Why smart folks work for dying companies
A Dying Elephant metaphor will help you crack this puzzle
A lot of smart folks work for dying companies. Surprising, considering a lot has been written about career planning — where to work and where not to work. Let’s unpack the elephant metaphor to understand why it happens.
An elephant dying with Cancer
It is a metaphor that does a great job of explaining all parts of moving pieces here.
First, we don’t call a small, barely funded startup an elephant. An elephant is a big bulky animal, and so are the companies we’d call elephants.
Second, cancer captures the idea of inevitability. With the science we have now, unfortunately, cancer is a death sentence. A man gets infected with cancer and dies gradually and eventually. Without a doubt! Relevant data: the probability of revival of a dying company is not better than the survival rate of cancer patients. Moreover, unlike the quick death of road accidents, cancer kills its target slowly. Similarly, companies never die in a day; they die slowly.
Third, slow death, even though inevitable, play tricks; It punishes with false hope. People do get a shimmer of hope from cancer treatment. Similarly, an employee working in a company sees the light at the end of the tunnel even though it is just a mirage. They end up behaving like a metaphorical frog.
Fourth, after death, the elephant is a feast for other animals. An elephant dies, and hyaenas, vultures, and big cats feast on it for days. Similarly, a dying or dead company has a lot of meat to feed vultures and big cats. A lot of folks stick around for the meat they get for the effort they put in.
Of Elephants and Employees
Having unpacked the elephant metaphor, let’s get deeper into smart folks who work in a dying company. Broadly, they can be grouped into three categories:
- Don Quixote: People with the belief that they can turn around the company. They are the Don Quixote of the tech world. We know that it is a mistaken belief. Probabilistically, it is near to impossible.
- Zombies: The stream and vagaries of life got them there, and they do not attempt to change the course. Some of these people are pretty good specialized workers. We can put temporary immigrant (H1B) folks here as well. External condition forces them to stay there. Let’s call them zombies — they don’t live; they are not self-aware, and are brain-dead. They just exist.
- Vultures and Hyanaes: People who are feasting on the resources. They know what they are doing. Good for them; however, it won’t hurt to have a plan B. Most common mistake here is to mistake yourself for high flying vultures. If you are not a top executive, you are not a vulture; you belong to group two.
Closing thought
For folks on groups 1, remember there is a thin wall between confidence and stupidity. Courage doesn’t mean that you need to take a bull head-on. You are clever not only because you can solve a problem, but also because you know which issues are worth solving.
For folks on group 2, don’t be the metaphorical frog in boiling water. Opportunites might start showing up once you pull your head outside the sand.
For folks on group 3: No hard feeling. No judgment. Congratulations on your long and arduous career. Best wishes for life after retirement.
Lastly, the hiring managers don’t be scared to hire folks coming out of a dying company. In fact, you may find a battle-hardened diamond. They may come cheap as well, but trying to squeeze them a lot is not a smart long term strategy.
Advice from Marc Andreeson on ‘How to find a great company to work for’
Upcoming post: Pros and Cons of hiring folks from a dying company
