The Business Model of A-Players
The invisible business model of the greatest companies in the world.
Some companies write business plans.
The great ones write talent plans.
Let me explain.
When I was at Goldman Sachs, I saw something strange. There were no “smartest people in the room” types. Yes, there were Armani suits, top of their class ivy leaguers, and of course chunky egos with chips on their shoulders… but you have to understand that A-players are not normal.
You can expect culture fit. You can expect insane work ethic. You can expect raw brilliance. But, you cannot expect normal. They are… strange.
They are weird.
And they are elite.
They know it.
And they are unapologetic about it.
They are just not normal. That’s normal for A-Players.
And you should jump with joy when you don’t get normal.
My fellow Goldman Sachs bankers were like Navy Seals in navy suits. Quiet (capitalistic) killers. Everyone in that building had something rare: they wanted to win… and win with other winners.
That’s when it hit me:
The #1 predictor of a company’s success is the density of A-players.
It’s not the product.
Not the market.
Not even the capital.
It’s who is in the building.
Or more importantly, who you refuse to let in.
A-Players are allergic to average
Here’s what most founders get wrong:
They obsess over their business model, but they don’t even have a model to attract and keep A-players.
They just hope.
They pray someone amazing stumbles across their job post on Indeed.
Spoiler: They won’t.
A-players don’t window shop.
They sniff out opportunity like bloodhounds.
And if you build it right, they’ll knock on your door.
But first, they need proof.
The Second Business Model Nobody Talks About
Every company has two business models:
The model that delivers value to customers.
The model that attracts, challenges, and rewards A-players.
If you only build the first, you’ll always be stuck fixing the mess left by B-players.
But if you build the second, everything gets easier. Even fun.
So here’s the second model. The one that helped us build 2 billion dollar companies, and also have 5 exits in the last 20 years.
(Confession: We also got it wrong a couple of times. So please learn from our mistakes)
1. Obsess over attracting A-players
This is not a slogan. It’s a daily discipline.
Every founder should treat recruiting like sales. Cold outreach. DMs. Reputation building. Reverse headhunting.
You want people saying, “I don’t know what they’re building over there, but I want to be a part of it.”
You know who gets this right?
Google
Goldman Sachs
OpenAi
The hottest startup in your feed right now
They don’t rely on inbound. They build mythologies that pull talent in like gravity.
2. Build something worthy of A-players
This one’s counterintuitive.
A-players don’t just want money.
They want a mountain to climb.
Meaning:
It has to be challenging and lucrative.
If your company isn’t solving a hard problem, they’ll get bored.
If it’s not financially rewarding, they’ll burn out.
You need both.
Hard problem + Big upside.
A-players want to do legendary work, with legendary people, in a place that makes them rich and proud.
If you’re not offering that, don’t be surprised when you keep hiring “potential” instead of performers.
3. Reinvest profits into more A-players
This is the loop.
A-players generate better margins.
Margins give you dry powder.
You take that powder and go hire more A-players.
It’s a compounding loop of culture and talent.
And here’s the secret:
Most of your competitors are too cheap, too slow, or too scared to do this.
That’s your edge.
Final Thought: You Don’t Find A-Players. You Build for Them.
They’re not on job boards.
They’re not reading your 4-page job description.
They’re watching. Quietly. From a distance.
They want to see if your company is designed for someone like them.
So build your company like a honey trap for greatness.
Let everyone else settle for average.
You’re building something rare.
You’re building the kind of place A-players would leave a dream job to join.
And if you want to kill it, come work with us.
This is an amazing insight. I like that it’s rare and built to last. I am allergic to basic. I glad to see people doing the impossible. Wishing you all the best in this new adventure. I will be cheering you guys. And thanks for sharing generously.
This is so important. It is indeed the ultimate business model, and it applies to any business. Every leader in every organization needs to read this and take it to heart.