Seems like some post-facto rationalization. What exactly is the lesson here? Don't be a jerk to your teammates and make sure they know what you're doing? Why not just say that instead of publicly apologizing like this?
[deleted]
My Last Day at PivotDesk
11–20 of 54 posts
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#12I don't understand this blog post at all. It seems to only show the very tip of the situation because, based on the text alone, the story/situation doesn't add up. Especially the part where he says he was doing everything perfectly for the week, yet everyone still wanted him gone. It seems like there was a much deeper personality conflict or something we aren't seeing. Maybe this is my fault, but unfortunately, it also makes the lesson/point a lot weaker and more muddy.
Seriously one of the more confusing blog posts I've ever read.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#13Take a vacation and enjoy your family, buddy. Everything will work out in the end.
Everything will work out in the end. If things aren't working out, it's not the end!
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#14I think that this post, with it's main point "No one really knows what you do anymore" completely removes value from previous post "3 Tips Product Managers Can Use To Do Great Work", and others too. Quite funny to see so much posts about productivity in that blog, while knowing final.
Harsh reality.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#15I don't understand this blog post at all. It seems to only show the very tip of the situation because, based on the text alone, the story/situation doesn't add up. Especially the part where he says he was doing everything perfectly for the week, yet everyone still wanted him gone. It seems like there was a much deeper personality conflict or something we aren't seeing. Maybe this is my fault, but unfortunately, it al…
It's extremely difficult to re-gain respect once it's lost. That's just how people are. We form an opinion on somebody, and then look for reasons to justify that opinion, not challenge that opinion.
Also, group/team dynamics are usually influenced by the most vocal. If there was a previous serious conflict with 1 or 2 team members, it's possible they continued to poison the discourse, even when the management quality improved for that week.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#16"The constant pitching, the t-shirt wardrobe peppered with company logos and talking about the business at every holiday, lunch with friends or phone call with Mom really adds up. It’s what you live and breathe as a startup founder and I wouldn’t have had it any other way."
These should be huge red flags. The author describes thinking about nothing but work for three years, then reproaches himself for... not having spent more time thinking about work.
Do not be this guy, you will burn out and you will destroy relationships on the way down that you cannot repair.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#17Take a vacation and enjoy your family, buddy. Everything will work out in the end.
Everything will work out in the end. If things aren't working out, it's not the end!
"If things aren't working out, it's not the end!"
Alternately, if things really aren't working out, it could be the end, but don't worry it'll be over soon enough.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#18"The constant pitching, the t-shirt wardrobe peppered with company logos and talking about the business at every holiday, lunch with friends or phone call with Mom really adds up. It’s what you live and breathe as a startup founder and I wouldn’t have had it any other way." These should be huge red flags. The author describes thinking about nothing but work for three years, then reproaches himself for... not having s…
Recall what Paul Graham wrote:
"Economically, you can think of a startup as a way to compress your whole working life into a few years. Instead of working at a low intensity for forty years, you work as hard as you possibly can for four. This pays especially well in technology, where you earn a premium for working fast... Remember what a startup is, economically: a way of saying, I want to work faster. Instead of accumulating money slowly by being paid a regular wage for fifty years, I want to get it over with as soon as possible. So governments that forbid you to accumulate wealth are in effect decreeing that you work slowly. They're willing to let you earn $3 million over fifty years, but they're not willing to let you work so hard that you can do it in two. They are like the corporate boss that you can't go to and say, I want to work ten times as hard, so please pay me ten times a much. Except this is not a boss you can escape by starting your own company."
http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html
Elsewhere, he wrote that while he was working on Viaweb he had no time for romance.
This is a strange thing to say:
"You will burn out and you will destroy relationships on the way down that you cannot repair."
The opposite is more true: you will make amazing relationships and build a great network. I had my own startup from 2002 to 2008, and it was a good experience for me, even though the company eventually failed. But I met many amazing people who I am still friends with, and the bulk of my business connections come from that era.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#19"The constant pitching, the t-shirt wardrobe peppered with company logos and talking about the business at every holiday, lunch with friends or phone call with Mom really adds up. It’s what you live and breathe as a startup founder and I wouldn’t have had it any other way." These should be huge red flags. The author describes thinking about nothing but work for three years, then reproaches himself for... not having s…
Recall what Paul Graham wrote: "Economically, you can think of a startup as a way to compress your whole working life into a few years. Instead of working at a low intensity for forty years, you work as hard as you possibly can for four. This pays especially well in technology, where you earn a premium for working fast... Remember what a startup is, economically: a way of saying, I want to work faster. Instead of acc…
"Instead of working at a low intensity for forty years, you work as hard as you possibly can for four."
Or, 90% of the time, you run out of money at the end of year four and get to keep doing this nonsense in four-year chunks until you die at your desk.
Re: My Last Day at PivotDesk
#20"The constant pitching, the t-shirt wardrobe peppered with company logos and talking about the business at every holiday, lunch with friends or phone call with Mom really adds up. It’s what you live and breathe as a startup founder and I wouldn’t have had it any other way." These should be huge red flags. The author describes thinking about nothing but work for three years, then reproaches himself for... not having s…
Recall what Paul Graham wrote: "Economically, you can think of a startup as a way to compress your whole working life into a few years. Instead of working at a low intensity for forty years, you work as hard as you possibly can for four. This pays especially well in technology, where you earn a premium for working fast... Remember what a startup is, economically: a way of saying, I want to work faster. Instead of acc…
I do recall what Paul Graham wrote. I recall thinking "what a weenis!"