Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner • Hacker News Board

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#21

Post by wavefunction » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:03 PM UTC

hkmurakami wrote: post #12

gmarx wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it isn't. If people keep throwing around these kind of assertions, these very serious psych diagnoses will lose all specificity and become useless.

Isn't there an important distinction between a sociopath and psychopath? (or perhaps you are asserting that the generous use of xxxxx-path cheapens the gravity of the situation for those suffering from mental illnesses)

They are both Antisocial Personality Disorders but a sociopath and psychopath are different in their planning ability.

A psychopath reacts, a sociopath manipulates.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#22

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:04 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#23

Post by jiggy2011 » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:05 PM UTC

notacoward wrote: post #17

jiggy2011 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is collaboration valued in modern startups? I hadn't noticed.

Ever heard of open source? Lots of startups are using and contributing to it, using their participation to attract both users and developers. Yeah, I'd say collaboration is valued quite a bit.

It wouldn't surprise me if Oracle were responsible for more useful open source than every "modern startup" combined.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#24

Post by jahewson » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:09 PM UTC

hkmurakami wrote: post #12

gmarx wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it isn't. If people keep throwing around these kind of assertions, these very serious psych diagnoses will lose all specificity and become useless.

Isn't there an important distinction between a sociopath and psychopath? (or perhaps you are asserting that the generous use of xxxxx-path cheapens the gravity of the situation for those suffering from mental illnesses)

This is a popular misconception, they are interchangeable, being two words for the same concept of different origins. Some authors make minor distinctions, but they are not widely recognised.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#25

Post by notacoward » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:11 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #23

notacoward wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever heard of open source? Lots of startups are using and contributing to it, using their participation to attract both users and developers. Yeah, I'd say collaboration is valued quite a bit.

It wouldn't surprise me if Oracle were responsible for more useful open source than every "modern startup" combined.

Why don't you make at least a token attempt to research and prove such a strong claim? Most of their open source was acquired, not generated internally, and is demonstrably less active than it was before it became Oracle. Examples include everything from Sun or MySQL. Oracle has probably done more harm to open source than any other company including Microsoft.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#26

Post by davesque » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:13 PM UTC

gmarx wrote: post #11

unclebunkers wrote: post #2

"It's not enough to win, all others must fail" This isn't the DNA of a winner, this is the DNA of a sociopath.

No it isn't. If people keep throwing around these kind of assertions, these very serious psych diagnoses will lose all specificity and become useless.

Whaa?

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#27

Post by IvyMike » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:14 PM UTC

spindritf wrote: post #3

unclebunkers wrote: post #2

"It's not enough to win, all others must fail" This isn't the DNA of a winner, this is the DNA of a sociopath.

Maybe sociopathy is adaptive in the modern world.

This was the main message of American Psycho.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#28

Post by davesque » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:15 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #14

notacoward wrote: post #6

What a fawning piece of tripe. Uncle Larry's monomania and "others must fail" sociopathy might have worked for Oracle in a particular market and time, but it would be a recipe for utter failure in a modern startup where adaptability and collaboration are more valued. He didn't have unique entrepreneurial DNA. He had some skills that were valuable, others that were deficient, and enough luck that the former outweighed…

Is collaboration valued in modern startups? I hadn't noticed.

At least the culture values it. However, at the end of the day, it depends on who you're working with.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#29

Post by davesque » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:17 PM UTC

notacoward wrote: post #6

What a fawning piece of tripe. Uncle Larry's monomania and "others must fail" sociopathy might have worked for Oracle in a particular market and time, but it would be a recipe for utter failure in a modern startup where adaptability and collaboration are more valued. He didn't have unique entrepreneurial DNA. He had some skills that were valuable, others that were deficient, and enough luck that the former outweighed…

Well put. Executive culture seems somewhat rabid.

Re: Watching Larry Ellison Become Larry Ellison – The DNA of a Winner

#30

Post by idlewords » Thu, Sep 25, 2014, 4:18 PM UTC

parasubvert wrote: post #15

You can tell who is an entrepreneur and who isn't by those who talk shit about Larry and Oracle. Some here seem to think Entrepreneurship has changed into a kumbaya group hug where we just attend conferences together , check code into GitHub, might make a bit of money if we ask nicely, or sell "ads", and hope for an early exit because of our sheer brilliance, leaving the dirty work to our future parent. The most valu…

I'm an entrepreneur and I think Larry Ellison is a turd. Am I blowing your mind?

People start and run companies for a variety of motives. Obliterating the competition is one of them, but it seems to correlate with being a pretty awful person to be around, so not everyone chooses to play by those rules.

Ultimately you get to choose-and are responsible for-the rules you play by. If there's one big lesson of entrepreneurship, it's "take responsibility", and that includes figuring out what kind of person you want to become.