Bigger is not always better. In fact, it is probably worse.

"The first B you hire takes the whole company down."

Hi guys,

Hope you are well. I’m doing okay, Alhamdulillah.

I write this at 3:14 pm on a calm Sunday afternoon after several days of being engaged back-to-back-to-back. I have recently come to the conclusion that it is in my personal and professional interests to spend more time in ‘focused’ mode, so probably do more of the same over the next few weeks. While this means potentially missing out on some social activities I was considering, these things always work out for the best. Khayr in sha Allah.

Anyhoo, let’s get to today’s post.

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Not too long ago, I attended a networking dinner event for young professionals. I had a really great time and did not get back home until about midnight. 😅

Of my many learnings from that event, one thing was particularly memorable. So it was getting quite late and the party had broken out into much smaller pockets of people having engaging conversations. In the particular group I was in, engagement levels were very high. I was barely speaking, just because I found the other contributions much more interesting. About 5 of us were listening to a South African surgeon share her stories from working in intensive-care units in under-resourced hospitals, to how she used those experiences to help Private Equity companies acquire healthcare organizations in Europe today. It was fascinating.

Cross-section of people at a random networking event - Image from Celarity

All until someone else joined the group. Now, I have nothing at all against the young lady who joined, but it became obvious very quickly that the quality of conversation took a nose-dive. Not only did she regularly interrupt other contributors (particularly the South-African surgeon), but she took the discussion to tangents that were both unnecessary and elementary. It was almost as if someone sent her and said, “Can you please target those people standing there? They seem to be having a good time, please try your best to frustrate them.” 😂

Not long after, I started checking the time. I had a lot of work to do. And while I was willing to sacrifice both work and sleep to learn a lot from an A+ conversation, I realized that every single minute since it became a C- discussion could have been put to better use. Looking around, I could tell that some other members of the group felt the same.

Not wanting to be awkward or rude, I stuck around the group for maybe 15 more minutes. After a while, I really needed to go.

“I need to go drink some water.”

So I walked to the other end of the room, drank my water slowly, and then hurried off in another direction! Thank goodness! 😂😂

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I genuinely believe that everybody’s ideas are valuable and worth listening to, and I try to advocate for carrying people along. I also think all skills can be learnt as nobody has a monopoly on knowledge. So it should be our collective priority to give more opportunities to those who have been less fortunate in their previous experiences.

Now, the networking dinner event was low stakes, so it does not matter much who was present and what was said or unsaid. And if it were not so late, I would probably have stayed anyway.

But in higher-stakes situations especially in startups and businesses, there is a lot of value in keeping teams small and/or highly talented. This is why Google’s interview processes are notoriously difficult, why elite military forces often have difficult endurance tests, and pilots have to be certified before being allowed to fly a plane.

I recently learnt a related statement from Max Levchin, a computer scientist and investor who was one of the co-founders of PayPal and has afterwards been involved with Yahoo, Affirm, Yelp, Evernote, and the US Consumer Financial Bureau.

“As hire As. Bs hire Cs. So the first B you hire takes the whole company down.”

As you go about building impactful and valuable initiatives, I hope you remember to keep the entry bar high. Your mission will not die when you run out of funding or support. Instead, the beginning of the end is when you let every Akin, Ahmed, or Chinedu through the door.

** Jara content:

And to Thamud, we sent their brother Salih. He said, “O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. He has produced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive.”

-Chapter 11:16

Have a great week. ✨