Our team at @artie_labs is a mix of high alpha and low beta people. I watched an interview of @stanine (CPO at Rippling) and this is how he described hiring. I came from a hedge fund, so it really resonated with me. Alpha is outperformance relative to the index (they're "spiky"). High alpha people have a ton of upside and thrive in environments with low process. They’re great at doing 0 to 1. Beta is how much you swing (volatility). Low beta people are very reliable and predictable, and thrive with process. They ship what they said they'd ship, when they said they would, and you never have to check. A company needs both, but you almost never get both in one person. So I use it as a 2x2: - High alpha, low beta: extremely rare. If you meet one, hire them. - High alpha, high beta: good. You're get the spikes and you budget for the misses. - Low alpha, low beta: good. Dependable, and every company runs on them. - Low alpha, high beta: no. All the volatility, with none of the upside. This is the hire that kills companies. Everyone here is one of the first three.