Live data from Hacker News

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

sebastianmarshall.com

71–80 of 301 posts

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

#71
post #42

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 dou…

The repetition is obviously intentional (I'm surprised this wasn't evident to you). It's written more as a speech rather then a pamphlet. Have you listened to for instance Obama, or any other politician? Usually they have very little to say(you could probably summarize in 5 sentences), but to get the point across they use repetition. It's an effective communication tool.

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

#72

Can someone provide me some concise explanation as to what Sebastian Marshall has actually done - outside of lots of blog posts, Hacker news posts, and travel?

LinkedIn has a stub page saying "I don't really use linkedin".

His 'About' page has this: "I worked as an entrepreneur from 2004 to 2008". That's it.

From 2009 onwards, there appears to be a lot of stuff about travel, and sleeping less, and "purifying my diet".

I have some friends with bios/resumes like this; these also happen to be my "rich kid" friends.

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

#73
post #71
post #42

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 dou…

The repetition is obviously intentional (I'm surprised this wasn't evident to you). It's written more as a speech rather then a pamphlet. Have you listened to for instance Obama, or any other politician? Usually they have very little to say(you could probably summarize in 5 sentences), but to get the point across they use repetition. It's an effective communication tool.

[deleted]

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

#74
post #29

At first I thought this was posted by one of the email's recipients as a form of revenge on its douchebag author. Then, I realized it was posted by the author on his own blog... how embarrassing. The whole letter/blog simultaneously reeks of desperation, egotism, conceit and condescension. He clearly craves validation and doesn't hesitate to dole it out to himself. "I picked you guys because you're the best! Now quit…

I think, this is in part a consequence of the deification of Steve Jobs, who might have adopted a similar stance towards his partners/employees. Such behavior is now automatically assumed to be acceptable by some subset of people. The No Asshole principle is passé. The author may have written such an email irrespective of Steve Jobs influence. But the audacity to post it on his own blog for everyone to "admire" certainly has to do with the publicity around the Jobs' supposed douchiness.

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

#75
post #42

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 dou…

5275 words in the past two blog posts in the last two days. Want more time in the day? My advice: quit ranting!

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

#78

Can someone provide me some concise explanation as to what Sebastian Marshall has actually done - outside of lots of blog posts, Hacker news posts, and travel?

I always thought he was HN's version of that "Coach"[1] guy who is on Survivor?

Play Guess Who said it (answers at [2]):

Unshakable. Unbreakable. Unvincible like a sword. I know who I am.

Strategy, Philosophy, Self-Discipline, Science. Victory.

Time and place, that sort of thing. But why not just say it, man?

If you flat out lie to me, you’d better be prepared to go to war.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wade_(Survivor_contest...

[2] Quote 1 & 4 are from Coach, 2 & 3 are from Sebastian.

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

#80

You know who's a joker? The guy who "got a top creative designer in there working for a fraction of his normal cost by being very fucking cool with him, and also working out a deal where we refer him business". That's who.

You're missing the point of the email. He's asking his team to stop sweating the small stuff and just get it done. He's pointing out that others are busting their ass (the designer) while the team is trying to figure out something basic like email providers. Just pick something and go with it.

I got the point of the email, thanks.
Post reply on HN