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The brutally honest truth about this guy is that he's an insecure prick who loves boasting > Only 0.4% of all businesses make it to $10M in annual revenue. We

The brutally honest truth about this guy is that he's an insecure prick who loves boasting > Only 0.4% of all businesses make it to $10M in annual revenue. We made it almost halfway through...When I sold my startup, we had 100 people working with us. > Unfortunately, I no longer have very many friends... > ...Tesla...$300 pairs of jeans, $450 pairs of boots, concrete countertops...trips to New Zealand no longer bother me. That’s great and all, however ...you come across as a tone deaf asshole.

alpha_squared 10y ago
I understand how it can come out that way, but I didn't read it that way. He's genuinely trying to straddle the fine line between being honest about recognizing where he is and how he's perceived while simultaneously acknowledging his accomplishments. It's not easy to walk that line. I see the author coming from a humbled, almost despairing perspective. That _despite_ his accomplishments, which he lists for emphasis, he's not happy.
- slackstation 10y ago
  It isn't that he isn't trying. It's that it's clear that despite trying, he still isn't seeing it. He talks about being a "pretty good" listener but, not catching the fact that people he respects and admires feel like he's constantly talking down to them. It's an easy trap to fall into and I imagine a hard one to get out of (not because I'm not an asshole but, because I'm not rich enough to say that I'm in his position). He just clearly doesn't understand himself. Startup culture looks at this thing called exiting as the very hard thing that very few people do sucessfully and then we look at the few that do it as some kind of oracle. We want answers to hard questions and automatically think that people that achieved success have found it. Maybe he isn't this business savant and maverick. Maybe he just got lucky and the momentum of that took him over the line into success. I'm not saying it was easy but, maybe his success isn't because of the things he thinks it is.
  - hkmurakami 10y ago
    He's far from the only person who's had to struggle through this. I give him the benefit of the doubt that he sincerely does not want to be seen as a rich asshole. His wealth is still very new to him and there's an adjustment process. Both individuals and entire nations go through this adjustment process of newfound wealth. It gets to your head and it takes some time to work it out of your system, counting your mistakes each time you "slip up" and show your materialistic, vain side again and again. But if his desire to be a decent guy who happened to work hard and made it, then he'll figure things out for himself.
  - aytekin 10y ago
    "Maybe he isn't this business savant and maverick. Maybe he just got lucky and the momentum of that took him over the line into success." He spent 10 years (LinkedIn) for a 7 figure exit. So, he is neither a maverick nor just lucky, he was just a hard worker business owner. But, you are right. There is no magic here.
hkmurakami 10y ago
Imo the prick and the boasting all have the insecurity at its root. Even his opening sentence implies this. Also: >That’s great and all, however when someone with money talks about these things to someone who is struggling to pay rent, you come across as a tone deaf asshole. The very fact that these (peripheral) subjects come up in conversation points to that insecurity, which is independent from however much means a person may have. The moments when I am boastful or condescending are the moments where my insecurities bubble up to the surface, and I always regret my petty words afterwords.
Animats 10y ago
If he only has seven figures, he needs to stop spending like that. Most people who make money all at once blow it within seven years. You can only spend about 4% a year of your net worth. Even that's pushing it with today's returns.
- simonebrunozzi 10y ago
  For the ones that don't know: 4% [0] is supposed to be the amount your wealth grows, on average, every year. If you spend at most 4% of it, you end up never eroding it. [0] www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-percent-rule.asp
  - lend000 10y ago
    To be pedantic, your wealth will erode at the rate of inflation if you spend the exact amount it grows (if you are measuring wealth in dollars, that is). The proper amount is S=G/I where S = spend rate, G = growth rate, I = inflation rate.
    - geofft 10y ago
      The description above is inaccurate: the four percent rule is the amount that will exhaust your principal over the expected length of your retirement. It's also a conservative number, in that over the period of time studied, the principal never ran out for anyone withdrawing 4%. You can often withdraw more. However, if you're retiring at age 30, the 4% rule is probably way too ambitious (unless you're actively managing your investments).
quizotic 10y ago
It's ironic that you see him this way ... cause he's trying to say that seeing him this way is one of the things he hates and wishes was otherwise. And by the way, it doesn't help if he goes quiet, never talking about this wealth or experience. Then he's just seen as aloof an heartless. It's just true. Becoming wealthy changes things for most people. Maybe not Warren Buffet.
nstart 10y ago
Just want to point out that you could be a bit more sensitive. You've recognized the author's insecurities. Pointing them out in this thread in this manner is something that one should consider whether it would do more harm than good. On the other side of the screen might be the author who is reading your comment and a bunch of other comments calling him out on his insecurities and then piling on. You do not want to be the one comment that was responsible for a man suddenly folding in on himself and thinking "oh god I really am worthless. Why even be around?". I grew up in an environment that made me feel insecure and then piled up on my insecurities. I know what it's like to run into a seemingly unrelated event that just makes you wander up to the rooftop of a building and consider throwing yourself off because you feel like a piece of trash that's always been as bad as you thought you were. Please please please. I implore you and everyone else on this thread to consider words like this really really carefully. On the other side of that screen is a human. Flawed. Maybe deeply damaged. But human nonetheless. Let's take care of each other :). Peace!
- paulsutter 10y ago
  The original title of the submission was "the brutally honest truth about selling your company", and I went with the brutally honest theme. To be honest I'm surprised it got 46 upvotes.
taytus 10y ago
I have to agree with this. At the end of the post I was still searching for the meaning of it. What was the point of that article? "I have money, and they don't so I can't relate". As Patrick Meagher would say: "Some people are so poor that all they have is money".

alpha_squared 10y ago

I understand how it can come out that way, but I didn't read it that way. He's genuinely trying to straddle the fine line between being honest about recognizing where he is and how he's perceived while simultaneously acknowledging his accomplishments. It's not easy to walk that line. I see the author coming from a humbled, almost despairing perspective. That _despite_ his accomplishments, which he lists for emphasis, he's not happy.

slackstation 10y ago
It isn't that he isn't trying. It's that it's clear that despite trying, he still isn't seeing it. He talks about being a "pretty good" listener but, not catching the fact that people he respects and admires feel like he's constantly talking down to them. It's an easy trap to fall into and I imagine a hard one to get out of (not because I'm not an asshole but, because I'm not rich enough to say that I'm in his position). He just clearly doesn't understand himself. Startup culture looks at this thing called exiting as the very hard thing that very few people do sucessfully and then we look at the few that do it as some kind of oracle. We want answers to hard questions and automatically think that people that achieved success have found it. Maybe he isn't this business savant and maverick. Maybe he just got lucky and the momentum of that took him over the line into success. I'm not saying it was easy but, maybe his success isn't because of the things he thinks it is.
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  He's far from the only person who's had to struggle through this. I give him the benefit of the doubt that he sincerely does not want to be seen as a rich asshole. His wealth is still very new to him and there's an adjustment process. Both individuals and entire nations go through this adjustment process of newfound wealth. It gets to your head and it takes some time to work it out of your system, counting your mistakes each time you "slip up" and show your materialistic, vain side again and again. But if his desire to be a decent guy who happened to work hard and made it, then he'll figure things out for himself.
- aytekin 10y ago
  "Maybe he isn't this business savant and maverick. Maybe he just got lucky and the momentum of that took him over the line into success." He spent 10 years (LinkedIn) for a 7 figure exit. So, he is neither a maverick nor just lucky, he was just a hard worker business owner. But, you are right. There is no magic here.

hkmurakami 10y ago

Imo the prick and the boasting all have the insecurity at its root. Even his opening sentence implies this. Also: >That’s great and all, however when someone with money talks about these things to someone who is struggling to pay rent, you come across as a tone deaf asshole. The very fact that these (peripheral) subjects come up in conversation points to that insecurity, which is independent from however much means a person may have. The moments when I am boastful or condescending are the moments where my insecurities bubble up to the surface, and I always regret my petty words afterwords.

Animats 10y ago

If he only has seven figures, he needs to stop spending like that. Most people who make money all at once blow it within seven years. You can only spend about 4% a year of your net worth. Even that's pushing it with today's returns.

simonebrunozzi 10y ago
For the ones that don't know: 4% [0] is supposed to be the amount your wealth grows, on average, every year. If you spend at most 4% of it, you end up never eroding it. [0] www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-percent-rule.asp
- lend000 10y ago
  To be pedantic, your wealth will erode at the rate of inflation if you spend the exact amount it grows (if you are measuring wealth in dollars, that is). The proper amount is S=G/I where S = spend rate, G = growth rate, I = inflation rate.
  - geofft 10y ago
    The description above is inaccurate: the four percent rule is the amount that will exhaust your principal over the expected length of your retirement. It's also a conservative number, in that over the period of time studied, the principal never ran out for anyone withdrawing 4%. You can often withdraw more. However, if you're retiring at age 30, the 4% rule is probably way too ambitious (unless you're actively managing your investments).

quizotic 10y ago

It's ironic that you see him this way ... cause he's trying to say that seeing him this way is one of the things he hates and wishes was otherwise. And by the way, it doesn't help if he goes quiet, never talking about this wealth or experience. Then he's just seen as aloof an heartless. It's just true. Becoming wealthy changes things for most people. Maybe not Warren Buffet.

nstart 10y ago

Just want to point out that you could be a bit more sensitive. You've recognized the author's insecurities. Pointing them out in this thread in this manner is something that one should consider whether it would do more harm than good. On the other side of the screen might be the author who is reading your comment and a bunch of other comments calling him out on his insecurities and then piling on. You do not want to be the one comment that was responsible for a man suddenly folding in on himself and thinking "oh god I really am worthless. Why even be around?". I grew up in an environment that made me feel insecure and then piled up on my insecurities. I know what it's like to run into a seemingly unrelated event that just makes you wander up to the rooftop of a building and consider throwing yourself off because you feel like a piece of trash that's always been as bad as you thought you were. Please please please. I implore you and everyone else on this thread to consider words like this really really carefully. On the other side of that screen is a human. Flawed. Maybe deeply damaged. But human nonetheless. Let's take care of each other :). Peace!

paulsutter 10y ago
The original title of the submission was "the brutally honest truth about selling your company", and I went with the brutally honest theme. To be honest I'm surprised it got 46 upvotes.

taytus 10y ago

I have to agree with this. At the end of the post I was still searching for the meaning of it. What was the point of that article? "I have money, and they don't so I can't relate". As Patrick Meagher would say: "Some people are so poor that all they have is money".