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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

#171

Post by [deleted] »

exit wrote: post #169
lionhearted wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple points - They're partners, not employees. Yes, I'll suffer at the printshop when I promised it. My colleague offered to do it, but he just had a baby and it would be ridiculous to keep him all night. No one else was available on Sunday night. > they tend to be neither very good businessmen nor good employers. My staff like me, I pay top of market (sometimes 10x market pay, if the person is worth it but short…

this doesn't sound like 10x to me "I 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, and he can use our office space to hold client meetings during our off hours. ... The designer came with me, working for peanuts compared to his normal rates (he’s a top guy)"

[deleted]

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

#172

Post by skore »

RandalMolek wrote: post #158
illumen wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reads like the person has a drug habbit. I feel sorry for the employees.

Yeah, there is some hypomania there, stimulant induced or otherwise.

Read his latest blog entry (or don't - it's quite a waste of time). Money quote is this:

> "I’m cyclothymic too. Like Nieztsche and Byron and those guys. Albeit, much less talented; I’m just saying I got the same affliction. [...] What’s a cyclothymic? It appears that we feel emotions more strongly than other people, and cycle through them. I’m fucking awesome when I’m manic [...] Cyclothymic mania is when the SPIRIT OF GOD is within you. [...] It’s pretty fucking awesome when it’s going on. SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN YOU. Imagine that, eh? [...] Jut one rub – it’s a Faustian Bargain – crashing is… well, “hell” [...] when a convergence of bullshit strikes, then I crash hard and I’m fucking useless for a while. It’s a real bummer, I’ll tell ya."

So yes - manic depressive. And a little too taken by it, if I may say so.

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

#173

Post by DanBC »

thiagofm wrote: post #101

that guy is full of shit check out the REAL JOKER: http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/hey-you-yeah-you-you-can-be... In the comments section of this post, he mentions that he's going to finish the editing process of his book by 30 september Now check this post: http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/why-isnt-my-book-done He's a fucking joker!

> -Why isn’t Critical Thinking ready to ship?

> -What’s wrong with it?

Well, it's 17,000 words a day of this . . .

> it was kind of something on the back of my periphery of my mind.

EDIT: they asked for 50,000 - 60,000 words, and he's written nearly 180,000.

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

#176

Post by bermanoid »

lionhearted wrote: post #159
bermanoid wrote: post #125

"Dear Sebastian, we quit, piss off. Best, Sam, Lee, and Jon." Seriously, this is just ridiculous. Is there anyone here that would actually put up with this ridiculous public shaming at all, let alone from a CEO that's off in Asia staying up "20 hours" to print flyers for one of his other companies, while he bitches that you're not reneging on your teaching commitments (which I would presume he knew about when he took…

A couple points - They're partners, not employees. Yes, I'll suffer at the printshop when I promised it. My colleague offered to do it, but he just had a baby and it would be ridiculous to keep him all night. No one else was available on Sunday night. > they tend to be neither very good businessmen nor good employers. My staff like me, I pay top of market (sometimes 10x market pay, if the person is worth it but short…

sometimes 10x market pay

Somehow I doubt you're paying $1 million a year, which would be 10x market pay for a good engineer...

That said, if you're paying even high-ish market rates and your people are really partners with significant percentage interests in the company, then I do retract a lot of what I said, and apologize if it was too harsh - I have had some bad experiences in startup-land with CEOs that demanded miracles from underpaid near-zero-equity employees, and I'm definitely biased by that. It's very likely that I've misinterpreted what's going on in your case based on my experiences, it's definitely more reasonable to expect serious commitment from equity partners that are well compensated for their time.

That said, I'd still think hard before posting stuff like this publicly - it's got a dirty laundry smell, and I think that's what a lot of people are reacting most negatively to. Did this really need to be a public blog post, or could it have had the same effect as an e-mail cced to the involved parties, without inviting the rest of the Internet to comment on it?

I know if I was one of the "lazies" called out, I'd be a bit pissed off about how public this got, and I'd probably be retaliating with any other side to the story, if there was one...

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

#177

Post by Mz »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #129
onan_barbarian wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I really dislike seeing comments like this on HN. I've clawed my way from poverty to lower middle class, helped out as many people along the way as I could, done some amazing things, written a lot of brilliant code that's running the guts of a couple businesses and maybe even an East Bay school district still. But, I've never written about any of it, I don't talk about it much, and honestly, I'd rather do just about…

written a lot of brilliant code that's running the guts of a couple businesses and maybe even an East Bay school district still.

Even without revealing your identity or violating your privacy, this is more substantive information about your career accomplishments than I can find about Sebastian. Maybe it's there and I'm just too stupid to figure it out. In which case there is a simple solution: You (or anyone else) can simply point out the obvious and make me look like a fool. I'm pretty comfortable playing the fool. He's your chance to get your licks in on me and fight the good fight and all that.

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

#179

Post by Tichy »

cellis wrote: post #106
ryan-allen wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sooner I can buy a Ferrari the better. I want it now! EDIT: The answer to your question is sentiment of my above sentence. I don't really want a Ferrari personally. I'd prefer a Nissan GTR R35.

According to Car and Driver, the Corvette ZR1 can beat the Ferrari for a 3rd of the price. As for the GTR, too boxy. I want to drive a fast car and impress the ladies, not look like some chinzy wannabe extra from Tokyo Drift .

Did Car and Driver also measure the impact on ladies?

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

#180

Post by thaumaturgy »

Mz wrote: post #177
thaumaturgy wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really dislike seeing comments like this on HN. I've clawed my way from poverty to lower middle class, helped out as many people along the way as I could, done some amazing things, written a lot of brilliant code that's running the guts of a couple businesses and maybe even an East Bay school district still. But, I've never written about any of it, I don't talk about it much, and honestly, I'd rather do just about…

written a lot of brilliant code that's running the guts of a couple businesses and maybe even an East Bay school district still. Even without revealing your identity or violating your privacy, this is more substantive information about your career accomplishments than I can find about Sebastian. Maybe it's there and I'm just too stupid to figure it out. In which case there is a simple solution: You (or anyone else) c…

Er, I'm not looking to fight any kind of fight or make anyone look like a fool.

I just wanted to point out that dismissing someone because you don't know about their accomplishments (or lack of) is probably going to mean that you're going to miss out on some pretty great people.

(For clarity: generic "you" in this case, not specifically you; and I'm not lumping myself in with "great" people.)

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