Run Your Startup Like a Cult

"Hire Employees Who Are Excited to Wear Your Logo on Their Hoodies"

I was hoping this article wasn't as ridiculous as the headline, and some of the advice is good... but it's stuff like this, Silicon Valley.

Is it possible anymore to just want to work hard on an interesting problem, or do I really have to be a "fanatic" about it?

Every headline in this article pissed me off.

Every paragraph in this article actually contained solid advice, even though I don't agree with all of it.

So I would like to add rule #5: Don't talk in ludicrous hyperbole. Smart people won't take you seriously, and you'll actually attract the kind of feeble minded people that would join a real cult.

From personal experience, the biggest downside to this advice is that it builds a culture of being in or out. You either tow the company line or you're not part of the team, it leaves little room for challenging the status quo when you see mistakes being made.

Articles like this make me believe that even if I managed to find my way into Silicon Valley I simply wouldn't fit in. My job is not my identity, I feel its healthy to generate a life outside your work that is entirely separate; heck I see it as a necessity for longevity in life to have such segregation.

I've turned down jobs that promote "monthly massages", "beer fridays", "gaming evenings", and other perks like the article mentions because when you step back and look at it they're trying to replace your life outside of work with excuses why you shouldn't leave work. Bind your job to your necessities and leaving becomes so much harder.

I own one T-shirt with my company logo (company uniform not counted) and I only have that because we got "sponsored" jerseys from the owner when we did a rec sport league. I don't wear it outside of the gym or doing laborious physical work, I feel a bit weird wearing it in public in a way; we are not a "brand", we do not need social marketing to be the multi-million dollar small business group that we are, hell the Joe standing behind me in the coffee lineup isn't interested in what we do anyway, he's not our market.

But it goes beyond that... Rule #3 raises alarm bells where having one person solely responsible for entire aspects of a business leaves you in a tight space should he hit the road, or fall ill. Heck even daily situations like ego or pride masking his greater vision can mean death for the company no? Even having a second individual sharing the load from those responsibilities allows for collaboration, brainstorming and are those not productive?

Perhaps I write a lot of these questions hypothetically. I'm not in the start-up biz, I don't really see an interest in it as you might be able to tell it clashes with my personality. Is life really seen as this dogmatic in the culture? I know its not universal but it certainly seems prevalent when I read the comments on HN and the like.

I've never wore my company logo. Perhaps that means I'm not passionate at what I do, and a bad fit for startups.

Or it could mean that I separate my job from my life, and consider them two different things. Perhaps it has no impact on the quality of my work, or my willingness to work with others.

When dealing with people, making grand statements about how to make the right decision feels wrong. We're all our own world, filled with our own opinions, thoughts, and desires.

I think the sooner you recognize the inherent differences in people, the better you can make quality decisions based around how they will fit in.