Deel vs. Rippling: Startup Spygate

A Rippling employee was caught feeding confidential info to Deel. It’s messy. We’re talking burner phones, hush payments, and backdoor channels that wouldn’t feel out of place in a spy thriller. The details are insane—but the motive? Crystal clear.

Deel is in a knife fight. Hypergrowth, global competition, high stakes. The CEO’s under pressure to win, and someone clearly crossed a line to make that happen. What’s shocking isn’t that it happened—it’s that they got caught. Let’s not pretend this is a one-off. In high-stakes markets, there’s always someone bending rules in the shadows.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: we all want our people to be scrappy, resourceful, relentless. But that ambition comes with risk. If you don’t draw the line on ethics, someone eventually will—for you. Usually in a courtroom or a headline.

📝Advice:

Don’t wait for your version of this story to blow up. If someone on your team is morally questionable, get rid of them now. You can’t teach ethics to grown adults. And once trust is gone, culture goes with it.

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