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I can totally see how this can fly under the radar. "Cults" are common in tech, though not of this type. I've received job offers where entire functions are al

I can totally see how this can fly under the radar. "Cults" are common in tech, though not of this type. I've received job offers where entire functions are all people who had worked together at a previous company and not hired through acquisitions. I've had teams where majority of the team is from the same university or class. More than 50% of the team having a common denominator is common and it usually starts with one person getting hired in a high enough position where their hiring decisions are not scrutinized.

binbag 4y ago
In what way are cults common in tech?
- torbTurret 4y ago
  Indian castes.
- MonkeyClub 4y ago
  Startups. Full of idols :-P
- troutwine 4y ago
  I'm curious about the definition as well. "Cult" generally has a very specific set of behaviors associated with it as a term, where the GP could easily be describing a close-knit, large friend group.
- txru 4y ago
  I believe the parent is referring more to referral/promo networks. For a positive example, I knew one of my senior managers basically brought 15 people from his previous company, to the point where a comfortable majority of people under him were from the company. This can be nefarious when the network arises from abusive or unhealthy environments.
  - mtlguitarist 4y ago
    Is this really a positive thing? It creates in-groups and decreases diversity. Sure, it makes hiring easier but this is exactly how you end up with old boys clubs.
    - txru 4y ago
      In this case the result was positive, and it netted the company a very productive team. That type of situation is definitely risky though
  - chasd00 4y ago
    this happens a lot in consulting. Someone in leadership leaves for another firm and is tasked to start building. Then they call up all their old aces and bring them over fleshing out Sr positions and then the new guys fill in with their aces and so on. It's a small world in some ways.
  - bawolff 4y ago
    While that may be bad, it is rediculous to call that a cult.
    - txru 4y ago
      Yeah it's pretty hyperbolic
- carabiner 4y ago
  "Cliques" I can see. Techies are often delayed adolescents in many ways.
woah 4y ago
It's hard to hire. I can imagine that "someone in a high enough position" could have a pretty good competitive advantage being able to hire employees of known and consistent competence without having to slog through resumes and interviews. Once there were a few of this group already working, it would also be easier to close hires with the social pressure. I can imagine that higher ups might be inclined to look the other way about how the individual in question was able to hire so effectively, if anyone could even articulate a compelling argument against it.
- whatshisface 4y ago
  Here's how you articulate it: the odds that the best people for the job all came from the same class at the same university are slim to none.
  - swatcoder 4y ago
    “Best person for the job” is either a meaningless phrase or a myth, depending on how you choose to define best. In reality, there are many comparably adequate people for getting any job done, and no clairvoyance that lets us know who among them will deliver the best outcome. So we resort to picking among the comparably adequate candidates by either broadening “best” to include non-task factors like culture harmony, diversity of perspective, gut feeling, etc That a bunch of adequate people all came from the same class at the same university is actually pretty plausible, and (subject to tradeoffs) those people will probably even work pretty well as a group because of that shared experience. I’m not saying its the ideal strategy to only hire that way, but just that it’s not nearly so straightforward as you suggest.
  - closeparen 4y ago
    The odds that you can better assess "best person for the job" from a resume and a few hours of interviews vs. several years of working together are also slim to none.
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    In most cases, it’s sufficient to avoid the “people who are a bad fit for the job” rather than needing the “best people for the job”. Deep knowledge acquired via years of working/schooling with them is a much better selector than a half-day of interviewing.
dilyevsky 4y ago
Cliques (which is what you’re referring to) in tech and corporate environment in general are common and not necessarily a bad thing. For example, a lot of early google engineers came from dec (sanjay, jeff) and ucsb where urs was a professor as well as stanford (both founders and first employee). Seems like it worked out well for them. It only becomes toxic if they develop a hive mind and start to actively bash/drive away “outsiders”

binbag 4y ago

In what way are cults common in tech?

torbTurret 4y ago
Indian castes.
MonkeyClub 4y ago
Startups. Full of idols :-P
troutwine 4y ago
I'm curious about the definition as well. "Cult" generally has a very specific set of behaviors associated with it as a term, where the GP could easily be describing a close-knit, large friend group.
txru 4y ago
I believe the parent is referring more to referral/promo networks. For a positive example, I knew one of my senior managers basically brought 15 people from his previous company, to the point where a comfortable majority of people under him were from the company. This can be nefarious when the network arises from abusive or unhealthy environments.
- mtlguitarist 4y ago
  Is this really a positive thing? It creates in-groups and decreases diversity. Sure, it makes hiring easier but this is exactly how you end up with old boys clubs.
  - txru 4y ago
    In this case the result was positive, and it netted the company a very productive team. That type of situation is definitely risky though
- chasd00 4y ago
  this happens a lot in consulting. Someone in leadership leaves for another firm and is tasked to start building. Then they call up all their old aces and bring them over fleshing out Sr positions and then the new guys fill in with their aces and so on. It's a small world in some ways.
- bawolff 4y ago
  While that may be bad, it is rediculous to call that a cult.
  - txru 4y ago
    Yeah it's pretty hyperbolic
carabiner 4y ago
"Cliques" I can see. Techies are often delayed adolescents in many ways.

woah 4y ago

It's hard to hire. I can imagine that "someone in a high enough position" could have a pretty good competitive advantage being able to hire employees of known and consistent competence without having to slog through resumes and interviews. Once there were a few of this group already working, it would also be easier to close hires with the social pressure. I can imagine that higher ups might be inclined to look the other way about how the individual in question was able to hire so effectively, if anyone could even articulate a compelling argument against it.

whatshisface 4y ago
Here's how you articulate it: the odds that the best people for the job all came from the same class at the same university are slim to none.
- swatcoder 4y ago
  “Best person for the job” is either a meaningless phrase or a myth, depending on how you choose to define best. In reality, there are many comparably adequate people for getting any job done, and no clairvoyance that lets us know who among them will deliver the best outcome. So we resort to picking among the comparably adequate candidates by either broadening “best” to include non-task factors like culture harmony, diversity of perspective, gut feeling, etc That a bunch of adequate people all came from the same class at the same university is actually pretty plausible, and (subject to tradeoffs) those people will probably even work pretty well as a group because of that shared experience. I’m not saying its the ideal strategy to only hire that way, but just that it’s not nearly so straightforward as you suggest.
- closeparen 4y ago
  The odds that you can better assess "best person for the job" from a resume and a few hours of interviews vs. several years of working together are also slim to none.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  In most cases, it’s sufficient to avoid the “people who are a bad fit for the job” rather than needing the “best people for the job”. Deep knowledge acquired via years of working/schooling with them is a much better selector than a half-day of interviewing.

dilyevsky 4y ago

Cliques (which is what you’re referring to) in tech and corporate environment in general are common and not necessarily a bad thing. For example, a lot of early google engineers came from dec (sanjay, jeff) and ucsb where urs was a professor as well as stanford (both founders and first employee). Seems like it worked out well for them. It only becomes toxic if they develop a hive mind and start to actively bash/drive away “outsiders”