Imagine the chaos of a society in which your company, worth billions, has collapsed.
What person would you pick to rebuild your life from the ashes of a disaster? This is not just an exercise in thought, but the dramatization of the most exclusive club within Robinhood.
Tenev revealed in a podcast interview published on Wednesday that he had hand-picked 150 of the company’s top performers to form the core group for the firm.
It’s not just about high achievers; this is a survival team.
Play the ‘Apocalypse – The Game’
This elite group is open to all employees who are the best in the business. The initiation, however, is pure theatre. Tenev said that he usually gives a speech when introducing people to the community.
You would definitely be part of the group if there were a catastrophe or an apocalyptic situation, where we needed to build Robinhood from scratch with only 150 people.
Tenev calls this “founder’s group” his way to ensure he has a direct connection with the best minds in the organization and breaks free of the constraints of traditional executive hierarchies.
Brain trust: From budgeting tool to brain power
The tool that was initially designed to reward the top performers with budgets has evolved into something much more important.
Tenev who founded the platform for stock trading in 2013 said that the group had evolved since then into an “actual Community” within the company. The company is expected to go public in 2021, and its current value is approximately $98.4 Billion.
The inner circle is now a focus group at a higher level and an important feedback channel. He said, “I review the new strategy and vision. We gather those people together to get their feedback.” “We do events. “We have events in every city and get them all together for dinner.”
Merit Over Management
Tenev insists that his group does not reflect the corporate ladder. He said that with 2,300 employees by December 2024 he did not want to see the group become “150 people at the top of org charts.”
It includes those who have made the greatest impact on the business at all levels, so that the innovators at ground level can also be included.
He added that this philosophy extends into the company culture as a whole, where “very much”, promotions and rewards are focused on “the best people within the company.”
Business Insider was not able to get any further information from Robinhood on this initiative.
Tenev’s not the first Silicon Valley boss to set up a secret club of top talents. Fortune magazine reported in 2011 that Apple was a member of a very exclusive group known as the “Top 100.”
The summit was described by the media as an off-site, invitation-only summit, for 100 of the most powerful people in the company. They would participate in a three-day session on strategy and top-secret project. The event served to remind us that even the most innovative of companies often have an elite, inner circle.
Apple has not responded to an inquiry about whether this practice is still in place.
The post Inside Robinhood’s ‘Apocalypse’ team: Vlad Tenev unveils his elite 150 could be updated as new information becomes available.
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