The most interesting thing about Databricks raising Series L funding isn’t that they’re raising a Series L, though that is shocking (less than 0.03% of startups get to Series H) – it’s where that money is going. 

Ali Ghodsi, Databricks’ co-founder and chief executive, told the WSJ that Databricks will hire 600 new college grads next year. 

Two takeaways: 

First, while most companies are slowing or eliminating entry-level hiring, Databricks is leaning into it.

At Prof G Media we call this strategy “zigging when others are zagging.” Things are rarely as good or as bad as they seem, and taking chances is how you get a competitive edge. 

Second, entry-level job postings have dropped 29% since January 2024, as firms have decided that AI can handle the work that new hires used to do. 

This is a bad conclusion. If a company believes that young people can be easily replaced by software, they are thinking about their talent in the wrong way. 

Young people are cheap, native AI users, and full of fresh ideas. More importantly, talented young people rise to the expectations placed on them. When firms expect little, they get little. When they give responsibility early and demand excellence, young employees often deliver far more than expected.

I benefitted from this. At L2 (a consultancy Scott founded), I was presenting to CMOs only a couple months out of college. 

Prof G Media offers another great examples. Our entire research team is in their twenties, and one of our hosts, Ed Elson, was given a major podcast cohost position barely a year into his career. 

When companies hire thoughtfully, give young people responsibility, and expect excellence, junior talent can be among the most innovative and high-impact workers on the team. Companies that ignore this are doing themselves a long-term disservice.