Zero to One_ Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future ( PDFDrive )

RECRUITING CONSPIRATORS
Recruiting is a core competency for any company. It should never be outsourced.
You need people who are not just skilled on paper but who will work together
cohesively after they’re hired. The first four or five might be attracted by large
equity stakes or high-profile responsibilities. More important than those obvious
offerings is your answer to this question: Why should the 20th employee join
your company?
Talented people don’t need to work for you; they have plenty of options. You
should ask yourself a more pointed version of the question: Why would someone
join your company as its 20th engineer when she could go work at Google for
more money and more prestige?
Here are some bad answers: “Your stock options will be worth more here than
elsewhere.” “You’ll get to work with the smartest people in the world.” “You can
help solve the world’s most challenging problems.” What’s wrong with valuable
stock, smart people, or pressing problems? Nothing—but every company makes
these same claims, so they won’t help you stand out. General and
undifferentiated pitches don’t say anything about why a recruit should join your
company instead of many others.
The only good answers are specific to your company, so you won’t find them
in this book. But there are two general kinds of good answers: answers about
your mission and answers about your team. You’ll attract the employees you
need if you can explain why your mission is compelling: not why it’s important
in general, but why you’re doing something important that no one else is going
to get done. That’s the only thing that can make its importance unique. At
PayPal, if you were excited by the idea of creating a new digital currency to
replace the U.S. dollar, we wanted to talk to you; if not, you weren’t the right fit.
However, even a great mission is not enough. The kind of recruit who would
be most engaged as an employee will also wonder: “Are these the kind of people
I want to work with?” You should be able to explain why your company is a
unique match for him personally. And if you can’t do that, he’s probably not the
right match.
Above all, don’t fight the perk war. Anybody who would be more powerfully
swayed by free laundry pickup or pet day care would be a bad addition to your
team. Just cover the basics like health insurance and then promise what no others
can: the opportunity to do irreplaceable work on a unique problem alongside
great people. You probably can’t be the Google of 2014 in terms of