by confoundcofound on 8/7/23, 1:55 PM with 10 comments
Call it delusion, but there is a small part of me that hopes to prove that startup success, however you define it, is possible through honesty, authenticity, and empathy. In an effort to do so, I'm in search of successful founders/CEOs who seem to exhibit these qualities.
by thiago_fm on 8/8/23, 7:26 AM
They need to do a lot of unhappy and not so fun things other people won't do, or give orders that such things are done. They might not be that self-aware and have the same critical thinking you just had in your sentence, that's why they don't mind doing the dirty stuff.
They usually do whatever the extent of the law allows and even a few gray area things, and some... even unlawful stuff.
It's better to have models for yourself that are meaningful. Our predecessors, people that made peace possible in this world, people that are defending our planet among other causes.
As a founder, you can also have your own takes. Also, there are plenty of good books about management, communication and so on that you can learn from.
Also, when shareholders will throw you under the bus and you need to do the dirty work or get kicked out, remember you are always free to leave. They can find another person to run that company, we're not special or rare. Much less a company's CEO.
Maybe a start would be building your company in a reliable and honest pace. No assholery, pay people fairly and respect them. Don't raise money. Create your own example.
It isn't even that hard, given how terrible and silly the average founder/CEO is. There's barely any example worth following.
by chrispeel on 8/7/23, 3:37 PM
by bombcar on 8/7/23, 2:19 PM
[151] https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Enough%3A+True+Measures+of+Money...
[13765] https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Don%27t+Count+on+It%21%3A+Reflec...
It's not directly a "how to survive SV without becoming Zuckerberg" but it's worth a read.
"Good" CEOs exist in plenty, but since they're "good" they don't keep scrambling to the top; they're usually content to get their business to a sustainable level and let growth take care of itself; some even go so far as to limit growth as they fear getting to big would ruin what they have.
by 2143 on 8/10/23, 4:41 AM
They had a peculiar frugal no-nonsense no-BS style of doing business.
Actually, I read the book "The Ride of a Lifetime" by Robert Iger, who is/was the CEO of Disney (he had originally retired, but apparently they made him CEO again).
While Igers seems like a cool person (as per his own book) I found his descriptions of Tom and Dan even more interesting. It was from this book that I first heard about them.
by DamonHD on 8/7/23, 2:24 PM
All humans are imperfect but examples of doing things for the right reasons and in the right way include (say) Dale Vince of Ecotricity in the UK.
by keiferski on 8/7/23, 2:36 PM
by bjourne on 8/7/23, 4:27 PM