5 ms·
Taking the idea that most "work" done at work is a waste of time, doesn't that suggest there's a big opportunity for an enlightened competitor to eat an establi
by aschearer 10y ago
Taking the idea that most "work" done at work is a waste of time, doesn't that suggest there's a big opportunity for an enlightened competitor to eat an established company's lunch? You could do the same amount of productive work for a fraction of the cost . . .
Is this type of thing happening and not widely reported? Is it an under explored opportunity waiting to be tapped? Or is there something else going on that leads the inefficient model to win in the long run?
- ikeboy 10y agoStartups
- xyzzy4 10y agoStartup employees do just as much bullshit to make it seem like they're busy. Their main incentive is to keep their job, not make the company successful.
- ikeboy 10y agoPart of the mechanism is that there are fewer layers of management so less room for bs.
- nine_k 10y agoStartup employees are partly paid in stock, so they do have incentives to make the company successful. At the very least they want the company to break even before the runway money end, else the payroll will stop rolling.
- Bartweiss 10y agoI did some startup (and pseudo-startup) work in college, when I wasn't getting any stock. From personal experience, it's still motivational to wonder whether your next paycheck is coming out. Not always pleasant, but it was a great incentive to push back against busywork and time-wasting management even if the reception was bad. "We might go bankrupt" really shifts the balance on "how much should I invest in fighting for good decisions?"
- marcosdumay 10y agoThe playing field isn't even, and big players gets all kinds of benefits from corruption, mind-share among leaders, and honest gains from scale. We will probably never know if most of the work is bullshit or vital in a way we can't understand.