Simons recognized early that he couldn't build a successful quantitative trading firm alone. His strategy: hire the smartest people he could find and create an environment where they'd thrive.
He deliberately avoided hiring traditional Wall Street traders. Instead, he recruited physicists, astronomers, mathematicians, and computer scientists - people who had "done science and done it well." He looked for PhDs with 5+ years of post-doctoral experience who had published strong papers.
His management philosophy was simple but revolutionary:
- Get smart people together
- Give them freedom to explore
- Create an open culture where everyone talks to everyone
- Provide the best infrastructure (computers, data, tools)
- Make everyone partners to share in success
This eliminated the traditional Wall Street problem of "hired guns" who could be poached. At Renaissance, scientists were motivated by intellectual challenge AND financial reward. The collaborative spirit meant researchers celebrated colleagues' breakthroughs because everyone shared in the profits.
By the time Simons stepped back, Renaissance employed about 100 PhDs. Turnover was extremely low, and everyone signed lifetime non-disclosure agreements.