Read on Twitter
Breaking down my recent post:
1/ @scale_AI, I interviewed everyone we gave an offer to for a long time. I wrote a memo to the company about what I look for. I wanted to share it with the community because I don’t think people do this enough.
Thread
https://alexw.substack.com/p/hire
1/ @scale_AI, I interviewed everyone we gave an offer to for a long time. I wrote a memo to the company about what I look for. I wanted to share it with the community because I don’t think people do this enough.
Thread
https://alexw.substack.com/p/hire
2/ I mainly screen for one key thing: giving a shit. To be more specific, there’s actually two things to screen for:
1. they give a shit about Scale, and
2. they give a shit about their work in general.
1. they give a shit about Scale, and
2. they give a shit about their work in general.
3/ One very scary thing to me is Scale becoming a credential rather than a cult.
Institutions like Harvard or MIT are credentials—people go there because it signals to others that the person is smart, capable, or otherwise prestigious.
The best companies maintain cult status.
Institutions like Harvard or MIT are credentials—people go there because it signals to others that the person is smart, capable, or otherwise prestigious.
The best companies maintain cult status.
4/ The danger 
Before you know it, the majority of the company begins to resemble a university: there’s a constant churn of smart but uninvolved people who stay for a few years, and never dive deep enough to do meaningful work.
Before you know it, the majority of the company begins to resemble a university: there’s a constant churn of smart but uninvolved people who stay for a few years, and never dive deep enough to do meaningful work.
5/ More importantly, if someone you're interviewing has never been deeply obsessed about something before, then it’s a bad bet to think your company will be the first.
6/ One of the worst trends in Silicon Valley is conflating the company’s culture with the company’s cosmetics.
Don't make that mistake.
Find a company where people give a shit.
Build a company where people give a shit.
Don't make that mistake.
Find a company where people give a shit.
Build a company where people give a shit.
