Love vs Respect. Here is what made PayPal prosper.
The Traitorous Eight as the founders of the most powerful tech companies coming out of the Silicon Valleys are called were famous for their hiring of people that have a close cultural match with. Or at least that’s what the urban legend says.
Mafia member Max Levchin in a Quarts interview recounted how he chose not to hire a job applicant after he said he played hoops (the PayPal founders prefer chess).
Recent media has stated that Max’s wisdom has been lost in misinterpretation over the years.
I don’t find this to be the complete truth. There is no doubt that in their earlier more audacious years the Treacherous Eight saw themselves as unique prodigies and only looked to hang out with like minded
There is also no doubt that over the years and as their companies approached maturity their attitude towards hiring has evolved evolved. What works for a young startup and young founders with boiling blood is not necessarily applicable for seasoned executives and companies who have gone beyond the initial scaling process. And there is no doubt that some of the most advanced thinkers in The Silicon valley could not afford the benefit of changing their minds.
Max’s current approach towards hiring is beautiful and exemplary for every startup. He makes a clear distinction between looking for founders who merely love each other and looking for founders who respect each other
“Merely” loving each other like brothers sisters best friend doesn’t work for Max as a recipe for creating the best startup team. He rather stands for respecting each other’s intelligence in each field even if they won’t invite for each other’s birthdays:
What made PayPal different was that in the crucible of a really difficult moment we’d say, ‘you’re the best in finance, you’re the best in engineering. We’re going to completely trust your opinion because we know you’re the best and we trust your area of expertise.
This brings us to another extraordinary moment. this recipe for matchmaking between founders and core team members clearly allows room for error — as long as everyone’’s decision is based on one’s finest instinct and knowledge in his respective domain.
When people love each other an error can be fatal and can lead to dismantling of the team.
But when you are convinced that the person next to you is the best at his job you are also relaxed with the fact that what he does he does on the basis of his own best judgement even if you do not approve that decision. This mindset brings startup to a more fluid flat organizational structure where everyone is a CEO of his own department taken that all departments are greased and focused towards the customer as a main goal.
Ask yourself next time — Do you love your co-founder or do you respect him? Is love and emotional affection what binds you together or trust in the other person’s rack?
That sort of trust may sound radical but it is what helped PayPal weather through its worst past crisis.
