Being from a third world country myself it is really difficult. Its even worse if your society is really corrupt. First its difficult to trade equity coz everyone is out to make an easy buck and its really hard to believe anyone however genuine they look or sound. Second, most third world countries are cash driven economies no credit cards and shit. But there is hope if you (or to) find someone who really believes in your idea. Its basicaly a hard sale. Best option is to build a very good reputation at Uni/college or your first workplace. Guaranteed, even if your idea is wack, your rep will get you the best employees/co-founders at minimal cost.
Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
41–50 of 60 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#42Being from a third world country myself it is really difficult. Its even worse if your society is really corrupt. First its difficult to trade equity coz everyone is out to make an easy buck and its really hard to believe anyone however genuine they look or sound. Second, most third world countries are cash driven economies no credit cards and shit. But there is hope if you (or to) find someone who really believes in your idea. Its basicaly a hard sale. Best option is to build a very good reputation at Uni/college or your first workplace. Guaranteed, even if your idea is wack, your rep will get you the best employees/co-founders at minimal cost.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#43I think it's a fair thing to look for in an employee. Who you hire is up to you.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#44In my experience, you can grow and retain quality people with compensation, practices, and other incentives, but you won't make them passionate about their job this way.
There's passion about what you do (passionate about their field, tools), and passion about what you are doing (healthcare, education, making money). These are high energy, all-in types who live their jobs. They are also few in numbers.
You can hire and fire based on displayed passion, but I'm not sure it can be taught. They either have it or they don't.
Also, don't confuse passion with work ethic, which is (probably) equally valuable, but more of a character trait that can be applied to many different things.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#45* If you want low performance, give me low money. * If you want high performance, give me high money. * If you want loyalty/passion, give me equity/profit sharing. You can buy my performance i.e. time with money. You can buy my passion i.e. commitment with reciprocation. If you give me typical market wages without profit sharing, don't expect anything beyond typical performance without commitment.
There's a great quote: Money is not a motivator. But lack of money is a demotivator. (Unfortunately, I don't remember who said this. Anyone?)
I'd be willing to say it right now, since I agree with it.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#46* If you want low performance, give me low money. * If you want high performance, give me high money. * If you want loyalty/passion, give me equity/profit sharing. You can buy my performance i.e. time with money. You can buy my passion i.e. commitment with reciprocation. If you give me typical market wages without profit sharing, don't expect anything beyond typical performance without commitment.
There are some excellent studies out there that suggest this to be false.
One source[1] showed that:
- For highly creative jobs, respect and autonomy to function and just enough $ to cover comfortable living expenses produced the best results.
- As you add more money, the performance for these jobs decreased.
AND
- For highly repetitive jobs, performance increased with pay almost linearly.
- Offering more autonomy for lower pay in these types of jobs lowered performance.
Programming is a highly creative job. While you are making very logical assumptions (more $ == more work) I would argue that after the first month or so, that would no longer be the case.
You would then just be equating (more $ == more HOURS working) but not necessarily producing.
The findings of the study did hinge on the person seeking autonomy to make enough to cover their living expenses such that the concern for money was off the table.
Really interesting stuff.
I think from my own experience, after the honeymoon period of the giant paycheck wears off, this tends to be absolutely true.
As for passion, it has to come from the top down.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates...
Thanks to yengz for the reminder where this study came from!
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#47* If you want low performance, give me low money. * If you want high performance, give me high money. * If you want loyalty/passion, give me equity/profit sharing. You can buy my performance i.e. time with money. You can buy my passion i.e. commitment with reciprocation. If you give me typical market wages without profit sharing, don't expect anything beyond typical performance without commitment.
There are some excellent studies out there that suggest this to be false. One source[1] showed that: - For highly creative jobs, respect and autonomy to function and just enough $ to cover comfortable living expenses produced the best results. - As you add more money, the performance for these jobs decreased. AND - For highly repetitive jobs, performance increased with pay almost linearly. - Offering more autonomy fo…
Dan Pink's RSA talk came to mind for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
He mentions a couple of studies.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#48* If you want low performance, give me low money. * If you want high performance, give me high money. * If you want loyalty/passion, give me equity/profit sharing. You can buy my performance i.e. time with money. You can buy my passion i.e. commitment with reciprocation. If you give me typical market wages without profit sharing, don't expect anything beyond typical performance without commitment.
There are some excellent studies out there that suggest this to be false. One source[1] showed that: - For highly creative jobs, respect and autonomy to function and just enough $ to cover comfortable living expenses produced the best results. - As you add more money, the performance for these jobs decreased. AND - For highly repetitive jobs, performance increased with pay almost linearly. - Offering more autonomy fo…
Daniel Pink also has a book called Drive which goes into this in detail. Highly recommended read.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are some excellent studies out there that suggest this to be false. One source[1] showed that: - For highly creative jobs, respect and autonomy to function and just enough $ to cover comfortable living expenses produced the best results. - As you add more money, the performance for these jobs decreased. AND - For highly repetitive jobs, performance increased with pay almost linearly. - Offering more autonomy fo…
Daniel Pink also has a book called Drive which goes into this in detail. Highly recommended read.
Ahhh! Eric that is exactly where I got that info from, I couldn't place it, but I finished reading "Drive" a few months ago so that must be where it came from.
Re: Ask HN: Is passion a fair thing to ask for from an employee?
#50"can't make decent payments as salaries"
Yeah, that's a dealbreaker. I need to pay my bills. If you can't do that, sorry, but I have to keep my housing.