Wow, this author actually wrote well enough for me to read the whole article. I usually drop out 1-2 paragraphs into these types of longer form stories. Good job and looking forward to reading more.
Four Years in Startups
51–60 of 89 posts
Re: Four Years in Startups
#52I listened to the article, and yes, the startup environment has a LOT of problems.
But the pretentious tone removes a lot of it's legitimacy for me, mostly because it sinks as low as some of these startups to get engagement and reactions to the article, to the point of becoming hypocritical.
We need proper journalism uncovering these malpractices, not sensationalist or tech gossip pieces that can be discredited as such.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#53The Mixpanel (if that is the company being referred to, seems pretty obvious) CEO's callous firing of someone who asked for a raise, then threatening anyone who disagreed with this decision with termination is horrendous (if true).
Yea that scene was bonkers. Is that even legal, to demand resignation of an employee if they admit to disagreeing with a decision of yours? I hope I would have the courage to speak truth if I were ever put in that situation.
That's not limited to start-ups. My experience so far is that most superiors can't stand employees that disagree. And not all are self aware of it. But it usually is a good indicator whether or not a manager looks for yes-men or not.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#54I don’t understand why all these from-the-inside vignettes overplay all the stereotypes so much. I guess it has to do with making it more exciting and exotic for your readers
I'd attribute that to storytelling, there's not much interesting about expanding on the technical details, but there's plenty to embellish from the interactive moments.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#55The text really captured my attention. I've recently been struggling with whether or not tech and the modern internet are a force for good. I always enjoyed tinkering with hardware and software, and have been working in related jobs because it pays well and there are always interesting challenges to solve. But the societal shifts ongoing in Europe, the filter bubbles and breaking down of discourse, the xenophobia and the growing divide between large parts of society as well as the erosion of (local) media and the crisis of mental well-being among both adults and adolescents, which I feel are at least partly attributable to technological changes in the past ten years, have led me to think that maybe the most important thing for people right now may be spaces without technology, without personalization and just being confronted with the community of others. This does not seem like a problem solvable by the means of technology and makes me wonder whether I've spent my life learning about technology only to abandon it at some point.
Are there any good resources about what I call my "tech hangover" to navigate how to move on, maybe convert this education into something of societal value beyond screens? Or am I being too cynical about everything and in reality it's all much better than I'm seeing it? Open for anything here really, but struggling with the status quo.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#56> A popular narrative about trolls was that they were just a bunch of lonely men in their parents’ basements, but this looked like a coördinated effort. The repository included e-mail templates and phone-call scripts. It was, my teammates agreed, unusual to see them so organized. 4chain raids provided automated software to assist in highly coordinated trolls - an email template seems like child's play compared to wha…
This is some mean shit on so many levels.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#57The companies, locations, and people referenced in this article are so thinly veiled I don't understand why they'd try to keep them anonymous at all?
I don't think they're claiming to actually anonymize them. Seems like it's just a stylistic choice to not affirmatively identify them.
And avoiding a potential libel suit.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#58Wow, this author actually wrote well enough for me to read the whole article. I usually drop out 1-2 paragraphs into these types of longer form stories. Good job and looking forward to reading more.
I think the key difference is that the headline doesn't bait and switch you with the promise of some deeply-buried lede. You're reading it in the first place because you're interested in the author's firsthand experience.
I normally detest long-form because I go into it wanting to discover a tricky horse-betting scheme, but then I have to sit through pages of what some guy's suit looked like and how he held his cigar as he sat down for lunch. This author has her priorities aligned and doesn't abuse or mislead the reader.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#59The Mixpanel (if that is the company being referred to, seems pretty obvious) CEO's callous firing of someone who asked for a raise, then threatening anyone who disagreed with this decision with termination is horrendous (if true).
Yea that scene was bonkers. Is that even legal, to demand resignation of an employee if they admit to disagreeing with a decision of yours? I hope I would have the courage to speak truth if I were ever put in that situation.
You can’t demand someone to resign, but you can terminate someone for no reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment
Resignation is an employee choosing to leave a job, and results in becoming ineligible to receive unemployment benefits, which results in the employer’s unemployment insurance premiums to be lower.
Re: Four Years in Startups
#60The companies, locations, and people referenced in this article are so thinly veiled I don't understand why they'd try to keep them anonymous at all?
[deleted]