I understand that there can be a 10x difference between the worst and best coders, so a company should absolutely hire the very best people it can. However, there's real value to longevity and loyalty. Even very talented, very driven people perform better in their second or third year in an organization than in their first as they build domain knowledge and relationships. It seems like many startups have a kind of institutional ADHD which keeps them from understanding this.
I'm more frustrated with the idea that we're encouraging everyone with talent to be permanent generalists flitting from one idea to another, never getting a deep understanding of one organization or specialty. The "find smart people and figure it out" approach is great if your ambition is medium-sized, but you can't build the next amazon without eventually needing longevity and specialization.
On that note, the "only hire entrepreneurs" thing is just stupid. Yes, everyone wants to hire creative people that can do everything well with little direction. But here in the real world, most people don't meet that description, and many that do want want to work for you. Then what?