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If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

sebastianmarshall.com

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Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#41

Post by rdtsc »

nirvana wrote: post #24

I can identify with what sebastian is experiencing here. Its easy to work with friends, or be friendly with your employees. Its easy for things to get casual. Its easy for people to start running everything by you. Its VERY easy for the sense of urgency to just go away. Its very hard to get people highly motivated about time. It's easy to kill an entire day with BS, and let things just stretch out. Especially when yo…

2 things:

* If you are always running your business with a sense of urgency, you are going to burn out. You are going to burn out your employees. You've might have bitten more than you can chew. Some things are not possible and you need to have realistic expectations. It is fine to have stretches of busy time, but that can't last forever.

* > Its very hard to get people highly motivated about time. -- Ok so it is crunch time. Try communication & openness. Put up a whiteboard, show how many days left, how much money is left, the list of unfixed bugs, and whose name is next to it. Update frequently. Detect problems and slips early and try to fix. Don't yell at them or talk about fucking Hannibal, because you know what? You look like a Joker then.

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#42

Post by hristov »

This should be a very good read for those of you that think that formal education is not necessary for start-up success. I am not sure who the author of this is and whether he went to college or not, but he clearly needs to take a good writing class. He may actually have a good point about keeping commitments but the whole thing is written so badly, in such a meandering and repetitive way that it is a joke. And I doubt any of the recipients of that email will take him seriously and will stop going to their classes to work on his project as he requests.

The saddest part is that he most likely thinks he is working very hard and being very productive. He is writing all these pages upon pages of stuff repeating the same mantra, relating to his favorite history channel shows, etc. But of course he is wasting his time and the time of the people that will have to read the thing. Although I am sure the readers get some entertainment as a side benefit. If he knew how to write he could have written a tight passage of several paragraphs or so that properly conveys the need for dependability and the urgency of the situation without making a fool of himself or insulting his readers.

Writing is a skill and it matters. This is especially true for people in leadership positions.

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#43

Post by Joakal »

tikhonj wrote: post #5

I can't help feeling that that was written by a cross between a motivational speaker and a mafia don. The letter had an interesting voice and was well written; however, it immediately set off unconscious alarms in my mind. It was trying to influence the reader too coarsely on too emotional a level; I do not like that sort of thing very much.

I agree, some people are shy, unsure, etc, and will get defensive when presented with an angry person barking orders. It's not the military. They may find these people won't even talk about their work because they don't want to offend the barker.

That said, it really depends on the culture of the employees on which motivational techniques to use.

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#45

Post by suivix »

rdtsc wrote: post #41
nirvana wrote: post #24

I can identify with what sebastian is experiencing here. Its easy to work with friends, or be friendly with your employees. Its easy for things to get casual. Its easy for people to start running everything by you. Its VERY easy for the sense of urgency to just go away. Its very hard to get people highly motivated about time. It's easy to kill an entire day with BS, and let things just stretch out. Especially when yo…

2 things: * If you are always running your business with a sense of urgency, you are going to burn out. You are going to burn out your employees. You've might have bitten more than you can chew. Some things are not possible and you need to have realistic expectations. It is fine to have stretches of busy time, but that can't last forever. * > Its very hard to get people highly motivated about time. -- Ok so it is cru…

The difference with Hannibal is that if he and his forces didn't keep advancing, they would literally starve to death. On the other hand, the author here is trying to create senses of urgency with very nebulous justification.

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#46

Post by artursapek »

This reminds me of "Stop doing stupid shit," [1] one of my favorite articles of all time. This was a great read. The intensity and the trust he projects onto his friends is a good role-model for anyone working with their friends on something and making less progress than they'd like.

[1] http://jinfiesto.posterous.com/how-to-seem-good-at-everythin...

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#47

Post by dminor »

tikhonj wrote: post #5

I can't help feeling that that was written by a cross between a motivational speaker and a mafia don. The letter had an interesting voice and was well written; however, it immediately set off unconscious alarms in my mind. It was trying to influence the reader too coarsely on too emotional a level; I do not like that sort of thing very much.

My impression was Patton wannabe with an inferiority complex.

Well written indeed, but Hannibal crossing the Alps to manage his AWS setup was a bit too silly a juxtaposition.

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#48

Post by tikhonj »

Joakal wrote: post #43
tikhonj wrote: post #5

I can't help feeling that that was written by a cross between a motivational speaker and a mafia don. The letter had an interesting voice and was well written; however, it immediately set off unconscious alarms in my mind. It was trying to influence the reader too coarsely on too emotional a level; I do not like that sort of thing very much.

I agree, some people are shy, unsure, etc, and will get defensive when presented with an angry person barking orders. It's not the military. They may find these people won't even talk about their work because they don't want to offend the barker. That said, it really depends on the culture of the employees on which motivational techniques to use.

For me it didn't feel like something from the army as much as a car salesman trying much too hard.

Also, as a college student, I would be really suspicious of somebody telling me not to go to class--I'm perfectly happy to do that of my own violation, but anybody suggesting it immediately comes out as against my best interests.

Re: If you want to get rich, stop being a fucking joker

#49

Post by artursapek »

mbreese wrote: post #44

What was that? Does anyone have any sort of context to this? Who are these people? Why do I feel like I'm missing a punch line?

It's meant as a glimpse into someone else's project. I like it because it lets me compare it to my own with no preconceptions.
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