#81 The Human Patterns Behind Great Companies

Decoding What Makes People (and Companies) Actually Work

“Work hard on what comes easily” - James Clear

💭 Reflections

The Obsession Test:

Scale AI CEO Alex Wang has a simple but powerful hiring principle: "I mainly screen for one key thing: giving a shit."

Hire people who give a shit.

His approach is asking candidates questions about their past obsessions: "What's the hardest you've ever worked on something?" "How many hours were you working a week?" "Why did you work so hard? Why did you care?"

The logic is: "If someone is applying to Scale and has never been deeply obsessed about something before, then it's a bad bet to think Scale will be the first."

This applies everywhere: hiring employees, evaluating early-stage founders with no traction, choosing which companies to join, or deciding who to partner with. When you have limited data points, how do you know who'll stick around when things get hard?

Past obsession predicts future persistence. Here are four signals to look for:

Signal 1: Evidence that they were working on this problem before it made business sense. Ask: "What were you doing about this before you thought of it as a business?" Founders who discovered the problem organically demonstrate genuine problem-obsession.

Signal 2: Disproportionate domain expertise acquired in a short time. Ask: "What did you not know about this space six months ago that you know now?" Obsessed people become accidental experts, often knowing more about their niche than people who've worked in adjacent areas for years.