A truly talented person excels in anything they pursue!

In 2023, #coinbase did something unusual - they created hiring a page that essentially said: "If you have exceptional skills but don't see a role that fits, reach out. We'll figure it out together. Our goal isn't just to fill jobs, but to find the right people."

But what kind of skills were they looking for?

Not just top engineers or salespeople, but people who had won chess tournaments, excelled at e-sports, conducted ground-breaking research, served in elite military units, developed space and biotech innovations, built massive online audiences, won Olympic medals, or created widely used open source projects.

At first, this seemed odd for a technology company. But then it clicked - there are two ways to scale:

1. Scale hands - hire more people to expand horizontally.

2. Scaling minds - bringing in top talent to take the company to new heights.

The second type of scaling is what separates startups that are just growing from those that are truly breaking through. Talented people bring fresh perspectives and see opportunities that others miss.

A startup doesn't just need more coders or salespeople - it needs visionaries. That's why it might make more sense to hire an Olympic athlete or a special forces officer than just another developer.

The real question: If an elite athlete walked into your startup today, could you find a way to leverage their skills?

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