Replay: Engaging Young Employees - How to Attract the Best & Brightest Minds w/ Dan Brockwell from Earlywork

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Nov 3, 2025

Dan Brockwell, Founder and Chief Meme Officer of Earlywork, dives into the evolving work landscape for Gen Z. He discusses four priorities young professionals seek in jobs: learning, culture, compensation, and impact. Brockwell highlights the importance of equity as a cultural signal in startups and the rise of side hustles among ambitious employees. He also shares insights on how remote work can be structured for better engagement and how Gen Z is shifting away from traditional job boards to online communities for job searches.

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INSIGHT

The Portfolio Career Trend

Many young people run side hustles; careers are becoming portfolio-driven.
They move between big firms, scale-ups, and startups to gain skills toward founding or operating.

INSIGHT

What Gen Z Prioritizes In Jobs

Young candidates prioritize rapid learning and strong culture over salary in early roles.
Once they gain skills, they shift focus toward impact and meaningful problems.

INSIGHT

Job Risk Versus Career Risk

People conflate startup job risk with career risk, which is misleading.
Startups often accelerate learning and can be safer long-term bets for career progression.

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What do you need to do to keep employees engaged and committed? What should your position be on remote work? Side hustles? Ping pong tables? Should you offer all employees equity?

Bringing Gen Z employees to your workplace is well worth it, but it means a mental pivot from the hiring team, keeping in mind an entirely new set of criteria.

Chris and Yaniv discuss all this and more with Dan Brockwell, Founder and Chief Meme Officer of Earlywork, a vibrant community for early-career professionals.

In this episode, you will:

Understand the four key factors Gen Z professionals weigh when choosing startups: learning, culture, compensation, and impact.
Learn why “job risk” and “career risk” are not the same and why startups often offer safer long-term bets.
Discover how equity (ESOPs) can be both a powerful motivator and a cultural signal of respect for young talent.
Explore the pros and cons of remote vs hybrid work for early-career employees and how to design hybrid intentionally.
Recognize the rise of side hustles, and how founders can embrace them to retain ambitious, creative employees.
Get insights into how Gen Z finds jobs through online communities, Slack channels, and personal branding instead of traditional job boards.

[This is a replay episode. The original was published on May 26, 2022]

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