I have been on all kinds of selection boards. It doesn’t matter what role.
There is only one question that I focus on.
Candidates come prepared to impress. They have fathered every possible success. Wear an Armani suit and share tomes on how successful they have been. How they outperformed every peer.
And the fortune they deserve to be paid.
And how badly they want the job.
And how well they will perform.
After I am convinced they have made a lot of money – more than enough to run home and settle kids, I pop my favourite question.
“Will you take this job at zero salary?”. Stock and profit share I don’t care about. But will you take zero salary.
It is a question that baffles all. They never forget the interview or the interviewer. Most never come back. The one who says “yes” is the only one I want to meet in the next round. This is the winner. And I have rarely been wrong.
“Who the hell works 80–100 hour weeks with ZERO salary… and why do so many winners do exactly that?
Unpaid full-time nightmare job?
Most people: “Hell no, exploitation!”
But look closer:
• Founders & early team betting massive equity → one exit = generational wealth
• Campaign staff grinding for a president/senator → doors to power & $300k lobbying gigs
• Elite unpaid fellowships/clerkships → fast-track to Big Law/VC/White House
• Mission-driven warriors in underfunded NGOs → changing the world > paycheck (for now)
The brutal truth nobody says out loud:
Sometimes zero salary + sky-high stress is the highest-ROI move of your entire career… if you’re playing a different game than 9-to-5 stability.
The crowd screaming “toxic hustle culture” usually isn’t the one cashing eight-figure checks or running countries later.
Am I glorifying burnout? No.
Am I saying most people should do this? Absolutely not.
But pretending the only rational path is “get paid now or GTFO” is intellectual laziness.
Some people literally trade present sanity for future dominance. And a shocking number of them win big.
I was one of many who helped conceptualise IIT Bombay Heritage Fund in the 90’s, PanIIT Alumni India in the early 2000’s, Startup India/ SME listing in the 2010’s and then IIT Alumni Council and its six mission organisations in 2018 to go live in 2020.
Whether it is the search for a PSU Chief, a private sector leader, a startup promoter or a non profit leader, my question is the same. And the winner always says YES.
Of course there are a lot of counter arguments. How can I afford my lifestyle. How will my kids go to Stanford. Everyone gets paid. I am anyway asking for less than others. How does it matter in the overall play whether I get paid or not…. There are many more. Down to “I have never heard such nonsense before”.
All valid arguments.
FOR LOSERS.
Yes they need a job with salary.
BUT I look for winners.
Think hard and
Repost with comments if it makes sense.
Go back to your job if it doesn’t.
And find another before you get fired.
