hiring top talent in traditionally lower status roles
2026-05-07 02:08 Note Type: insight Tags: hiring, salary, talent, status
If you want to hire top talent in traditionally lower status roles (content, partnerships, people, etc) — then pay them like traditionally higher status roles (PM, growth, finance, legal)!
Talented people optimize for money, but their actual potential often lives somewhere the market doesn't reward. Companies willing to pay for the person rather than the title end up summoning world-class work, attracting more unique talent, and compounding into a team no one can copy.
Create the conditions where someone can be fully themselves, and you get irreplicable work.
Spiky talent plus structural backing creates unique work.
References:
Linked in Post of Mishti Sharma from Clay
Additional Reading https://review.firstround.com/firsthand-clay/