SV startup culture has been about personal responsibility since at least the glory days of Atari, which ( according to my sources and a published movie ) had an

SV startup culture has been about personal responsibility since at least the glory days of Atari, which ( according to my sources and a published movie ) had an MRD - Marjuana Research Division - built in a small rooftop shack, and sometimes meetings would be in the MRD. Reputedly, people had nitrous tanks in the office, too, and would huff during the workday. Apple really championed the "beer bust" culture in the early 90's. I have been in "dry offices" and do find it a morale killer, because there's the sense that the HR department knows better than you. We have beer in our office, and a bottle or two of hard stuff, but honestly no one ever touches it. We have a hard working and professional culture and know alcohol and coding don't mix. ( Or, as I say, "Don't drink and write drivers." ) Sometimes the inside sales guys knock off at 3pm on a friday and have a can of beer. They start early - calling the east coast - so it's good to see them blowing off a little. More professionally, we tend to troop to the dive bar around the corner, which is honestly more fun than setting up a kegerator. Having beer and not drinking it is a more solid culture than banning beer from the top.