Social Leverage Letter | Issue #2

Jobs, the Exponential Age, Ask for it, and be Prepared for Rejection

Author

Pete Weishaupt
September 12, 2021

Welcome to the second edition of our Sunday letter. Each week brings news and insights for our partners, our portfolio companies, and our social media followers. Read, share, and get in touch.

UP FRONT

Tight Labor Market

This past Wednesday, the US Labor Department released the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLT) for July.

A bit of a jolt indeed. US job openings rose to 10.9 million. Job openings continue to outpace the available workers resulting in a tight labor market.

The tight labor market is compounded by career burnout. According to Fortune, nearly two-thirds of US workers are looking for a new job. Research shows people tend to quit their job after experiencing a “turnover shock”: a life event that triggers self-reflection on job satisfaction. These shocks can be positive like a new baby, or negative like a divorce. Or a global catastrophe like COVID-19, causing nearly the entire workforce to reassess their feelings about work.

“Between these, the widespread self-reflection, and increased ability to work from anywhere, it’s a “perfect storm colluding against employers,” says Brooks Holtom of Georgetown University. True, the pandemic and subsequent shock were out of anyone’s hands, but there’s a lot that employers could have done—and still can do—to keep employees from quitting.

Recruiting, retaining, and growing people at Social Leverage portfolio companies remains a priority. The final section of each Sunday Letter will highlight openings throughout the founder network.

READING

It's hard to believe Amazon turned 26 last year. The heart of its success, according to author Azeem Azhar, is its staggering $36 billion plus research and development budget, which has grown nearly 44 percent per year since 2010.

Amazon smashed the assumption change would take decades. They understood the nature of the Exponential Age and blitzed past traditional businesses who relied on yesterday's models; where it was assumed "tomorrow might be a little different from now, but not markedly so."

This kind of linear thinking may have worked in the past, but not anymore. Companies, institutions, and organizations who harness the new technologies of the era will take off. Those who can't keep up will come undone. This divergence between the old and the new is the "exponential gap".

And as Azhar points out, "We need radical thinking to prevent the exponential gap eroding the fabric of our society."

WATCHING

Be prepared for a lot of rejection.

This lesson comes from legendary entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria of John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón tequila fame. He says one of the great secrets in life is to be prepared for a lot of rejection. John learned this lesson early when selling Encyclopedias door to door. After having one hundred doors slammed in your face, you need to be just as enthusiastic on door number one hundred and one. John recommends writing down “Be prepared for rejection” on a note and carrying it wherever you go. Anytime you hear you’re too old, or too fat, or to young – or whatever; take the note out and read it as a reminder.

JOB BOARD

Growth Marketing Lead - Introvoke

Introvoke is looking for a kickass marketing guru to join Introvoke’s growing team as a Growth Marketing Lead. You will define the company’s winning marketing strategy/positioning, and will have tangible impact on the company’s growth. This position reports directly to the CEO.

Project Engineer - StayTuned Digital

StayTuned Digital is looking to hire a Platform Engineer to join our nascent team. This engineer will work to design, implement, and support solutions for the platform needs of our growing stable of apps. Additionally, the role will involve evaluating and migrating apps that we acquire. We are looking for individuals who will come in and show high cognitive ability, deep domain expertise, and excitement to help shape a strong team culture.

Koyfin is a rapidly growing, VC-backed, NYC-based fintech startup looking to hire our first Head of Engineering to lead our engineering team and scale our product from thousands to millions of users. You will lead a small team of engineers and work closely with the co-founders to deliver powerful product features to users. You will work on challenging projects and make a direct impact on our growth.

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