If the Shoe Fits: Talent — Expendable or Dependable
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
It’s a short post today, because there are a number of links well worth reading.
Way back in 2008 I wrote It’s the People, Stupid, about the value of taking care of your people, as exemplified by Zappos, Costco and Trader Joe’s.
I’ve written many posts citing Walmart’s chew-them-up/spit-them-out lack of care and how banks, Yelp, HubSpot and Nest, among others, are following the Walmart model.
Dan Lyons, who spent two years at HubSpot, has written a book about his experiences called “Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble.”
You can get a sense of how HubSpot chews and spits from his opinion piece in the NY Times.
The upshot of all this is that you, as a founder, have a choice as to which model you’ll emulate.
Walmart or Zappos.
Just understand that you can’t switch from one to the other based on the employment market or your mood.
Image credit: HikingArtist