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I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

marcgayle.com

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Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#51

Post by neworbit »

maxklein wrote: post #2

But he's very successful. Who's viewpoint are we supposed to champion here - the employee or the employer? Should we not be happy when an employer is successful and can get a lot from his employees with minimal expense? Does the process of building a startup not put us squarely in the side of the employer?

This is a general question and not specifically to you: how successful is he? I have him mentally associated with netscape.com and a bad digg clone, and some time on the VC side of the table - so for people like me who don't know the background there, what did he do entrepreneurially and how well did he do for himself and his investors?

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#52

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

marcamillion wrote: post #29
praptak wrote: post #3

Also, sky is blue. Check http://www.bnet.com/blog/entry-level/jason-calacanis-gen-y-j... Says Calacanis: "... the majority of Gen Y seem to operating under the bizarre rallying cry of: More money! Less responsibility! Shorter hours! No stress! More freedom! It’s all about me!" Yeah, shame on the employees for wanting better job conditions and admitting they actually care about own interest.

Jason wonders why people 'job hop' at Mahalo. Are you kidding me right now?

Actually, we haven't had any (volentary) turnover in about a year. Ever since we did our "culture document" and started hiring based on it, we've had an almost flawless hiring process. I'm going to write a newsletter on building a culture document, so you might want to signup for my newsletter at www.jasonnation.com.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#53

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

praptak wrote: post #3

Also, sky is blue. Check http://www.bnet.com/blog/entry-level/jason-calacanis-gen-y-j... Says Calacanis: "... the majority of Gen Y seem to operating under the bizarre rallying cry of: More money! Less responsibility! Shorter hours! No stress! More freedom! It’s all about me!" Yeah, shame on the employees for wanting better job conditions and admitting they actually care about own interest.

Not exactly my point.

a) We have amazing job conditions: organic food cooked all day by our chefs, laundry service, car washing, personal trainers, unlimited monitors, killer espresso machine, developer-driven product design, etc.

b) My point is it is fine to care about your own interests--but not more than the mission and success of the company. There is no 'i' in team, and you either succeed as a team or you fail as a team.

That's the reality of startups, so the players who are concerned with their stat line are not the players you want on your team.

About 2/3rds of the Gen Y folks I meet at thinking of themselves first and the company 2nd or 3rd--if at all in some cases.The other 1/3rd are hard working, dedicated and have a sense of Giri.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#54

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

mh_ wrote: post #39
roschdal wrote: post #27

Q: "How would you describe your management style, because you have a pretty unique management style?" Jason Calacanis: "Yeah, I would say I like people to be able to keep up with me. Uuuhm. And I don't get tired - I have only experienced being tired a couple of times in my life, it's typically from running the marathon and so I need people who are indefatigable, people who have pretty high stamina. I need people who…

I know it's fashionable to hate Calacanis, but must confess to not finding too much wrong with the paragraph. I have worked with quite a few people who wondered "is my name in lights yet?", while wanting work/life balance at the same time. My personal thought on it was: "we are trying to make a dent in the world, and it takes something extra, and you have to really want it, cause it's hard (and tiring), and if you wo…

ding, ding, ding!

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#55

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

hugh3 wrote: post #44
mh_ wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's fashionable to hate Calacanis, but must confess to not finding too much wrong with the paragraph. I have worked with quite a few people who wondered "is my name in lights yet?", while wanting work/life balance at the same time. My personal thought on it was: "we are trying to make a dent in the world, and it takes something extra, and you have to really want it, cause it's hard (and tiring), and if you wo…

It's not the gist of what he says that's unreasonable, it's the details and the phrasing which reveal a lot about the dude's personality. It's the self-obsession inherent in the way he keeps referring to his own (self-perceived) good qualities as the ideals to which others should try to live up to. It's the pointless bragging. "Oh, I've only been tired a few times in my life, usually after a marathon". Cool story, br…

I kill myself in order to see our projects succeed, and so it is only fair in my mind that the folks who join my team do the same.

It's not 80 hours a week every week, but certainly there are those weeks. The truth is it's probably not as hard as I make it seem in this video, but this video is my HR marketing.

The weak people who see a video like this go "oh that guys a jerk I would never work for him," and that's EXACTLY what I want.

Now, the folks who are looking to double or triple their salaries, grow their technical skills 5-10x in a year and learn how to run their own companies, those people see a video like that and say "sign me up! I want to be a Jedi! I want to be a Samurai!"

I then give those folks a lightsaber and teach them how to run a company from raising money, to hiring and to developing a strategy.

If you look at the folks who have joined my teams you will find a long line of folks who have becoming millionaires working for me, and then gone on to raise millions in venture capital for their companies--and in some cases make millions (again)!

The folks who don't know me, and are so weak that they waste their time throwing rocks at me, take the time to attack on a thread like this.... but they've never spent a day with me! They don't know me, but they waste time commenting on what they don't know.

I find that funny and sad, and I appreciate the attention because all it does is send more potential Jedi my way.

Keep hating haters... I love it.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#56

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

randall wrote: post #46

So being one of the few people in this thread that has worked with Jason, I wanted to chime in for a second. Jason is totally demanding and pushes everyone around him to their limits. Yes. True. But, underneath all the bulldog, seriously the guy has a heart of gold. Sometimes he doesn't show it, and even he'd admit some level of narcissism, but from personal experience, I can fully say that working with Jason changed…

It was a blast to watch you grow from an outsider in the industry with some raw skills, into an in-demand Jedi Randall! Continued success and I can't wait until you start your own company and pitch at the Open Angel Forum!

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#57

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

prs wrote: post #9

Surely there has been lots of debate about his statements in the past. Rather than spending time on his polarizing way of gaining attention, the best solution is to let him do business his way and channel our energies into more productive directions. The last time I checked, no one is forced to work for Jason. On a minor side note: Am I the only one to notice that he seems to move quite a lot with his body during the…

ding! ding! ding! why waste the time hating on me

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#58

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

dangrossman wrote: post #19

I really need to write a filter to keep him off my screen, since just about everything Jason writes or says ends up getting me a bit riled. Just yesterday he sent out an e-mail saying that if you can't drop $10,000 on a premium domain name for your unfunded startup, you're not worth investing in... and proves how easy it is by listing the $133,000 he's spent on domains himself.

Actually, I would re-read the post.

I say clearly that you can start with a good domain that might cost only $10 to $2,000 and THEN use your VC/angel money to upgrade the domain later (like delicious did, for example).

$133k on domain names is insignificant. Don't be impressed by it... CNET owns $20M in domains, AOL owns $50m in domain names and there are many individuals who own millions.

My point in listing the domains I've gotten and how much I've spent for them is that it is a) not that expensive compared to the value they provide and b) that I've got some experience in this space and you might want to listen and read what I'm saying.

Please go back and a) re-read the piece and b) don't be so obsessed with big number.

jcal

http://launch.is/blog/2010/12/3/how-to-name-your-startup-and...

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#59

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

maxklein wrote: post #2

But he's very successful. Who's viewpoint are we supposed to champion here - the employee or the employer? Should we not be happy when an employer is successful and can get a lot from his employees with minimal expense? Does the process of building a startup not put us squarely in the side of the employer?

Actually, in startups everyone is aligned in their interest due to stock options. Anyone who looks at it as employer/employee just doesn't get the startup dynamic. As an investor in 20 startups I'm constantly pushing to give more stock options to employees, and as the founder of three companies with over 100 f/t employees and 250 part-time folks, I'm constantly pushing to increase stock compensation over cash comp. Why

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#60

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

mikerhoads wrote: post #42

I worked for him for the first 2.5 years of Mahalo. I got hired right after dropping out of college. During my time there I was promoted twice, got to spend 3 months paid to live over seas and went to a party at the playboy mansion. Say what you will about him or his style but my experience was was a net positive and if you turn the clock back and I'd do it again.

Watching you go from drop out to samurai/killer/jedi has been thrilling. Some day you'll start your own company, present at the Open Angel Forum and launch at the LAUNCH conference (www.launch.is), and I'll be lucky enough to invest!!! Keep rocking Mike!
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