Goldman's 15-Minute Rule

Sarah Moore tells a story about learning about Goldman Sachs' extreme responsiveness policy while at Harvard Business School.

"When I was in business school, there was a guy I was working on a project with who was incredibly responsive, almost annoyingly responsive. I asked how he was so responsive all the time and he said 'Goldman' - referring to Goldman Sachs.

At Goldman Sachs, there was a rule of 15 minutes, meaning you had to respond to whatever form they reach out to you in within 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I asked 'What if you're in the shower?' - 15 minutes. 'What if you're running a marathon?' - 15 minutes. 'Christmas day?' - 15 minutes. And my favorite, 'What if your wife is giving birth?' - 15 fucking minutes.

I worked my ass off to get into business school, and I'm thinking: you went to an Ivy League undergrad, you're clearly off the charts intelligent, you have this amazing network, you come from money - you have everything that I don't. Why would you choose to essentially sign up to be someone else's bitch?"

This interaction made her realize she didn't want to follow the traditional consulting or banking path after business school.