an immense number of A/B test emails to see what works best, while
Google knows, before anybody else, what you are intending to do.
Facebook likely will know more about the arc, texture, and
intersection of actions and relationships than any entity in history.
What is the endgame, the payoff of this, the greatest aggregation of
human talent and data assembled in history? To sell more Keurig
Fortissio Lungo Pods.
7. Accelerant
The seventh factor in the T Algorithm is a company’s ability to attract
top talent. This requires being perceived by likely job candidates as a
career accelerant.
The war for tech-enabled talent has reached a fever pitch. A
horseman’s ability to attract and retain the best employees is the
number one issue for all four firms. Their ability to manage their
reputations, not only among young consumers, but also among their
potential workforce, is critical to success. Indeed, one could argue that
their brand equity among current and potential employees is more
important than their consumer equity. Why? The team with the best
players attracts cheap capital, innovates, and can spark the upward
spiral that pulls away from the competition.
If you’re the valedictorian of your class, you have a jet pack
strapped to your back in the form of intellect, grit, and emotional
intelligence. But you are directionless. You are like Ironman before he
learned how to fly—all over the place. A lot of momentum, a lot of
thrust, but not much progress. You need to find the right platform to
point you in the right direction and accelerate your career.
The Four Horsemen have reputations for doing just that. There are
few places a talented twenty-five-year-old can go further by age thirty
in terms of role, money, prestige, and opportunities than at one of the
Four. The competition to work at one of these companies is brutal. At
the nation’s military service academies, during one of the first evening
meals, it’s a common practice to ask the cadets to stand if they
accomplished something major in their childhood. Valedictorian?
Varsity athlete? Eagle Scout? National Merit Scholar? And as the