The Parable of the Startup - by Adam Ard
A startup founder set out to hire people to help him. He promised to give them a healthy percentage of ownership for their efforts. When the business grew, after about a year, he set out to hire more people and told them,
"Come work at our little startup. We don't make much yet, but I have a little personal money to pay you, and I'll give you ownership. It's better than sitting around doing nothing. After all, with ownership, you could get rich."
So more of them came. After 18 months, he hired more, and then even more after 2 years. Finally, at the 3-year mark, just as they were starting to make a profit, he hired one last group. When recruiting, he would always say,
"Come have some fun! Join my company. The pay is humble, but I offer equity. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll get rich!" he would say.
One week after hiring the final group, he gathered all the employees for an all-hands meeting. He wanted to announce the equity arrangement, so everyone would know where they stood. He started with the most recently hired people.
