WS2059 Hiring The Best - Merit Over Mandates

Summary: Fired for his beliefs, Andrew Crapuchettes didn’t fold—he doubled down. After getting ousted from his own $50M company, he turned cancel culture into a catalyst and launched RedBalloon—a bold job board connecting freedom-minded employers with values-driven talent. In this episode, he shares how conviction, merit-based hiring, and principled leadership are reshaping the workplace:   What You’ll Learn: Lead with Values, Win with Purpose — Discover how staying true to your beliefs can power real business growth. Merit Over Mandates Works — Why hiring based on skill, not slogans, leads to stronger teams and culture. From Canceled to Founder — How entrepreneurial grit turns adversity into innovation—and freedom. Whether you’re navigating workplace pressure or rethinking your hiring strategy, this conversation offers a roadmap for building with courage, clarity, and conviction. Timestamps: 00:00 Meet Andrew Crapuchettes 2:41 Early career and Silicon Valley  7:40 Sell or scale? 11:11 Lessons from cancellation 13:12 Scaling through values 15:25 Red Ballon: merit over mandates 21:26 Tactics for transparent hiring 24:30 Ask the right questions, the right way 27:03 Success metrics: NPS and family impact 30:36 How Andrew gives back 31:24 Closing thoughts  32:22 Contact information VISIT OUR WEBSITE https://lifebridgecapital.com/ Here are ways you can work with us here at Life Bridge Capital: ⚡️START INVESTING TODAY: If you think that real estate syndication may be right for you, contact us today to learn more about our current investment opportunities: https://lifebridgecapital.com/investwithlbc ⚡️Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealEstateSyndicationShow 📝 JOIN THE DISCUSSION https://www.facebook.com/groups/realestatesyndication ➡️ FOLLOW US https://twitter.com/whitney_sewell https://www.instagram.com/whitneysewell/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-sewell/ ⭐ Be Our Guest! We are continuously working hard to help our listeners with their journey to real estate syndication. If you think you can add value in any way to our listeners who are in commercial real estate, then we’d love to have you over. Apply here: https://lifebridgecapital.com/join-our-podcast/