Working notesOn borrowed authority

Palantir had no titles, but it was always clear who got listened to and who everyone waited on for a decision. That’s authority. It has to exist; there is no ownership without it. Authority removes friction in a group. But like capital, it’s slow to earn. A founder holds close to absolute authority. How do they hand a piece of it to someone they trust?

So organizations invented credit: the title. It borrows authority from the future, the way credit borrows capital not yet earned. If the authority shows up, the debt is paid and the title was simply early. If it never shows up, the org inherits bad debt.

It’s popular now to say “let’s just not have titles.” That’s my grandmother telling the whole family to never take credit, because she survived the 90s in Yugoslavia. Understandable, and wrong as policy. Titles exist for the same reason companies raise capital: to get somewhere faster.

So before creating a title, ask: what authority is this bringing forward, and can it be paid back?

There is a competing philosophy: titles cost the company nothing and matter a lot to people, so hand them out to get the people you want. But there is a covert contract inside, and covert contracts are how things blow up later. Use carefully.