Pros
I want to address some of the vicious and unpleasant things said by the very few people we have fired over the years for incompetence.
Firstly, the claim of "all talk, no substance” is pretty self-evidently nonsense. The bios of all partners and team members are on our website for all to see. They are extraordinary people, drawn from people who come from leading insurers and reinsurers (like Swiss Re), leading investment banks (like Rothchilds) and leading consulting firms (like McKinsey). Moreover, we are backed by over a $1bn of commitments and approvals from some of the largest and leading investors in the world (Prudential, JP Morgan, AXA, Swiss Re, Zurich, Soros and others – the full list of our investors is on the website). These investors invest because they see the opportunity and, first and foremost, have evaluated the partners and team and believe LeapFrog is the best at what it does -- and they are putting their money (over a $1bn) where their mouths are.
Secondly, the claim that staff are “unlikely to stay for long” does not conform with the facts. We have exceptional staff retention. People stay with us because we offer a job, a purpose, autonomy and respect and have a culture of treating people decently — and supporting their personal and professional growth. I would recommend that people considering joining us ask to speak to people who currently work for us.
Thirdly, the claim that those who do stay are “brain-washed by the CEO”, have another look at the bio page on the website. Is it plausible that all the people we have that come to us from top universities, top financial institutions, top investment firms and top consulting firms have been collectively brain-washed?
Fourthly, any claim that partners take the economics is obviously belied by the math - just calculate our management fee and divide it by 75 people (the current team number) you’ll see in an instant that this cannot be the case. Indeed, the senior team have gone out of our way not to take top tier salaries and instead reinvest our management fee to grow the firm and create an enduring institution.
Some people who were fired claim that our social mission is just fluff for fundraising. Nothing could be further from the truth. From the start, when it was not popular, we pursued purpose because it’s the right thing to do — and it generates better returns over the long-term. We did so at real expense to ourselves, rejecting short-termism, and hiring a specific exceptional team whose job it is to measure and expand our impact. No investor ever said that we needed to hire this team. We have created this team because we want to measure and expand our impact.
Finally, to the mean spirited comments about our CEO. I have known him for close on 20 years now. Like all human beings he has his flaws. But in two areas he has remained flawless in my experience in his decency and his compassion.
Cons
We are a fast moving, fast changing, rapidly growing business. Some people prefer more steady state businesses.
