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Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

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Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#231

Post by Viliam1234 »

grosjona wrote: post #191
vinceguidry wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the ideal the whole industry segment is founded on. Just like every other ideal, it's attainable only by the extremely lucky. Everybody else has to deal with the externalities. Strip the ideal away and people will leave in droves. Without a differentiator, startups are just like everything else.

One thing that I've learned though is that you should try to work for rich people who believe that we're in a meritocracy. When these people see talent, they tend to think that it's much more valuable than it actually is.

If those people are rich enough, they can surround themselves with talent, and notice that while talented people are a small fraction of population, in absolute numbers it is still a large number of people who need to somehow pay their bills.

Then it's time to play the game of "compete against each other, and the worst 10% gets fired". Suddenly the talent becomes cheaper, and stops talking about work-life balance.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#232

Post by shock »

> Hire an x-CEO to come in as a “1 day a week CEO” to implement this system. She should be able to do so in 6-8 weeks. Have her then watch you run the system for 2 weeks to ensure that you are doing it correctly.

I was under the impression that the accepted gender-neutral pronoun to use in this case would be "they". Any idea why "she"/"her" is used? Is this a new phenomenon?

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#233

Post by yawz »

cncrnd wrote: post #85
john_moscow wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because in the current market you can get yourself a better lifestyle burning through VC cash than by trying to get that cash from the paying customers.

I thought the expectation was for VC funded CEOs to take low salaries. How often do they sell equity in fundraising rounds and/or take decent salaries (500k+)?

> take decent salaries (500k+)

Now, seeing this, I would totally settle for some "unsatisfactory" $450K. :)

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#235

Post by bshoemaker »

shanghaiaway wrote: post #185
billmalarky wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha you should do some research on Japanese work culture and how it relates to leaving after the boss.

I've lived in Japan. You haven't. Americans are worse.

No, they're really not. You've probably worked at a company with an American culture, in Japan.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#236

Post by t0mbstone »

ppbutt wrote: post #234
memonkey wrote: post #163

I just want to say that I really love that they're using the pronoun "she" in the beginning. It is refreshing to hear when most business books are directed using male pronouns.

"They" would be the proper term.

Yeah, I find it annoying when people presume to refer to an unknown person as 'He" or "She". It's especially annoying when a writer randomly alternates genders throughout their document. Pandering much?

The solution is the firmly established use of the singular "They": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

The singular "They" has literally been used in the English language since the 14th century, and its usage is well-understood. Any English teacher who dissuades you from its use should be stripped of their credentials, because "they" are an idiot.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#237

Post by golergka »

iamcasen wrote: post #174
jcbrand wrote: post #133

> Agenda > > Spouse > > Connect- listen to each other’s day for 5 minutes each I had to laugh at this. Setting aside only 5-10 minutes a day for your closest confidant and life-partner? Good luck with that marriage. One of the ironies for me of people who slave away with the hope of scoring the jackpot, is that they often justify it by telling themselves and others what they'll do once they're financially independent…

Yeah how ridiculous! Loved ones should honestly be our number 1 priority. That work is so demanding of the majority of our free time while we are alive is a travesty. Work used to have meaning when we would hunt, gather, or farm. You did that along side your friends and family. Now we isolate ourselves for 8 to 12 hours a day earning money to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. And for what? Is humanity…

> Loved ones should honestly be our number 1 priority. That work is so demanding of the majority of our free time while we are alive is a travesty.

Different people have different priorities and tastes in life. When I tried working 3 day workweek (I could afford a 40% salary hit), I became really bored really fast, and spending so much time with my spouse quickly got me to a divorce.

Having people that you love in your life is nice, but I personally don't love that much to spend majority of life with them. I'd rather do something interesting and productive, like work, instead.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#238

Post by shrimpx »

grosjona wrote: post #44
xstartup wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Can anyone explain to me where does this obsession with VC funding and huge growth come from? I feel like if you grow your company by more then 50% YOY you will end up with a totally different company culture, and you might end up hating your own company. Startups need an exit strategy. Employees want to work 5-10 years max and end up with millions to retire peacefully while working in an intense environment which…

>> Employees want to work 5-10 years max and end up with millions to retire peacefully while working in an intense environment This sounds like either it is an extremely unrealistic expectation or it's extremely unfair. I know lots of smart people who worked for at least 10 years in very intense startup environments and got essentially nothing out of it. Often, they have to fallback on a life of contract work for hug…

Joining an early startup is high risk high reward. 90%+ of the time nothing comes of it. But when it does it pays out big.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#239

Post by xaedes »

ErikAugust wrote: post #143
fsloth wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"One of the ironies for me of people who slave away with the hope of scoring the jackpot," There are other reasons as well to work hard. Some people enjoy the prospect of potentially denting the universe a bit. But yes, if financial gratification and financial gratification alone is the goal it's a tad silly.

Is a “dented universe” an admirable goal? Seems vague, and selfish. I get people want to make some sort of impact while they are here, but let’s also admit that that is driven by the ego.

Yes. Purpose and meaning needs an ego. When you maximally zoom out you get a purposeless, meaningless universe that doesn't care about its birth, its transformations and (maybe?) its end. Individuals are necessary for meaning and purpose. Otherwise, everything just is as it is and nothing makes any difference. Egos make (the) difference.

Your question is very valid. Sometimes I also wonder whether it really is an admirable goal to change the world. The world certainly doesn't care. Some groups or individuals may do. So I do it for them (including me).

Another way would be to neglect and ignore all purpose and meaning and just do whatever the frak you want. Go with the flow.

I think both results in the same

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#240

Post by solatic »

NathanCH wrote: post #227
solatic wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> meetings If the meetings are productive meetings and not hour-long Facebook-browsing snoozefests, then yes, meeting attendance is a form of productivity > chatty coworkers Get rid of the open floor plan, allow for remote work, other strategies to promote the proverbial butts-in-seats instead of milling about the water cooler > meals Delivered to the office > Coffee breaks Why coffee machines of whichever kind (Keur…

I work a place where there is no interaction between employees. No coffee breaks, no paid lunch, no meetings. It is hell. Enjoy.

Look, different places have different workers and cultures and management. If you work in a place where everyone suffers from the lack of socialization, then management should make things more sociable somehow. If you work in a place where you're the only person who suffers from the lack of socialization, then perhaps you should find another job.
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