Boss of $12 billion crypto firm says Gen Z ‘generate an absurd amount of chaos’ and leave him wanting to pull his hair out — but he is still betting on them regardless

(SeaPRwire) –   It is well-known that Gen Z is frequently criticized for being unpunctual, skipping job interviews, declining unpaid overtime, and seeking high-level positions and work-life balance before establishing themselves. Some employers have grown frustrated, dismissing new Gen Z employees shortly after hiring them and labeling the entire generation as “unprofessional.” Even Gen Z employees have admitted that they can be a difficult generation to collaborate with.

“They sometimes cause a significant amount of disorder, making you want to pull your hair out,” says Matt Huang, co-founder of the $12 billion crypto investment company Paradigm.

“However, when you witness their capabilities, it’s incredible,” he remarked to Colossus Review in April 2025. “No one else could achieve what they do.”

A prime example is Charlie Noyes, Paradigm’s first employee in 2018. A 19-year-old MIT dropout, Noyes arrived five hours late to his initial 10 a.m. meeting. By 2025, at the age of 25, he had become a general partner at the firm.

In 2020, it was Noyes who identified MEV as a vital issue for blockchain, leading Paradigm to act as the primary investor for Flashbots. That company’s infrastructure now facilitates nearly every Ethereum transaction and has defined essential market standards in the $450 billion sector.

While Noyes has since moved on, he was not the only talented young professional making an impact at Paradigm.

The firm’s CTO, Georgios Konstantopoulos, joined just two years after finishing college in 2018 and has developed into one of the most active engineers in the crypto space. Additionally, there is the developer known by the handle transmissions11, whom Paradigm reportedly recruited while he was still a high school student.

“I sometimes feel as though I’m overseeing the X-Men Academy,” Huang remarks, comparing his team’s unconventional and highly skilled members to young mutants whose talents justify the surrounding chaos.

Huang was contacted for a statement regarding these comments.

Gen Z may be challenging to manage—but they are essential

Just as previous generations did—millennials, for example, were once called “snowflakes” before moving into leadership roles—Gen Z has developed a reputation for being difficult in the workplace.

A 2024 Intelligent survey involving over 960 employers indicated that one in six firms were hesitant to recruit Gen Z candidates.

However, the same studies that label the youngest workforce as difficult also point out that there is much to learn from them, suggesting that the corporate environment is due for a significant shift.

“They offer a distinct combination of talent and courageous ideas that can refresh any team,” stated Geoffrey Scott, a senior hiring manager at Resume Genius. “Gen Z might have a negative reputation, but they possess the capability to improve workplaces significantly.”

If organizations fail to adjust, they may find themselves falling behind.

Tobba Vigfusdottir, a psychologist and CEO of the well-being platform Kara Connect, previously noted that employers must adapt to Gen Z’s preferences—such as flexible schedules, sustainability commitments, and meaningful work—to remain competitive as baby boomers retire.

“Businesses need to recognize the current reality,” Vigfusdottir cautioned. “The organizations that survive will be those that listen and integrate them, because they are driving change.”

Will.i.am and Josh Kushner are also supporting Gen Z

Huang is not the only forward-thinking leader placing his bets on Gen Z’s disruptive potential. Rapper and entrepreneur Will.i.am, along with Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner, are also investing in the talented youth of the future.

Kushner has previously mentioned that he specifically seeks to hire individuals with less than four years of professional experience.

When he started his venture capital firm at age 26, he was encouraged to hire more experienced professionals. However, he noted that “talented people with experience would never want to work for a 26-year-old.” Consequently, he hired the most intelligent people he knew within his own age group.

That strategy proved successful: his firm was an early investor in multi-billion dollar startups, including OpenAI, which recently reached a valuation of $300 billion.

While Kushner could now hire seasoned veterans, he still prefers to find “young, motivated individuals who are willing to work as hard as we did a decade ago.”

Will.i.am has reached a similar conclusion. While famous for his music career, he is also a dedicated investor who backed Tesla, OpenAI, and Pinterest early on. Now, he is focusing on Gen Z for his future investments.

He believes the next major technological shifts will originate from young innovators at Stanford and MIT. “They are young and have grown up with this technology,” Will.i.am stated. “That is what I am searching for. It is my primary focus.”

A version of this report was originally published on April 10, 2025.

Further reading on Gen Z:

• Gen Z’s struggle with workplace interaction could impact their promotion prospects
• A L’Oreal executive advises Gen Z hires to volunteer for small tasks like getting coffee to gain visibility with management
• Gen Z is starting to invest at a younger age than previous generations, with crypto serving as a primary entry point
• Experts caution that Gen Z is using “task masking” to appear busy, which may be self-defeating
• An astronaut notes that Gen Z often quits when faced with discomfort, contrasting this with the resilience training used at Blue Origin