Her strategy around compensation boils down to really wanting "somebody who's coming for the right reasons," Mayer said. "To get the people who are really aligned with the mission, you want to make sure that they're fairly compensated, but not necessarily motivated by that compensation."
Mayer left Google to take over as CEO of Yahoo. She held that role for five years until Verizon bought the firm last year and she decided to leave. She noted that when Google had made its 1,000 hire, the tech giant changed its compensation strategy.
"I had a strategy both at Yahoo and at Google of 'meet, not beat," Mayer said. "It's the trade-off between mercenaries and missionaries," Mayer said.