decent people with decent products just don't make it.
Which is why you need to make your product a little more than decent. "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." So be less dumb, and you can stay just as good.
Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
11–20 of 66 posts
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#12How do you cultivate sociopathy? I took a personality disorder quiz and scored high on everything except the dark triad. Because of that quiz score, I’m worried that my earning potential is not as high as it could be if I was otherwise a high functioning psychopath. I’m totally serious btw, any tips are appreciated.
I feel like I’ve seen a book called The 48 Laws of Power recommended frequently for that.
Yeah. For better or worse that'll put you in a more Machiavellian mindset. It's an excellent book, but I definitely recall feeling like it stunted my emotional growth and perception of the world for a few years after I first read it.
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#13Only a Sith deals in absolutes, but I do think the odds of success are tilted in favour of greedy manipulative liars and against kind, honest, decent folk. We used to have religion to convince people that it was OK because the rich were getting the short end of the stick in eternity, but now it's just sad.
The best people I know are nurses getting paid pennies to keep people alive. The world sucks. Sorry.
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#14Seems like game theory at work
Cooperating may have net benefit but you'd get much further by being greedy while the others don't
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#15I don’t agree. We need more people to support positive sum game rules than zero sum game rules.
Keep your values high and find the right people (investors) who side with you.
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#16Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#17I am literally writing a pitch deck right now (just for fun). My solution statement includes stuff like "respecting the user - no tracking, no selling data, no dark patterns"... deep down I doubt any investor would even look at this and would laugh at the naivety. They would look at FB, Reddit and others and, naturally, want a piece of that pie. Unfortunately, I think the better way to get funding would be to say: *…
Are your target consumers almost exclusively people who value privacy and likely already have ad blockers installed? If not, you should probably take it out of the pitch deck if you want to make money.
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#18Ethical systems all have 'don't make waves' built into them. Everyone who horns into a crowded market or even a greenfield is in some psychological sense a rule breaker. Competition and strategy are psychologically hard if you view your competitor as the in-group
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#19I don't think you need to be sociopath to succeed, but I think you are more likely to be noticed succeeding if you are.
Re: Why do I feel like you need to be a sociopath to succeed?
#20I am literally writing a pitch deck right now (just for fun). My solution statement includes stuff like "respecting the user - no tracking, no selling data, no dark patterns"... deep down I doubt any investor would even look at this and would laugh at the naivety. They would look at FB, Reddit and others and, naturally, want a piece of that pie. Unfortunately, I think the better way to get funding would be to say: *…
Don’t! Keep your pitch deck as is, I say find the right investors who take your side than you caving in to the status quo, tech is different than Wall Street you _can_ make a positive sum contribution (where everyone wins) while monetizing (it’s usually a bit longer game but worth it)