I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it • Hacker News Board

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#11

Post by ahi » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:46 PM UTC

aresant wrote: post #7

I can't help but post the perfect "villain" picture of Calacanis to accompany this story: [edit working link]: http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7wjPbXig0o_I76bh4g...

That link doesn't seem to be working so either this one:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRw83HRP_QZgcqkBkSLU...

or this one:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7wjPbXig0o_I76bh4g...

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#12

Post by marcamillion » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:46 PM UTC

birken wrote: post #6

You also just wrote a story about Jason Calacanis... The only thing you forgot to do was link to Mahalo. You might not want to work for him, but you should at least respect his shtick is genius and very effective at getting coverage and links, which works nicely since his company is an SEO play.

Birken, he is a lightning rod for sure. But controversy isn't always good.

Just ask Mike Tyson.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#13

Post by ahi » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:49 PM UTC

maxklein wrote: post #2

But he's very successful. Who's viewpoint are we supposed to champion here - the employee or the employer? Should we not be happy when an employer is successful and can get a lot from his employees with minimal expense? Does the process of building a startup not put us squarely in the side of the employer?

Depends on your definition of successful. I don't consider him particularly successful.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#14

Post by thirdstation » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:50 PM UTC

maxklein wrote: post #2

But he's very successful. Who's viewpoint are we supposed to champion here - the employee or the employer? Should we not be happy when an employer is successful and can get a lot from his employees with minimal expense? Does the process of building a startup not put us squarely in the side of the employer?

"Does the process of building a startup not put us squarely in the side of the employer?"

I guess that depends on your motivation. Being your own boss is one reason to launch a startup.

But, being a boss doesn't give you the right to impose your value system on your employees.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#15

Post by btipling » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:55 PM UTC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmWiYx3qL2U&feature=playe... Is when the relevant part starts.

Some of the words he uses like 'lame' and 'weak' kind of is dickish, but I don't think it's that crazy.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#16

Post by dasil003 » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:56 PM UTC

Neither would I, but does that mean he has a hiring problem? His advice is not necessarily bad advice for a business. Granted, he'll never create a great product, but neither will most businesses. If he can drive people to turn a profit that way, then he'll be doing better than most entrepreneurs. Wanting people who are willing to work 80 hours a week is probably one of the less ethically questionable things in his business plan.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#17

Post by FiddlerClamp » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:56 PM UTC

birken wrote: post #6

You also just wrote a story about Jason Calacanis... The only thing you forgot to do was link to Mahalo. You might not want to work for him, but you should at least respect his shtick is genius and very effective at getting coverage and links, which works nicely since his company is an SEO play.

But does DecorMyEyes agree?

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#18

Post by p206 » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:58 PM UTC

This is more a comment on the video interview than the marcgayle.com post. I don't think Mr Calacanis' statements are incendiary. He explains eloquently what kind of people and attitude he is looking for, and doesn't seem to have a problem with people that don't match his requirements. I really don't see the problem with that.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#19

Post by dangrossman » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 10:59 PM UTC

I really need to write a filter to keep him off my screen, since just about everything Jason writes or says ends up getting me a bit riled. Just yesterday he sent out an e-mail saying that if you can't drop $10,000 on a premium domain name for your unfunded startup, you're not worth investing in... and proves how easy it is by listing the $133,000 he's spent on domains himself.

Re: I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it

#20

Post by marcamillion » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 11:00 PM UTC

dasil003 wrote: post #16

Neither would I, but does that mean he has a hiring problem? His advice is not necessarily bad advice for a business. Granted, he'll never create a great product, but neither will most businesses. If he can drive people to turn a profit that way, then he'll be doing better than most entrepreneurs. Wanting people who are willing to work 80 hours a week is probably one of the less ethically questionable things in his b…

dasil...I agree with you. If he was just a 'regular' entrepreneur...but by his own words he is a "Great CEO", and an "abnormal" worker.

So he thinks he is creating the next Google.

God help us if he is not wrong.