Foundry is a premium business intelligence publication featuring 551 articles from the best founders and investors. Topics cover leadership, strategy, fundraising, growth, AI, and more.

What topics does Foundry cover?

Foundry covers leadership, investing, AI and technology, product development, founder stories, mindset and career, marketing, hiring, fundraising, strategy, and more. Articles feature insights from founders like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and Jensen Huang.

Can I submit a story to Foundry?

Yes. You can submit a story at thefoundrybrief.com/submit. Foundry publishes articles featuring insights from founders and investors across all industries.

Marissa Mayer: Google Went From 200 to 50 Hires. Eric Schmidt Created a Black Market to Do It.

By Marissa Mayer · Leadership · 1 min read

Schmidt cut Google's hiring plan by 75%. Then he printed fake money with Larry and Sergey's faces on it.

Key Points

Schmidt cut the hiring plan from 200 new hires to 50
He created fake currency called Larry's and Sergey's — you needed one to hire anyone
VPs traded them like a black market, which forced prioritization
At every order of magnitude, every process in your company will break

At every order of magnitude, you should expect every process to break and have to completely reinvent it.

The 75% Cut

Google was at 200 people. The plan: double to 400.

Eric Schmidt showed up and said no. You will hire 50 this year. Not 200.

The team was furious. There was too much work for the current headcount.

When Eric Schmidt came, we had to reinvent our processes. Just when you'd feel like you got it down, everything changed.

Larry's and Sergey's

Schmidt printed fake bills with Larry and Sergey's faces. Laminated them.

Every VP got a handful. Want to hire someone? Hand in a Larry and Sergey with the resume.

It became a black market. The head of sales would trade one to engineering in exchange for building a feature.

It became a black market. Which was surprisingly efficient.

Why It Worked

The constraint forced Google to be ruthless about priorities.

Instead of hiring for everything, they hired for the things that mattered most.

Hyper growth is fun. But you want it in users and revenue, not necessarily headcount.

Every Process Breaks

Schmidt's rule: at every order of magnitude — 10 to 100, 100 to 1,000 — every process breaks.

What worked for 50 people will not work for 500. You have to reinvent everything.

Mayer watched this happen repeatedly. The lesson never got easier.